Netflix has bought global rights to Polish feature “The Hater,” which won Best International Narrative Feature at this year’s Tribeca Film Festival.
The film will be available worldwide, excluding Poland, from July. Polish subscribers will have access to the film “as soon as the licensing window allows, which is planned for March 2021,” according to a Netflix spokesperson.
Directed by Oscar-nominated “Corpus Christi” filmmaker Jan Komasa, the film portrays a society grappling with its communist past and European present. It follows disgraced law student Tomek (Maciej Musiałowski) who is trying to get the attention of childhood friend Gabi (Vanessa Aleksander) and the respect of his progressive family.
When he takes a job at a high-profile but morally bankrupt PR company to impress Gabi, Tomek finds he excels at the political games he is asked to orchestrate on social media — though it comes at a high price.
“The Hater” is penned by Mateusz Pacewicz, and produced by Naima Film (Poland). Canal Plus, TVN Poland and distributor Kino Swiat are co-producers. Producers include Jerzy Kapuściński and Wojciech Kabarowski.
Tribeca revealed its award winners on April 29. Originally set to take place from April 15-26, the festival was postponed back in March, but revealed it would go ahead with juried prizes, which were ultimately announced on Instagram.
“The Hater,” which is distributed by Kino Swiat, was the first Polish film to have qualified for Tribeca’s Best International Narrative Feature prize, which was awarded in 2019 to Bora Kim’s “House of Hummingbird” from South Korea.