{mosimage}The Mill and the Cross is based on Brueghel's painting Christ Carrying a Cross and inspired by a book of the same title written by art critic and connoisseur Michael Gibson. Majewski portrays 16th century Flanders using an experimental film style to intertwine the story of the life of a Flemish painter with scenes of Christ's passion.
The film was one of the biggest productions made in Poland in 2009. The Polish-Swedish international coproduction included not only a detailed reconstructed historic set and costumes but also multilevel film shots and the use of 3D techniques. The shoot took place in several locations in Silesia starting in November 2008.
{mosimage}The movie was produced by Angelus Silesius Society, a company co-founded by Majewski, with a budget of PLN 4.2 million (€1.1 million). The main funding comes from Polish TV (www.tvp.pl) and the Polish Film Institute (www.pisf.pl), which granted €390,000 for production. The coproducers are Film Institution "Silesia Film," Arkana Studio (www.arkanastudio.pl), Supra Film (www.suprafilm.com), Odeon (www.odeon.com.pl), 24 Media (www.24media.pl), the Swedish company Bokomotiv (www.bokomotiv.se), and Piramida (www.piramidafilm.pl).The international cast includes Charlotte Rampling, Rutger Hauer and Michael York.
Majewski is one of the most internationally recognized Polish filmmakers and visual artists, whose creative output includes poetry, opera and painting. Born in 1953, he is a graduate of the Film School in Łódź. His most important works include experimental forms of film narration such as Wojaczek, Angelus and Glass Lips.
{mosimage}The film was distributed on 18 copies in March 2011 following a worldwide campaign of international premieres at the Sundance Film Festival (23 January 2011), Louvre Museum (2 February 2011), Rotterdam IFF (30 January 2011), and Goteborg IFF (3 February 2011). Special premiere screenings of the film were held in Warsaw (14 March 2011) and Cracow (15 March 2011). Foreign distribution is planned for the end of 2011. The international sales agent is Wide Management (www.widemanagement.com). The Polish distributor is ITI Cinema (www.iticinema.com.pl).
Official website of the film: www.themillandthecross.com
Credits:
Director - Lech Majewski
Screenwriter - Michael Francis Gibson, Lech Majewski
Director of Photography - Lech Majewski, Adam Sikora
Music - Lech Majewski, Józef Skrzek
Production Design - Katarzyna Sobańska, Marcel Sławiński
Sound - Marian Bogacki, Bartłomiej Bogacki
Film Editing: Norbert Rudzik
Costume Design - Dorota Roqueplo
Production manager -Małgorzata Domin, Piotr Ledwig
Production - ANGELUS SILESIUS
Producer - Lech Majewski
Co-produced by: TVP S.A., PIRAMIDA FILM, Odeon Rybarczyk Productions, 24MEDIA, Arkana Studio, Supra Film, I.F. SILESIA FILM
Distribution: ITI
World Sales: WIDE Management
Cast:
Charlotte Rampling
Rutger Hauer
Joanna Litwin
Michael York
