Netflix is continuing its investment in European productions with the announcement of its first Polish language Netflix original series. Academy Award-nominee Agnieszka Holland and Kasia Adamik will direct the eight-episode season, which will be shot in various cities and regions in Poland. The show is expected to launch to Netflix members around the world in 2018.
Following in the great tradition of Cold War spy thrillers, this alternative history series takes place in a world where the Iron Curtain never fell. Now, in 2002, twenty years after a devastating terrorist attack in 1982 that halted the course of Poland’s liberation and the subsequent downfall of the Soviet Union, an idealistic law student and a disgraced police investigator stumble upon a conspiracy that has kept the Iron Curtain standing and Poland living under a repressive police state. After two decades of peace and prosperity, the leaders of the regime enact a secret plan that was made with an unlikely adversary in the 1980s that will radically transform Poland and affect the lives of every citizen in the nation — and the world. What these two men discover has the potential to ignite a popular revolution and those in power will stop at nothing to keep it a secret.
The series was created and written by Joshua Long and will be produced for Netflix by The Kennedy/Marshall Company and The House Media Company. Frank Marshall (Jurassic World, Jason Bourne) and Robert Zotnowski (House of Cards) will be Executive Producers on the series for The Kennedy/Marshall Company, along with Polish producer Andrzej Besztak (House Media), Joshua Long, Maciej Musiał and Agnieszka Holland. The highly-acclaimed Polish director returns to Netflix after having already directed several episodes of House of Cards.
“We are really happy that we’ll be able to combine the wonderful experience of the Netflix team, our great American producers and writer, with Polish talent and a Polish sensibility,” said director Agnieszka Holland and Producer Frank Marshall added: “I have wanted to work with Agnieszka for a long time, so I’m very excited to be producing this series for Netflix alongside a very talented Polish cast and crew.”
“We’re thrilled to confirm that we will be producing our first original series in the Polish language and are very happy to be working with The Kennedy/Marshall Company and House Media on this project alongside great Polish director Agnieszka Holland. We are confident that this genre will not only resonate with the Polish audience but will also travel globally and we can’t wait to share more details later this year,” said Erik Barmack, Vice President of International Original Series at Netflix.
With more than seventy films to his credit, Frank Marshall is a visionary producer who has helped shape American cinema. Marshall’s credits as a producer include some of the most successful and enduring films of all time, including Best Picture nominations for such films as Raiders of the Lost Ark, The Color Purple, The Sixth Sense, Seabiscuit and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. Recent films include Jurassic World, Jason Bourne and Clint Eastwood’s Sully.
The House Media Company was founded in 2009 by Andrzej Besztak and Grzegorz Olkowski, two film and television industry veterans. Apart from its founders, The House Media Company is comprised of some of the best and most experienced production teams in Poland. Their joint forces have created hundreds of films, TV programmes and commercials.
