29/03/2021 - The Netflix-produced third movie by the director of I Never Cry is set in 1980s communist Poland and is based on extensive research; the release is slated for autumn 2021

Nowadays, Poland is no country for homosexual men (or women), as the governing party calls LGBT “an ideology” while also making a host of other shameful remarks. Resentment and hatred towards sexual minorities is nothing new, however. In Operation Hyacinth, filmmaker Piotr Domalewski (Silent Night [+see also:
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interview: Dawid Ogrodnik
interview: Piotr Domalewski
film profile], I Never Cry [+see also:
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interview: Piotr Domalewski
film profile]) takes a plunge into the 1980s to tell a story about a serial killer hunting gay people and a young policeman called Robert (Tomasz Ziętek), who is trying to catch him. While investigating these murders, Robert meets Arek (The Woods’ Hubert Miłkowski) and wants him to be his informant. And, as in many previous crime films, the case will have an influence on the protagonist’s personal life and will lead him to discover a much grander scheme.

The story is written by Marcin Ciastoń, and the cast also includes Ada Chlebicka, Tomasz Schuchardt, Marek Kalita and Agnieszka Suchora. Operation Hyacinth was produced for Netflix by Warsaw-based Shipsboy (Adventures of a Mathematician [+see also:
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Operation Hyacinth was first announced during the first so-called “Polish Netflix roadshow”, which presented eight other Polish titles either due to be premiered on Netflix or being produced by the streaming juggernaut. Prime Time [+see also:
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film profile] by Jakub Piątek, which was screened at Sundance, in the World Cinema Dramatic Competition, is first up and is expected to be released in Poland on 14 April and worldwide on 30 June. Jak pokochałam gangstera (How I Fell in Love with a Gangster), a Netflix original, is the sequel to Maciej Kawulski’s box-office hit How I Became a Gangster. A True Story [+see also:
trailer
film profile] and will land on Netflix in the first half of 2022. As for episodic series, three of these will be on offer in 2021: Sexify by Piotr Domalewski and Kalina Albrudzińska, produced by Akson Studio; Otwórz Oczy (Open Your Eyes) by Anna Jadowska (Erotica 2022 [+see also:
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interview: Adrian Panek
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2022 will welcome four more shows. Firstly, there is Axis Mundi, which is being co-directed by Kasia Adamik and Olga Chajdas, who worked together with Agnieszka Holland and Agnieszka Smoczyńska on the first Polish Netflix original series, 1983. Their new offering tells the story of a medical student who is confronted with the world of ancient Slavic myths. Among the other upcoming productions is the second Polish adaptation of Harlan Coben’s literary works (the previous one, The Woods, was released in May 2020), directed by Bartek Konopka and Michał Gazda, and titled Zachowaj spokój (Remain Calm). Meanwhile, Wielka Woda (Deep Water) is being helmed by Jan Holoubek (25 Years of Innocence. The Case of Tomek Komenda [+see also:
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film profile]) and Bartłomiej Iganciuk, and is set in 1996, during the so-called flood of century. The fourth and final one is Królowa (Queen), directed by Łukasz Kośmicki (The Coldest Game [+see also:
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interview: Łukasz Kośmicki
film profile]). Telemark is producing Wielka Woda and Zachowaj Spokój, while Opus TV is the company on board Królowa.