6 February 2013 Agnieszka Holland will shoot a film based on Olga Tokarczuk’s novel

Agnieszka Holland is planning to make a film based on the novel Drive Your Plough Over The Bones Of The Dead [Prowadź swój pług przez kości umarłych] by Olga Tokarczuk. ‘This film is very personal to me. It is a story set in the times of my youth in Prague about the events in which I  participated and which formed my outlook,’ said Agnieszka Holland to the Polish Press Agency (PAP).

The director told PAP that it is too early to discuss the details of the film, such as the start date of shooting or the cast. We would like to remind you that Olga Tokarczuk was a guest of the 1st edition of the International Joseph Conrad Literature Festival.

The aforementioned novel was published in 2009. ‘It is a moral thriller’, said Olga Tokarczuk about the book. ‘I wrote a detective story about a struggle between an old lady and murderers who are protected by the law, which is set in the windy and rainy scenery of the Kłodzko Valley,’ said the writer during one of her meetings with readers.

The main protagonist of the novel is Janina Duszejko – formerly a bridge engineer, currently a rural teacher of English and geography and a caretaker of summer houses. She is 60 years old. Her passion is astrology, and she is a great lover of all animals. A string of murders takes its toll on poachers, hunters and tormentors of animals in the neighbourhood where Janina lives. The list of victims continues to grow, but the police cannot find the murderer.

‘Why is it a moral thriller? Because the main protagonist asks herself: how should an individual behave towards the law that is unethical? She becomes a witness of appalling cruelty and violence and before she starts to seek her own solutions, she tries to use all available legal means of intervention. She acts like a law-abiding citizen who takes care of the common good, but to no avail. Officials and policemen also dismiss her because she is only an eccentric sick old lady dabbling on astrology, who is not supported by any power’, said Tokarczuk about the book.

When asked about her other plans, Agnieszka Holland said that she is interested in making a film about Jan Karski. ‘I am trying to find a producer for this film,’ she explained.