“The Peasants” – the latest film from Oscar-nominated directors Dorota Kobiela and Hugh Welchman – is one of the most anticipated releases of 2023. The cast includes Małgorzata Kożuchowska, Sonia Bohosiewicz, Maciej Musiał, Dorota Stalińska, Julia Wieniawa, Kamila Urzędowska, Robert Gulaczyk, Mirosław Baka and Ewa Kasprzyk. The animated story is based on Reymont’s novel. As it turns out, it is not only the Nobel laureate’s tale that is full of emotion – the filmmakers reveal what working on “The Peasants” in Kyiv under bombardment has been like. They also present a unique video showing the stages of this extraordinary animation.
BreakThru Films began shooting “The Peasants” in the summer of 2020, making it one of the first producers to return to a film set after the pandemic break. The next stage of making the film is the labour-intensive process of painting the edited footage. A group of around 70 artists in studios in Sopot and in Lithuania, Serbia and Ukraine took up their exciting task after the coronavirus had twice brought work on the film to a halt. What is more, the painting process itself is proving more labour-intensive than the producers assumed at the outset.
– The technique we chose is difficult and more time-consuming than in the case of “Loving Vincent”. The film features many dynamic shots and group scenes. Yet the result we are achieving surpasses our expectations. After two years of work we can see that bringing painting inspired by the Young Poland movement to the big screen produces a spectacular effect – says Piotr Dominiak, art director at the BreakThru Films studio, about the painting process.
The next challenge came with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Overnight, the Kyiv studio was closed, and the film’s producers took immediate steps to help the artists and their families. The painters made it safely to Poland, where they continued their work. Not all of the Ukrainian artists, however, were able to leave. For that reason, in August 2022 BreakThru Films decided to reopen its Kyiv studio, providing work for 15 painters and staff members.
WORKING IN KYIV UNDER BOMBARDMENT – A KICKSTARTER CAMPAIGN
October brought another wave of bombing and the power cuts that came with it. The painters want to keep creating regardless. They come to the studio every day, arranging their schedules around the blackouts. They wait in the cold when the power is out. They are transferring Reymont’s work onto canvas, and the job gives them not only a means of support but also faith in beauty in difficult times. Yet temperatures in Kyiv are already dropping below zero, and they will fall further still. BreakThru Films has launched a Kickstarter campaign to urgently raise funds for a power generator that will give the artists back the ability to work in comfort.
– At the current stage of production we are not able to cover the cost of purchasing and transporting a generator. We would, however, like to donate six paintings from the film as rewards in the campaign – these are the first paintings from “The Peasants” to reach the market. Visit the Kickstarter page, share this news and help us get a generator for our artists for Christmas – urges Sean Bobbitt, producer of “The Peasants”.
More information: http://kck.st/3V1bPFx
FROM GREEN SCREEN TO THE FINAL RESULT
Work on “The Peasants” is time-consuming, but the effect that audiences will see on screen will be exceptional. The video below shows three shots and the production process from green screen to the final animation:
“The Peasants” is scheduled for release in 2023. Next Film will be the film’s distributor in Poland.
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Director and screenwriter – Dorota Kobiela
A graduate of the Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw. The originator, co-screenwriter, director and editor of “Loving Vincent”. The film was made with the participation of more than 100 painters from around the world. The world’s first feature-length painted animation won, among others: the European Film Award for Best Animated Film, the main prize in the animated film competition at the 20th Shanghai International Film Festival, the Polish Film Academy Award — the Eagle — for best editing and production design, and more than 40 other awards around the world. The film was nominated for such prestigious awards as the Oscar®, the BAFTA and the Golden Globe; it also drew large audiences worldwide, becoming the first Polish production in history to cross 40 million dollars at the global box office. Dorota is a member of the American, European and Polish Film Academies. She serves on the artistic committee of the Polish Film Institute.
For the past 10 years she has been professionally associated with the Breakthru Films studio.
Director and screenwriter – Hugh Welchman
A graduate of Oxford University and of the UK’s National Film and Television School. He has produced 16 short films and two feature films for the Breakthru Films studio, winning more than 60 awards at international festivals, including the Oscar® for Best Animated Short in 2008 for “Piotruś i Wilk” and the European Film Award for “Loving Vincent” in the Best Animated Film category.
Producer – BreakThru Films studio
BreakThru Productions Sp. z o.o. was founded by producers Hugh Welchman and Sean Bobbitt in 2012. It is known for groundbreaking, artistic and commercially successful animated films, including “Piotruś i Wilk”, winner of more than twenty awards, among them the Oscar® for Best Animated Short.
The studio’s most recent production, “Loving Vincent”, achieved worldwide success as well as numerous awards at film festivals, including Best Animated Film from the European Film Academy. It was also nominated for the Oscar®, the BAFTA and the Golden Globe for Best Animated Film.
