Fugitive Pieces

142

107 minutes – Drama
Language: English
Festival release date: September 6, 2007 (TIFF)
Release date: May 2, 2008
DVD release date: October 14, 2008
Distributor: Maximum Film Distribution

Fugitive Pieces, based on the acclaimed best-seller by Anne Michaels, tells the story of a seven-year-old Jewish-Polish boy, Jakob Beer (played, as an adult, by Stephen Dillane). Jakob witnesses the massacre of his family and the abduction of his sister, Bella by Nazi soldiers in the Second World War. But he survives and is rescued by a Greek geologist, Athos Roussos (Rade Serbedzija), who takes him to his native island of Zakynthos. Years later, the two move to Toronto after Athos accepts a university post. Jakob embarks on marriage, first to the animated and exhilarating Alex (Rosamund Pike), but the marriage doesn’t work and they are divorced. Later in life he marries again. Written and directed by Jeremy Podeswa who spent over 6 years crafting the highly poetic novel into a screenplay, the movie features an international cast and was shot in Toronto and Greece on a budget of $10-million US dollars. Quoted in an article in the Globe and Mail, producer Robert Lantos said, “This story cuts through religious, ethnic and cultural divides. It’s a story in which the most noble of human instincts overcomes the horrors around it.”

Fugitive Pieces, movie, poster,

Crew:

Producer:

Robert Lantos

Co-Producer:

Sandra Cunningham
Dionyssis Samiotis
Takis Veremis

Director:

Jeremy Podeswa

Screenwriter:

Jeremy Podeswa

Cinematographer:

Greg Middleton

Editor:

Wiebke von Carolsfeld

Composer:

Nikos Kypourgos

Cast: Roles:

Stephen Dillane
Rosamund Pike
Rade Sherbedgia
Ayelet Zurer
Robbie Kay
Rachelle Lefevre
Nina Dobrev
Larissa Laskin
Devon Bostick
Jennifer Podemski
Danai Skiadi
Elli Fotiou
Michael Stevens
Memos Begnis
Yorgos Karamihos
Themis Bazaka
Monika Schurmann
Brigitte Solem
Daniel Kash
Sarah Orenstein
Maggie Huculak
Marcia Bennett

Jakob Beer
Alex
Athos

Young Jakob
Naomi
Bella Beer
Irina

Marylin
Allegra, younger
Allegra, older
Book publisher
Makis
Ioannis
Mrs. Serenos
Jakob’s mother
Ellen
Maurice
Sara
Librarian
Mrs. Taylor