Poland’s Oscar Committee has decided that the film “Peasants”, directed by DK and Hugh Welchmans and co-produced by the National Cultural Centre, is the Polish candidate for an Oscar in the Best International Feature Film category.

The film has already been recognised at the 48th Polish Film Festival in Gdynia, where it won a special award and the Audience Award. The world premiere of ‘Peasants’ took place at the beginning of September this year in the Special Presentation section of the Toronto festival.

The six-member Oscar Committee, chaired by Ewa Puszczyńska, producer of, among others, the films “Ida” and “Cold War”, justifies its decision:

“The authors of ‘Peasants’ have presented another impressive, animated film, not only repeating the triumph of ‘Vincent’, but going much further, achieving a new level of dynamism in animation, in which the camera is not just an observer, but a participant. The film touches on important and still relevant social themes; the oppression of women, their dependence and even belonging to a man, sexual violence, harassment. It is a story that will be understood around the world, across borders and political divides.

Like DK Hugh Welchmans’ previous film ‘Your Vincent’, this one too was made using the technique of painterly animation. The main inspiration came from the paintings of the Young Poland period and a novel by Władysław Reymont.

The Oscar shortlist, consisting of fifteen films from which the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences will then select the five nominees in the Best Foreign Language Film (formerly Best Non-English Language Film) category, will be announced on 21 December 2023. The official Oscar nominations will be announced on 23 January 2024 and the Oscars Gala itself will take place in Los Angeles on Sunday, 10 March 2024.

DK and Hugh Welchmans were previously nominated for an Oscar for the film ‘Your Vincent”.

Adrian Andrzejewski