Entitled ‘The Peasants’, it is based on Władysław Reymont’s Nobel Prize-winning novel of the same title, which was written in four volumes between 1904 and 1909 and translated into 27 languages.
The film, starring leading Polish actors, is produced in the painting animation technique which was first applied in ‘Loving Vincent’.
Hugh Welchman, the film’s co-director, told the media: “‘The Peasants’ has been another journey of discovery for us, that has allowed us to go deeper into the emotional possibilities and the aesthetic beauty that our oil-painting animation technique can bring to filmic story-telling. It has also allowed us to bring Reymont’s powerful story of peasant life, which despite its Nobel Prize is now largely unknown outside of Poland, to the world. I couldn’t imagine a better place than Toronto to share it with the viewers for the very first time”.
According to the film’s publicity materials: “’The Peasants’ tells the story of Jagna, a young woman determined to forge her own path within the confines of a late 19th century Polish village - a hotbed of gossip and on-going feuds, held together, rich and poor, by pride in their land, adherence to colourful traditions and a deep-rooted patriarchy.
When Jagna finds herself caught between the conflicting desires of the village’s richest farmer, his eldest son and other leading men of the community, her resistance puts her on a tragic collision course with the community around her. This unique microworld of rural community is a pretext to tell a universal and current story. A story of tragic love and life in a small community, where rules and tradition dictate everyone’s role, and stepping outside of what’s expected of you could result in ridicule and rejection”.
Last year, ‘The Peasants’ was published in an English translation by Penguin, which described the book as “one of Poland's most engrossing twentieth-century epics”. (mk/pm)