When Polish lawmakers tabled a contentious new bill last fall that would all but make abortion illegal, tens of thousands took to the streets across the country in protest, voicing their anger at the steady erosion of women’s rights in the conservative, Catholic nation led by a right-wing government.
Among the demonstrators on the front lines was Agnieszka Holland, the three-time Oscar-nominated director, who has become almost as recognized in recent years for her staunch opposition to the ruling Law and Justice party as her prolific output across a long, celebrated career.
“This anti-abortion law is so unbearable and so brutal that it, by now, is a tragedy,” Holland tells Variety. But the director adds that the protests have also sparked an awakening, particularly among the younger generation. “It’s quite a strong voice,” she says. “This change is happening.”
For the Polish film industry, that change has been a long time coming.
Among the demonstrators on the front lines was Agnieszka Holland, the three-time Oscar-nominated director, who has become almost as recognized in recent years for her staunch opposition to the ruling Law and Justice party as her prolific output across a long, celebrated career.
“This anti-abortion law is so unbearable and so brutal that it, by now, is a tragedy,” Holland tells Variety. But the director adds that the protests have also sparked an awakening, particularly among the younger generation. “It’s quite a strong voice,” she says. “This change is happening.”
For the Polish film industry, that change has been a long time coming.
- 3/2/2021
- by Christopher Vourlias
- Variety Film + TV
The Hunter’s Son
Dutch director Ricky Rijneke lands Jérémie Renier to topline her sophomore feature The Hunter’s Son, described as a “man’s story told by women.” Rijneke’s producer is Mildred van Leeuwaarden, with co-production from Poland’s Magdalena Kaminskaana and Agata Szymanska, Iceland’s Birgitta Bjornsdottir, and Belgium’s Ellen De Waele. Her latest project has been filtered through the Torino Film Lab, the Toronto Talent Lab (where Malgorzata Szumowska and Wim Wenders served as mentors) and the Sam Spiegel Lab. Rijneke’s 2007 short “Wing: The Fish that Talked Back” was programmed in Locarno and her 2013 feature Silent Ones competed in Rotterdam.…...
Dutch director Ricky Rijneke lands Jérémie Renier to topline her sophomore feature The Hunter’s Son, described as a “man’s story told by women.” Rijneke’s producer is Mildred van Leeuwaarden, with co-production from Poland’s Magdalena Kaminskaana and Agata Szymanska, Iceland’s Birgitta Bjornsdottir, and Belgium’s Ellen De Waele. Her latest project has been filtered through the Torino Film Lab, the Toronto Talent Lab (where Malgorzata Szumowska and Wim Wenders served as mentors) and the Sam Spiegel Lab. Rijneke’s 2007 short “Wing: The Fish that Talked Back” was programmed in Locarno and her 2013 feature Silent Ones competed in Rotterdam.…...
- 12/30/2019
- by Nicholas Bell
- IONCINEMA.com
Renier previously starred in ’Frankie’ and ‘L’Amant Double’.
Belgian star Jérémie Renier has been confirmed as the lead of Dutch director Ricky Rijneke’s second feature, The Hunter’s Son, which has been wrapping up its financing in this week’s Venice gap financing market.
The budget is now complete for the French-language film, which will start shooting in Iceland in March. Eurimages has now come on board. Several sales agents are reported to be vying for the project.
The Hunter’s Son is billed by producers as a “man’s story told by women.” The lead producer is...
Belgian star Jérémie Renier has been confirmed as the lead of Dutch director Ricky Rijneke’s second feature, The Hunter’s Son, which has been wrapping up its financing in this week’s Venice gap financing market.
The budget is now complete for the French-language film, which will start shooting in Iceland in March. Eurimages has now come on board. Several sales agents are reported to be vying for the project.
The Hunter’s Son is billed by producers as a “man’s story told by women.” The lead producer is...
- 9/2/2019
- by Geoffrey Macnab
- ScreenDaily
A few years ago, when she was still an up-and-coming producer in Warsaw, Klaudia Smieja met skeptics who thought she’d bit off more than she could chew with “Mr. Jones”: an ambitious, 1930s-set drama directed by Academy Award nominee Agnieszka Holland, with a €10 million ($11.3 million) budget that dwarfed the typical ask for a Polish feature film.
But Smieja set her sights beyond Poland. Selected as one of European Film Promotion’s Producers on the Move in 2016 — a group that’s feted annually on the Croisette during the Cannes Film Festival — she joined a network of ambitious young talents from around the continent. Like her, many were emerging producers touting risky projects while learning to finesse complicated financing structures.
“It really gave me power to push ‘Mr. Jones,’” says Smieja, who was lead producer on a Poland-Ukraine-u.K. co-production that world premiered in competition at the Berlin Film Festival this year.
But Smieja set her sights beyond Poland. Selected as one of European Film Promotion’s Producers on the Move in 2016 — a group that’s feted annually on the Croisette during the Cannes Film Festival — she joined a network of ambitious young talents from around the continent. Like her, many were emerging producers touting risky projects while learning to finesse complicated financing structures.
“It really gave me power to push ‘Mr. Jones,’” says Smieja, who was lead producer on a Poland-Ukraine-u.K. co-production that world premiered in competition at the Berlin Film Festival this year.
- 5/16/2019
- by Christopher Vourlias
- Variety Film + TV
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