The feature-length animated film The Peasants, co-produced by Digitalkraft from Serbia, produced by Ivan Pribićević and Jelena Angelovski, had its world premiere on September 8th in the Special Presentations program of the 48th Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF).
22 painters from Serbia, with supervisors Biserka Petrović and Vladimir Vinkić, together with the VFX team of the production company Digitalkraft, worked on this film by director Dorota Kobiela Welchman and director Hugh Welchman, who were nominated for an Oscar, Golden Globe and BAFTA award for the film Loving Vincent about the life of Vincent Van Gogh, Foreign co-producers of the film are BreakThru Films from Poland and Art Shot from Lithuania.
The plot is based on the novel by Vladislav Raymont, winner of the Nobel Prize. It is a tragic story about a peasant girl, Yagna, who is forced to marry a much older, rich farmer, Borina, despite her love for his son Antek. Over time, Yagna becomes the object of envy and hatred of the villagers and must fight to preserve her independence. The action takes place in a Polish village at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, and the dramatic twists and turns of the story are related to the changing seasons, hard work in the fields and traditional local holidays.
This unique microcosm of the village community serves as an occasion to tell a universal and contemporary story, about tragic love and life in a small community where rules and traditions determine everyone’s roles, and going beyond what is expected can result in ridicule and rejection.
Director Dorothy Kobiela Welchman and director Hugh Welchman’s previous film Loving Vincent earned $42 million at the box office. The Peasants was filmed using the same painting technique that won the hearts of fans around the world.