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IFC Films announced today that it is acquiring U.S. rights to THE PAINTED BIRD directed, written, and produced by Václav Marhoul (TOBRUK, SMART PHILIP). Based on the acclaimed novel by Jerzy Kosinski, the movie was a singular achievement by Marhoul, almost 11 years in the making from the decision to acquire the rights, to the writing of the screenplay, to the casting and production lock. It is also notably, the first ever film made in the invented Interslavic language. THE PAINTED BIRD stars Petr Kotlár, Udo Kier (BLADE, MY OWN PRIVATE IDAHO) Lech Dyblik, Jitka Cvancarová, Stellan Skarsgard (DANCER IN THE DARK, NYMPHOMANIAC) Harvey Keitel (BAD LIEUTENANT, RESERVOIR DOGS), Julian Sands (A ROOM WITH A VIEW, NAKED LUNCH), Aleksey Kravchenko (COME AND SEE), and Barry Pepper (SAVING PRIVATE RYAN, THE GREEN MILE).
THE PAINTED BIRD is a meticulous 35mm black and white evocation of wild, primitive Eastern Europe at the bloody close of World War II. The film follows the journey of The Boy, entrusted by his persecuted parents to an elderly foster mother. The old woman soon dies, and the Boy is on his own, wandering through the countryside, from village to village, farmhouse to farmhouse. As he struggles for survival, The Boy suffers through extraordinary brutality meted out by the ignorant, superstitious peasants and he witnesses the terrifying violence of the efficient, ruthless soldiers, both Russian and German.
IFC Films will be releasing THE PAINTED BIRD theatrically in 2020. |
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