Film Archive

Anthropoid

Special Events 2016 / Anthropoid / Czech Republic, United Kingdom, France 2016

One of the key events of the Second World War – the assassination of Reichsprotektor Heydrich – may be filmed as a meticulous period piece, an exciting and, at the same time, oppressive drama, a precise reconstruction of a heroic act, or a thoroughgoing study of human behavior in critical situations. Sean Ellis is one of the few filmmakers capable of combining it all and stamping it with his trademark style. We will present the opening movie of the 51st KVIFF as a world premiere.

Synopsis

Reinhard Heydrich, the third most powerful man in the Nazi Reich and the principal architect of the Final Solution to the Jewish Question, died in Prague on June 4, 1942, the ultimate result of an assassination plot carried out by Czechoslovak paratroopers sent back to their homeland by their exiled government in London. For 15 years, director, screenwriter, and cameraman Sean Ellis mulled over the idea for a movie adaptation of the operation named Anthropoid, during which time he sifted through masses of available material. He knew he wanted to gain insight into the way soldiers Jozef Gabčík and Jan Kubiš felt vis-à-vis an act whose consequences for themselves would most certainly be fatal. One of the key events of the Second World War may be filmed as a meticulous period piece, an exciting and, at the same time, oppressive drama, a precise reconstruction of a heroic act, or a thoroughgoing study of human behavior in critical situations. Sean Ellis is one of the few filmmakers capable of combining it all and stamping it with his trademark style. The world premiere of this eagerly awaited film will open the 51st KVIFF.

Karel Och

About the film

120 min / Color, DCP
World premiere
Director Sean Ellis / Screenplay Sean Ellis, Anthony Frewin / Dir. of Photography Sean Ellis / Music Robin Foster / Editor Richard Mettler / Art Director Morgan Kennedy / Producer Pete Shilaimon, Mickey Liddell / Production LD Entertainment / Coproduction Lucky Man Films, 22H22, Anthropoid Productions / Cast Cillian Murphy, Jamie Dornan, Charlotte Le Bon, Anna Geislerová / Sales ICM Partners

About the director

Sean Ellis (b. 1970, Brighton, UK) moved from Brighton to London in 1994, there focusing on the profession he’d been trained for: photography. He worked with a variety of magazines, including i-D, The Face, Visionaire, GQ, Arena, Numero, and Vogue. His eventual move to filmmaking was bolstered by commercial shoots for such brands as Jean Paul Gaultier, Cartier, and Nike. His short motion pictures include Left Turn (2001), Cashback (2004) and Voyage d’affaires (2008 – BAFTA nomination for Best Short). The drama Anthropoid was preceded by the features Cashback (2006, based on his eponymous short), The Broken (2008), and Metro Manila (2012); the last of these earned the Audience Award at Sundance, three British Independent Film Awards, and was submitted by BAFTA for the Academy Award in the foreign language film category.

Contacts

ICM Partners
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Phone: +1 310 550 4440
E-mail: [email protected]