100 painters in 4 studios and as many as 200,000 work hours. This is how “Chłopi” was created. “It’s a real spectacle”

On September 8, 2023, during the prestigious Toronto International Film Festival, the world premiere of the film adaptation of Władysław Reymont’s “Peasants” directed by DK and Hugh Welchman took place. The film, created using a painting technique, received a lot of positive reviews from critics, and the first screening was awarded with a long standing ovation.

The creators of “Loving Vincent” surprise with another production. Will they repeat their success?

This is not the first production of this type in the artistic achievements of DK and Hugh Welchman. In October 2017, the film debuted on cinema screens across Poland. The plot focused on the last moments in the life of the giant of impressionism, Vincent van Gogh. The film delighted both viewers and critics, earning its creators the European Film Award and nominations for the Golden Globe and . Will they be able to repeat their success? Although the bar has been set high, reviewers have no doubts about it.

However, the process of creating “Chłopy” was much more laborious than in the case of “Loving Vincent”. – The scale of the two films is incomparable. “Loving Vincent” is an intimate film with a lot of static shots and dialogues. “Chłopi” is a real spectacle – DK Welchman, drawing attention to many dynamic scenes in which frames constantly change as the camera follows the characters. The first screening of the film in Poland will take place on September 19, 2023, during the Main Competition at the Polish Feature Film Festival in Gdynia, and will appear in cinemas a little later, on October 13.

“Chłopi” rose up on a grand scale. As many as one hundred artists were involved in the animation process

Many people are certainly curious about the process of creating such a painting. As the director explains, the work began with shots taken with the actors on the set. The BreakThru Film studio was responsible for this. The cast of “Peasants” included a galaxy of the biggest Polish stars, including: , Andrzej Konopka, Ewa Kasprzyk, , Maciej Musiał and Julia Wieniawa. The role of the main character, Jagna, was played on screen by Kamila Urzędowska. – It was important for us that the role of Jagna was played not only by “the most beautiful girl in July”, but also that she had a mixture of girlish carefreeness, sex appeal and feistiness – said producer Sean Bobbitt.

When the acting part of the project was completed, it was time for the most difficult stage. As many as 100 painters were involved in its implementation, working in 4 studios: in Poland, Lithuania, Ukraine and Serbia. Contrary to many people’s beliefs, the images were not created by computer. Each frame from the film was transferred to canvas using oil paints, following the example of painting from the Young Poland period, and only then onto the screens. At the final stage, the animators could make corrections to make the whole thing coherent. So far, the process of painting the scenes has taken the creators over 200,000 hours. hours.