BreakThru Films is an independent film production company based in

Sopot Sopot 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, and has the status of the county, being the smallest ci ...

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, documentary 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, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...

for

Best Animated Short Film The Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film is an award given by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) as part of the annual Academy Awards, or Oscars, since the 5th Academy Awards (with different names), covering the year ...

and their 2017 feature film ''

Loving Vincent ''Loving Vincent'' ( pl, Twój Vincent) is a 2017 experimental adult animated biographical drama film about the life of the painter Vincent van Gogh, and, in particular, about the circumstances of his death. It is the first fully painted animat ...

'' was Academy nominated for Academy Award for Best Animated Feature.

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 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 ''

'', 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 posthumously became one of the most famous and influential figures in Western art history. In a decade, he created about 2,100 artworks, inc ...

. 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 (french: Festival international du film d'animation d'Annecy, officially abbreviated in English as the Annecy Festival, or simply Annecy) was created in 1960 and takes place at the beginning of J ...

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 Bолк, r="Pétya i volk", p=ˈpʲetʲə i volk, links=no) Op. 67, a "symphonic fairy tale for children", is a musical composition written by Sergei Prokofiev in 1936. The narrator tells a children's s ...

'' (2006) *''

Free Jimmy ''Free Jimmy'' ( No: ''Slipp Jimmy fri'') is a 2006 adult computer-animated comedy film first released in Norwegian in 2006, and later in English in 2008. The film was written and directed by acclaimed Norwegian subculture comic book artist Chri ...

'' (2006) — Distributor *'' La Vie En Rose'' (2007) — Special Effects Company *''

The Last Thakur ''The Last Thakur'' is a 2008 British western film directed by Sadik Ahmed, written by Sadik Ahmed and Heather Taylor, and stars Ahmed Rubel, Tariq Anam Khan and Tanveer Hassan. The film is about a lone gun-man who enters a town to take reven ...

'' (2008) *'' Scratch'' (2010) *''Battle for Britain'' (2010) *''

Papa's Boy Papa's is the oldest running family group of fish and chip shops. Papas was founded in 1966, by Mr Papas, the family is currently in its third generation and still operate the businesses. In 2015 the family opened their largest restaurant to dat ...

'' (2011) *'' The Flying Machine'' (2011) *''Hound'' (2012) *''

'' (2017) *'' The Peasants'' (2022)

References

External links

* Film production companies of the United Kingdom Film production companies of Poland Documentary film production companies British animation studios 2002 establishments in Poland 2002 establishments in the United Kingdom {{PL-film-company-stub