Right before Berlinale Variety, the American magazine showcased an exclusive footage from Mr. Jones historical thriller directed by Golden Globe recipient and Academy Award nominee Agnieszka Holland.
“We wanted to describe the whole mechanism of Jones entering consecutive circles of hell, confronting brutal reality with his idealism, youthfulness, and courage, in an evocative way, yet simply and straightforwardly. We knew, when shooting this film, that we were telling an important timeless story. But only after I realized how relevant today is this tale about the fake news, alternative realities, corruption of the media, the cowardice of governments, and indifference of people. The clash of Jones’ courage and determination against Duranty’s cynical opportunism and cowardice is still valid as well. Today we lack Orwells and Joneses. That is why we brought them back to life”, says Agnieszka Holland, director.
FYI. Mr. Jones will participate in the main competition program of the 69th Berlin International Film Festival; this festival is hosting the film’s world premiere.
FYI. Historical thriller Mr. Jones is a real untold story about a young Welsh journalist Gareth Jones who went to the Soviet Union in 1933 to uncover the truth about the crimes of Stalin’s regime and the Famine in Ukraine and to tell the global community about it. He saw the famine in his own eyes and told the world loudly about it. However, the world remained silent, Western politicians did not wish to hear an inconvenient story, and respected media did not support the journalist in his struggle for the truth, continuing to publish alternative news produced in Moscow. Something which seemed a regular journalist investigation at first turned into a deadly dangerous journey; its discoveries became the basis for Animal Farm, an allegorical novel by George Orwell.
The director of the film is Agnieszka Holland, head of European Film Academy, an Academy Award and BAFTA nominee, a recipient of Silver Bear at Berlinale 2017. The lead roles are played by James Norton (World and Peace, Happy Valley, McMafia), Vanessa Kirby (The Crown, Mission: Impossible – Fallout, Hobbs, and Shaw), and Peter Sarsgaard (Jackie, The Magnificent Seven, An Education). Besides, the team features Joseph Mawle (The Game of Thrones) and Kenneth Cranham (Maleficent, Valkyrie) as well as Ukrainian actors Yakiv Tkachenko (Pryputni), Oleg Drach (Battle for Sevastopol, Prayer for Hetman Mazepa), Volodymyr Fedoruk, Anna Shaydyuk, Anastasia Chala, and Alina Kovalska.
Mr Jones is a film jointly produced by Poland (Film Produkcja with the support of Polish Film Institute), Ukraine (Kinorob with the support of Ukrainian State Film Agency) and the UK (Jones Boy Films). In March 2018 the filming took place in Ukraine, then the international team worked in Poland and Scotland.
Worldwide and Ukrainian release is planned for autumn 2019. The general media partner and broadcaster is Ukraina TV channel.
