BreakThru Films is an independent film production company based in

Sopot Sopot (; or ) is a seaside resort city in Pomerelia on the southern coast of the Baltic Sea in northern Poland, with a population of approximately 40,000. It is located in Pomeranian Voivodeship, Pomerania Province and has the City with powiat ri ...

in Poland. Founded in 2002 by Hugh Welchman and initially based in the United Kingdom. The company concentrated mostly in the production of short films,

animation Animation is a filmmaking technique whereby still images are manipulated to create moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on transparent celluloid sheets to be photographed and exhibited on film. Animati ...

documentary A documentary film (often described simply as a documentary) is a nonfiction Film, motion picture intended to "document reality, primarily for instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". The American author and ...

and live-stage shows but has since focused mainly on feature films. Their 2006 short film ''Peter and the Wolf'' was awarded an

Academy Award The Academy Awards, commonly known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit in film. They are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in the United States in recognition of excellence ...

for Best Animated Short Film and their 2017 feature film '' Loving Vincent'' was Academy nominated for

Academy Award for Best Animated Feature The Academy Award for Best Animated Feature is an Academy Awards, Academy Award presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) for the best animation, animated feature film. An animated feature is defined by the a ...

History

BreakThru Films was founded in 2002 by Hugh Welchman, initially producing a number of short films before diversifying into feature, animation and theatre-based projects. In 2007, they produced Alex, a stage show based on the

Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a British daily broadsheet conservative newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed in the United Kingdom and internationally. It was foun ...

comic strip of the same name, that combined live performances and animation. It premiered in London West End in Autumn 2007 and has since been touring in Sydney, Hong Kong, Singapore and Dubai. In 2008, the BreakThru animated short, ''Peter and the Wolf'', won an

for Best Short Film (Animated). They have also produced a number of live-action films, such as ''Scratch'' and '' The Last Thakur'', as well as the upcoming ''The Flying Machine'', a film which combines live-action and animation, and stars Heather Graham and Lang Lang. As well as developing their own productions, BreakThru have served as Visual Effects producers for ''La Vie En Rose'', and were the UK distributor for the 2006 animated film, '' Free Jimmy''. Since 2012, BreakThru films has been based in the tricity area of Poland, with main production of '' Loving Vincent'' being completed in Gdańsk.

''Loving Vincent''

In 2017, Breakthru Films released '' Loving Vincent'', the world's first fully painted feature film, completed in the painting style of

Vincent van Gogh Vincent Willem van Gogh (; 30 March 185329 July 1890) was a Dutch Post-Impressionist painter who is among the most famous and influential figures in the history of Western art. In just over a decade, he created approximately 2,100 artworks ...

. Initial production of the film began in 2012 after the idea was picked up by BreakThru, based on director Dorota Kobiela's concept for a short film that told the story of Vincent van Gogh's life through his moving paintings. Together with finding appropriate painters and training them, live action shooting and actual painting for the film, the project took 5 years to complete and was finished by early 2017. It was then shown for the first time at the

Annecy International Animated Film Festival The Annecy International Animation Film Festival (, officially abbreviated in English as the Annecy Festival, or simply Annecy) was created in 1960 and takes place at the beginning of June in the town of Annecy, France. Initially occurring ever ...

in June 2017. The film went on to receive numerous awards as well as Oscar, Golden Globe and BAFTA nominations. In early 2019 a documentary film about ''Loving Vincent'' came out called ''Loving Vincent: The Impossible Dream''.

Production and distribution

*''The Clap'' (2005) *''

Peter and the Wolf ''Peter and the Wolf'' ( rus, Петя и волк, Pétya i volk, p=ˈpʲetʲə i volk) Op. 67, a "symphonic tale for children", is a Program music , programmatic musical composition written by Sergei Prokofiev in 1936. The narrator tells a ...

'' (2006) *'' Free Jimmy'' (2006) — Distributor *'' La Vie En Rose'' (2007) — Special Effects Company *'' The Last Thakur'' (2008) *'' Scratch'' (2010) *''Battle for Britain'' (2010) *'' Papa's Boy'' (2011) *'' The Flying Machine'' (2011) *''

Hound A hound is a type of hunting dog used by hunters to track or chase prey. Description Hounds can be contrasted with gun dogs that assist hunters by identifying prey and/or recovering shot quarry. The hound breeds were the first hunting dogs. ...

'' (2014-2018) — Original publisher *'' Loving Vincent'' (2017) *''

The Peasants ''The Peasants'' () is a novel written by the Polish author Władysław Reymont in four parts between 1904 and 1909. He started writing it in 1897, but because of a railway accident and health problems, it took seven years to complete. The first ...

'' (2023) *'' A Winter's Journey'' (TBA)

References

External links

* * * {{Authority control Film production companies of the United Kingdom Film production companies of Poland Documentary film production companies British animation studios Polish animation studios 2002 establishments in Poland 2002 establishments in the United Kingdom