The film, which is based on the novel of the same title by Nobel Prize-winning Polish writer Władysław Reymont, is the latest offering from the directorial duo of Dorota Kobiela (DK) Welchman and Hugh Welchman, the makers of the animated feature Loving Vincent.
The Peasants is Poland’s official entry for Best International Feature Film at the 2024 Academy Awards.
The film’s soundtrack is also in the running for an Oscar nomination in the Best Original Score category. It features some of Poland’s top pop singers and groups, as well as actors, including Kayah, Ralph Kamiński, Laboratorium Pieśni, Dagadana, Małgorzata Kożuchowska, and Julia Wieniawa, under the baton of Łukasz L.U.C. Rostkowski.
The story of The Peasants is based on Reymont’s novel of the same title, which dates from the first decade of the 20th century, and has been translated into 27 languages.
According to the film’s publicity materials, the story’s main protagonist Jagna is “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."
In September, the film won the Audience Award at the Polish Film Festival in Gdynia. Its distribution rights have been sold to over 50 countries.
Reymont’s novel has twice been made into a feature film, in 1922 and 1972. The 1972 version was also made into a highly popular television series.
(mk/gs)