“Doppelgänger. The Double” – watch the teaser for Jan Holoubek’s new film!
Jan Holoubek is not slowing down. After his warmly received feature debut “25 lat niewinności. Sprawa Tomka Komendy” and the worldwide success of the series “Wielka woda”, he is preparing for the premiere of his next full-length film. His “Doppelgänger. The Double” will explore the theme of identity. Can you lose the sense of who you really are? Can pretending to be someone else make you feel something real? The premiere of the TVN Warner Bros. Discovery production is scheduled for 24 February 2023, and we are presenting the teaser today.
It is a story of two men who, for entirely different reasons, are searching for their identity. For a long time they are unaware of each other’s existence, yet they have been inseparably linked from the very beginning. One stole the other’s identity; the other is searching for it – but it is the former who realises that he no longer really knows who he is and that he has lost himself in pretending to be someone else – says director Jan Holoubek.
The director entrusted the film’s leading roles to Jakub Gierszał and Tomasz Schuchardt. The film takes viewers back to the turn of the 1970s and 1980s, and its action unfolds on both sides of the Iron Curtain simultaneously. Hans (Gierszał) lives in vibrant Strasbourg, making the most of the opportunities the West has to offer and blending into the local community while carrying out espionage activities, whereas Bitner (Schuchardt) lives in Sopot, is involved in the “Solidarity” movement and leads a quiet family life. On the surface their lives are completely different, yet they are bound by a shared past and by the need to confront their own weaknesses and passions.
“Doppelgänger. The Double” is an international production made on a grand scale. On screen, alongside Jakub Gierszał and Tomasz Schuchardt, we will see, among others, Wiktoria Gorodeckaja, Katarzyna Herman and Andrzej Seweryn, as well as international stars – Emily Kusche, Joachim Raaf, Nathalie Richard and Jessica McIntyre. The film was shot on location in Warsaw, Wrocław, Gdynia, Gdańsk, Sopot, Bydgoszcz and Toruń.
Producer Anna Waśniewska says of the project: Cooperation between East and West, the forbidden passion of a German woman (Emily Kusche) for a Pole (Jakub Gierszał), risky investigative operations – we will see the results of these performances, set in the realities of the 1970s and 1980s, as early as next year. Nathalie Richard, Joachim Raaf and Jessica McIntyre are actors who appeared alongside the Polish cast we know and admire. More than 40 shooting days, almost 70 locations, around two thousand extras – all of it to create the right setting for an extraordinary story directed by Jan Holoubek, who has proved more than once that he knows how to stir deep emotions in audiences.
*****
Hans (Jakub Gierszał) and Jan Bitner (Tomasz Schuchardt) live separated from each other by the Iron Curtain. Hans works in an office in Strasbourg and leads a quiet, almost monotonous life. Bitner is a Polish patriot, involved in “Solidarity” and the fight for a free Poland. He lives in Sopot with his family. On the surface their lives are completely different, but there is one detail that has bound their life stories together forever. Both of them will have to answer some very important questions about their identity.
Jan Holoubek is one of the most acclaimed directors of the young generation; his feature debut “25 lat niewinności. Sprawa Tomka Komendy” won many awards and critical acclaim. Once again the director draws inspiration from true stories. The film is produced by TVN Warner Bros. Discovery – another collaboration with the director.
*****
DOPPELGÄNGER. THE DOUBLE
Genre: drama / psychological thriller
Production: Poland 2023
Producer: TVN Warner Bros. Discovery, co-financed by: the POLISH FILM INSTITUTE
Cinematography: Bartłomiej Kaczmarek (“25 lat niewinności. Sprawa Tomka Komendy”, “Rojst”, “Rojst ’97”, “Wielka Woda”)
Directed by: Jan Holoubek (“25 lat niewinności. Sprawa Tomka Komendy”, “Rojst”, “Rojst ’97”, “Wielka Woda”)
Cast:
Jakub Gierszał, Tomasz Schuchardt, Andrzej Seweryn, Wiktoria Gorodeckaja, Katarzyna Herman, Sławomira Łozińska, Krzysztof Dracz, Adam Ferency, Zofia Stafiej, Emily Kusche, Nathalie Richard, Joachim Raaf, Jessica McIntyre
Screenplay: Andrzej Gołda, in collaboration with Jan Holoubek
Production design: Marek Warszewski
Casting: Żywia Kosińska
Costume design: Weronika Orlińska
Make-up: Mirela Zawiszewska
Editing: Rafał Listopad
Production manager: Tomasz Parnowski
Producer: Anna Waśniewska
Distribution: NEXT FILM
