Four weekends after its premiere, “The Peasants”, directed by DK Welchman and Hugh Welchman, has drawn an audience of more than a million cinemagoers. It is not only the best-performing Polish film at this year’s box office, but also the only domestic production to have passed one million admissions!
Audiences have fallen in love with “The Peasants” across the board – not only the film, but also the new edition of Władysław Stanisław Reymont’s Nobel Prize-winning novel, illustrated with paintings from the production, as well as the soundtrack by Łukasz L.U.C. Rostkowski and the Rebel Babel Film Orchestra.
The soundtrack album for “The Peasants” is now available on CD, complete with folk paper cut-outs and bonus tracks, in music stores all over Poland. Conducted by Łukasz L.U.C. Rostkowski, it features top artists – Kayah, Ralph Kamiński, Laboratorium Pieśni, Dagadana, Małgorzata Kożuchowska, Julia Wieniawa and many others. The soundtrack will compete for an Oscar nomination in the Best Original Score category.
And today marks the premiere of the second single – “Koniec lata”, which was created in collaboration with Kwiat Jabłoni, Karolina Skrzyńska and Bela Komoszyńska of Sorry Boys! It is the second single from the painted adaptation of “The Peasants”, and it echoes the four seasons of the year.
Listen to the single on streaming services:
https://agoramuzyka.ffm.to/konieclata
“Koniec Lata” combines three extraordinary female vocals with the sounds of Jacek Sienkiewicz’s mandolin, creating an unforgettable sound that accompanies the film’s final scene. It is the most contemporary track in the film but, like the entire soundtrack, it was recorded mainly on historical and acoustic instruments.
The first single, “Jesień – Tańcuj”, is breaking popularity records (more than 2.2 million plays on YouTube and 2.5 million on Spotify)!
The physical album contains as many as 24 tracks – 3 more than its streaming version. The record features many well-known artists, including Kayah, Dagadana, Laboratorium Pieśni, Sutari, Tęgie Chłopy, Bela Komaszyńska, the band Lor, Maria Pomianowska, Apolonia Nowak and T.ETNO, as well as Ukrainian artists (the Vyrij Choir) and the Belarusian bagpiper Vital Voronau. The music for “The Peasants” was created almost exclusively on authentic historical instruments.
The album cover uses the design of “The Peasants” film poster by DK Welchman and Michał Janicki, along with a painting by Małgorzata Kuźnik. Inside the cover you will find hundreds of miniatures of frames from the film “The Peasants”. In addition, the reverse of the album is adorned with paintings by Lesia Lotysh and Jelena Vezmar. The most distinctive element of the album, however, are the paper cut-outs prepared by Michał Janicki, which give the release its unique look and atmosphere.
The digital album, which premiered on 27 October, consists of 21 compositions by Łukasz L.U.C. Rostkowski and the Rebel Babel Film Orchestra.
Listen to the album on all streaming services: https://agoramuzyka.ffm.to/Chlopi
Order the CD album: https://kulturalnysklep.pl/product-pol-100085-Chlopi.html
Watch the videos:
Listen to “Jesień – Tańcuj” on all major streaming services https://agoramuzyka.ffm.to/JesienTancuj
The Agora publishing house has released an exclusive, illustrated edition of Władysław Stanisław Reymont’s Nobel Prize-winning work. Purchase link. A reprint of the book is currently in preparation – more copies will reach bookstores at the end of November.
Paintings from the film are available for purchase at: https://shop.thepeasantsmovie.com.
The film was made in Poland with financial support granted under the Act on Financial Support for Audiovisual Production by the Polish Film Institute from the funds of the Minister of Culture and National Heritage. The project was co-financed by the Polish National Foundation. The film is under the honorary patronage of the Minister of Education and Science.
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THE PEASANTS
Release date: 13 October
Synopsis: Against the backdrop of the changing seasons and seasonal work in the fields unfold the fortunes of the Boryna family and the beautiful, mysterious Jagna. It is the women, and in particular the tragic figure of Jagna, who stand at the heart of the plot. The unique microcosm of a rural community becomes the setting for a universal and remarkably topical story. A story of tragic love and life in a small community, where rules and brutal codes of conduct assign everyone a fixed place in the group, and stepping outside those narrow confines carries the threat of humiliation and rejection.
The film was made on the basis of the painting of the Young Poland period, which perfectly captures the mood of the novel. The big screen features interpretations of works by artists such as Józef Chełmoński, Ferdynand Ruszczyc and Leon Wyczółkowski.
Directed by: DK Welchman, Hugh Welchman
Screenplay: DK Welchman, Hugh Welchman
Cinematography: Radosław Ładczuk, Kamil Polak, Szymon Kuriata
Editing: DK Welchman, Patrycja Piróg, Miki Węcel
Production design: Elwira Pluta
Costumes: Katarzyna Lewińska
Make-up: Waldemar Pokromski
Music: Łukasz L.U.C. Rostkowski & Rebel Babel Orchestras (Laboratorium Pieśni, Julia Wieniawa, Tęgie Chłopy, Sutari, Szymon Lipiński)
Sound: Michał Jankowski
Casting: Ewa Brodzka
Animation director: Piotr Dominiak
Special effects: Kamil Polak
VFX Supervisor: Łukasz Mackiewicz
Line producer: Tomasz Wochniak
Producers: Sean Bobbitt, Hugh Welchman
Production: BreakThru Films
Executive producers: Laurie Ubben, Steve Muench, Sita Saviolo, DK Welchman, Kyle Stroud, Tom Ogden
Co-producers: Ivan Pribićević, Jelena Angelovski, Agnė Adomėnė
Co-production: CANAL+, Digitalkraft, Art Shot, Narodowe Centrum Kultury, Mazovia Warsaw Film Commission SKP Ślusarek Kubiak Pieczyk Sp.
Co-financed by: Polish Film Institute, Polish National Foundation, Carte Blanche, Film Center Serbia Lithuanian Film Center, Helios
Distribution: Next Film
International sales agent: New Europe Film Sales
Partners: Juice, TELEVISOR Studio, Centrum Technologii Audiowizualnych, GS Animation,
Cast (roles used in the animation): Kamila Urzędowska, Robert Gulaczyk, Mirosław Baka, Sonia Mietielica, Ewa Kasprzyk, Cezary Łukaszewicz, Małgorzata Kożuchowska, Sonia Bohosiewicz, Dorota Stalińska, Andrzej Konopka, Mateusz Rusin, Maciej Musiał, Julia Wieniawa
