The Peasants

Using an astonishingly beautiful, literally hand-painted-over-animated-images technique throughout its length, The Peasants is set in the Polish countryside of the 19th century. It’s from the makers of Loving Vincent, which used a similar technique in their earlier film about Van Gogh, and this film has the decadence of Dutch painting as well. Comprised of over 40,000 hand-painted frames, the story follows Jagna, a young woman determined to forge her own path within the confines of her petty, sometimes even nasty agrarian community.

“With its feel for both beauty and ugliness, the film transports us to this unfamiliar milieu with a richness rarely attempted in the cinema anymore”—Kyle Smith, Wall Street Journal.

“The Peasants is another jaw-dropping feature from the DK Welchman and Hugh Welchman. It's an extraordinary accomplishment, that even six years after Loving Vincent, feels like another step forward for what animation can do. As a live-action film, The Peasants would’ve been a grand achievement, but by taking the time to animate these frames and add that extra texture to this story, the Welchmans have made one of the most impressive animated films of the year by far."—Collider.

In Polish and Latin with English subtitles.