Molly Parker (“Lost in Space”) and Brian J. Smith (“Treadstone”) have been cast in upcoming Canadian ITV Studios drama “Essex County.”
Joining them as lead cast are Stephen McHattie (“October Faction”), Finlay Wojtak-Hissong (“Blood”) and Kevin Durand (“Pantheon”). Christina Piovesan, executive producer and CEO of First Generation Films unveiled the casting.
The five-episode series is based on Jeff Lemire’s graphic novel of the same name, which explores themes of loss, betrayal, trauma and redemption via two families living in a rural community. Lemire is also writing and showrunning the series, which is directed by Andrew Cividino (“Schitt’s Creek”). Eilis Kirwan is co-writing and exec producing.
Following the death of his mother, 11-year-old Lester (Wojtak-Hissong) moves in with his uncle Ken (Smith), a stoic farmer, who must raise Lester while coping with his own grief. Lester soon turns to Jimmy (Durand) as a surrogate father although Jimmy can barely look after himself.
Joining them as lead cast are Stephen McHattie (“October Faction”), Finlay Wojtak-Hissong (“Blood”) and Kevin Durand (“Pantheon”). Christina Piovesan, executive producer and CEO of First Generation Films unveiled the casting.
The five-episode series is based on Jeff Lemire’s graphic novel of the same name, which explores themes of loss, betrayal, trauma and redemption via two families living in a rural community. Lemire is also writing and showrunning the series, which is directed by Andrew Cividino (“Schitt’s Creek”). Eilis Kirwan is co-writing and exec producing.
Following the death of his mother, 11-year-old Lester (Wojtak-Hissong) moves in with his uncle Ken (Smith), a stoic farmer, who must raise Lester while coping with his own grief. Lester soon turns to Jimmy (Durand) as a surrogate father although Jimmy can barely look after himself.
- 10/13/2022
- by K.J. Yossman
- Variety Film + TV
Kaelen Meuiner, Garret Dillahunt, Oliver Sherman Monsieur Lazhar, Philippe Falardeau: Genie Award Winners INTERPRÉTATION Masculine Dans Un Premier RÔLE / Performance By An Actor In A Leading Role * Fellag – Monsieur Lazhar Garret Dillahunt – Oliver Sherman Michael Fassbender – A Dangerous Method Patrick Huard – Starbuck Scott Speedman – Edwin Boyd: Citizen Gangster INTERPRÉTATION FÉMININE Dans Un Premier RÔLE / Performance By An Actress In A Leading Role Catherine De LÉAN – Nuit #1 Pascale Montpetit – The Girl in the White Coat * Vanessa Paradis – Café de Flore Rachel Weisz – The Whistleblower Michelle Williams – Take This Waltz INTERPRÉTATION Masculine Dans Un RÔLE De Soutien / Performance By An Actor In A Supporting Role Antoine Bertrand – Starbuck Kevin Durand – Edwin Boyd: Citizen Gangster Marin Gerrier – Café de Flore Taylor Kitsch – The Bang Bang Club * Viggo Mortensen – A Dangerous Method INTERPRÉTATION FÉMININE Dans Un RÔLE De Soutien / Performance By An Actress In A Supporting Role Roxana Condurache – The Whistleblower...
- 3/9/2012
- by Steve Montgomery
- Alt Film Guide
Chicago – I have a sneaking suspicion that if The Weinstein Company had acquired this film and released it during the 2011 awards season, Rachel Weisz would currently be an Oscar nominee. After playing an assortment of vulnerable, photogenic damsels throughout her career, Weisz delivers her most potent and compelling work to date in Larysa Kondracki’s fact-based thriller.
Though the actress has won an Oscar before, it was for her rather thankless role in Fernando Meirelles’s downbeat drama, “The Constant Gardener.” “The Whistleblower” functions as a smart follow-up to Alejandro Amenábar’s equally overlooked 2009 gem, “Agora,” in which Weisz played another strong-willed rebel who risked everything in pursuit of the truth. Both Hypatia in “Agora” and Kathryn Bolkovac in “The Whistleblower” are empowering figures with unsettling life stories that hit all too close to home.
DVD Rating: 3.5/5.0
Despite some narrative contrivances and a manipulative third-act twist, Kondracki’s film is...
Though the actress has won an Oscar before, it was for her rather thankless role in Fernando Meirelles’s downbeat drama, “The Constant Gardener.” “The Whistleblower” functions as a smart follow-up to Alejandro Amenábar’s equally overlooked 2009 gem, “Agora,” in which Weisz played another strong-willed rebel who risked everything in pursuit of the truth. Both Hypatia in “Agora” and Kathryn Bolkovac in “The Whistleblower” are empowering figures with unsettling life stories that hit all too close to home.
DVD Rating: 3.5/5.0
Despite some narrative contrivances and a manipulative third-act twist, Kondracki’s film is...
- 2/7/2012
- by adam@hollywoodchicago.com (Adam Fendelman)
- HollywoodChicago.com
★★★★☆ Canadian filmmaker Laraysa Kondracki's extraordinary debut feature The Whistleblower - starring Rachel Weisz, Monica Bellucci, Vanessa Redgrave and Benedict Cumberbatch - focuses on sex-trafficking in post-war Bosnia. Co-scripted by Kondracki and Eilis Kirwan, the film also exposes some of the wider issues associated with war - in particular, how violence and brutality often persist though the uneasy transition into peace.
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- 1/16/2012
- by CineVue
- CineVue
Academy-award winning actress Rachel Weisz’s The Whistleblower will release in India on October 21, 2011.
PVR Pictures will release the film which is directed by Larysa Kondracki, and written by Kondracki and Eilis Kirwan.
Rachel Weisz plays the character of Kathryn Bolkovac in the film, a Nebraska cop who served as a peacekeeper in post-war Bosnia and outed the U.N. for covering up a sex scandal.
The film was nominated for the Directors Guild of Canada award and won the Audience award at the Palm Springs International Film Festival 2011.
PVR Pictures will release the film which is directed by Larysa Kondracki, and written by Kondracki and Eilis Kirwan.
Rachel Weisz plays the character of Kathryn Bolkovac in the film, a Nebraska cop who served as a peacekeeper in post-war Bosnia and outed the U.N. for covering up a sex scandal.
The film was nominated for the Directors Guild of Canada award and won the Audience award at the Palm Springs International Film Festival 2011.
- 9/29/2011
- by NewsDesk
- DearCinema.com
Whistleblower is the type of based-on-true-events movie where it's difficult to separate the power of the story from the film itself. The film tells the story of Kathryn Bolkovac, a Nebraskan police woman who decides to take a job working for a private security firm as a United Nations peacekeeper in Bosnia. What she discovers is a wide-scale child sex-slave and human-trafficking scandal involving her own company, a military contractor, Democro Corp (a pseudonym for the real-world DynCorp). The Whisteblower tracks how she uncovers the scandal and her frustrated attempts to rat out her employers.
It's a harrowing story, often hard to watch, especially in parts where director Larysa Kondracki rightfully wants to highlight how brutal and messed up the sex-slave industry is. These are girls, 12-15 years old, who are being sold hourly, daily, or permanently; and as sex slaves, the uncaring, unfeeling, asshole men are allowed to do whatever they wish,...
It's a harrowing story, often hard to watch, especially in parts where director Larysa Kondracki rightfully wants to highlight how brutal and messed up the sex-slave industry is. These are girls, 12-15 years old, who are being sold hourly, daily, or permanently; and as sex slaves, the uncaring, unfeeling, asshole men are allowed to do whatever they wish,...
- 8/16/2011
- by Dustin Rowles
Congratulations to the team behind the excellent Rachel Weisz drama “The Whistleblower” (Samuel Goldwyn Films, 8/5, R, trailer) — i.e. first-time feature co-writer/director Larysa Kondracki and her co-writer Eilis Kirwan; indie producers extraordinairre Celine Rattray (“The Kids Are All Right”), Amy Kaufman (“Sin Nombre”), and Christina Piovesan (“Amreeka”); Samuel Goldwyn’s Sr. VP of Publicity Liza Burnett Fefferman and her crew; and 42 West publicists Tom Piechura and Sara Groves — for scoring the major P.R. coup of motivating United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to not only watch their film (which is pointedly critical of the U.N.’s role in sex trafficking/sexual misconduct in Bosnia during the 1990s), but also to write about it.
Following the world premiere of “The Whistleblower” at the 2010 Toronto International Film Festival last September (after which Samuel Goldwyn Studios acquired its distribution rights), I wrote: “I can certainly envision the United Nations taking umbrage with such a film,...
Following the world premiere of “The Whistleblower” at the 2010 Toronto International Film Festival last September (after which Samuel Goldwyn Studios acquired its distribution rights), I wrote: “I can certainly envision the United Nations taking umbrage with such a film,...
- 8/16/2011
- by Scott Feinberg
- Scott Feinberg
Rating: 3.5/5.0
Chicago – Rachel Weisz elevates the harrowing true story of “The Whistleblower,” a pull-no-punches drama about a disturbing international conspiracy to cover up a sex trafficking ring involving the men tasked with protecting the innocent who turned to exploiting them. This is a graphic, dark, violent piece of drama, as it should be given its subject matter, but it’s the work of one of our best working actresses that truly makes it worth venturing into the darkness.
“The Whistleblower” is undeniably clichéd and manipulative. But rarely has a film had a more valuable player in that the Oscar-winning Weisz anchors the generic elements of the story in such a way that it never drifts into melodrama. Yes, it would have been a far-superior film if the elements around Weisz had been as elevated as her performance but she is so believable, genuine, and restrained here in ways that other...
Chicago – Rachel Weisz elevates the harrowing true story of “The Whistleblower,” a pull-no-punches drama about a disturbing international conspiracy to cover up a sex trafficking ring involving the men tasked with protecting the innocent who turned to exploiting them. This is a graphic, dark, violent piece of drama, as it should be given its subject matter, but it’s the work of one of our best working actresses that truly makes it worth venturing into the darkness.
“The Whistleblower” is undeniably clichéd and manipulative. But rarely has a film had a more valuable player in that the Oscar-winning Weisz anchors the generic elements of the story in such a way that it never drifts into melodrama. Yes, it would have been a far-superior film if the elements around Weisz had been as elevated as her performance but she is so believable, genuine, and restrained here in ways that other...
- 8/12/2011
- by adam@hollywoodchicago.com (Adam Fendelman)
- HollywoodChicago.com
Chicago – In our latest drama edition of HollywoodChicago.com Hookup: Film, we have 40 admit-two passes up for grabs to the advance Chicago screening of “The Whistleblower” with Rachel Weisz!
“The Whistleblower” also stars Monica Bellucci, Vanessa Redgrave, David Strathairn, Nikolaj Lie Kaas, Roxana Condurache, Paula Schramm, Alexandru Potocean, William Hope, Rayisa Kondracki, Jeanette Hain, Benedict Cumberbatch, David Hewlett, Coca Bloos and Luke Treadaway from co-writer and director Larysa Kondracki and co-writer Eilis Kirwan.
The film opens in Chicago on Aug. 12, 2011. To win your free pass to the advance Chicago screening of “The Whistleblower” courtesy of HollywoodChicago.com, just answer our question below. That’s it! This screening is on Monday, Aug. 8, 2011 at 7:30 p.m. in Chicago. Directions to enter this Hookup and win can be found beneath the graphic below.
The movie poster for “The Whistleblower” with Rachel Weisz, Monica Bellucci and Vanessa Redgrave.
Image credit: Samuel Goldwyn Films...
“The Whistleblower” also stars Monica Bellucci, Vanessa Redgrave, David Strathairn, Nikolaj Lie Kaas, Roxana Condurache, Paula Schramm, Alexandru Potocean, William Hope, Rayisa Kondracki, Jeanette Hain, Benedict Cumberbatch, David Hewlett, Coca Bloos and Luke Treadaway from co-writer and director Larysa Kondracki and co-writer Eilis Kirwan.
The film opens in Chicago on Aug. 12, 2011. To win your free pass to the advance Chicago screening of “The Whistleblower” courtesy of HollywoodChicago.com, just answer our question below. That’s it! This screening is on Monday, Aug. 8, 2011 at 7:30 p.m. in Chicago. Directions to enter this Hookup and win can be found beneath the graphic below.
The movie poster for “The Whistleblower” with Rachel Weisz, Monica Bellucci and Vanessa Redgrave.
Image credit: Samuel Goldwyn Films...
- 8/3/2011
- by adam@hollywoodchicago.com (Adam Fendelman)
- HollywoodChicago.com
Title: The Whistleblower Directed By: Larysa Kondracki Written By: Eilis Kirwan, Larysa Kondracki Cast: Rachel Weisz, David Strathairn, Nikolaj Lie Kaas , Anna Anissimova Raya, Roxana Condurache, Monica Bellucci, Vanessa Redgrave Screened at: Review 1, NYC, 7/21/11 Opens: August 5, 2011 It takes a special kind of courage to be a whistleblower. You will probably be ostracized by your colleagues, you may be fired on a technicality, and you could even be killed. In a broad sense, Larysa Kondracki’s film, “The Whistleblower,” can be torn from today’s headlines. Sean Hoare, a journalist who blew the whistle on Rupert Murdock’s “News of the World” tabloid hackings, was found dead in his...
- 7/31/2011
- by Brian Corder
- ShockYa
Sneak Peek the new poster supporting the Canadian-produced thriller "The Whistleblower", directed by Larysa Kondracki, written by Kondracki and Eilis Kirwan, starring Rachel Weisz as 'Kathryn Bolkovac', Benedict Cumberbatch as 'Nick Philips', David Strathairn as 'Peter Ward', Monica Bellucci as 'Laura Levin', Nikolaj Lie Kaas as 'Jan' and David Hewlett as 'Fred Murray':
"...A policewoman (Weisz) risks her job and her own safety to uncover and bring to light a wide-scale scandal involving Us military contractors and the United Nations in postwar Bosnia..."
Produced by Christina Piovesan, Amy Kaufman and Celine Rattray, "The Whistleblower" will be released by Samuel Goldwyn Films, August 5, 2011.
Click the images to enlarge and Sneak Peek "The Whistleblower"...
"...A policewoman (Weisz) risks her job and her own safety to uncover and bring to light a wide-scale scandal involving Us military contractors and the United Nations in postwar Bosnia..."
Produced by Christina Piovesan, Amy Kaufman and Celine Rattray, "The Whistleblower" will be released by Samuel Goldwyn Films, August 5, 2011.
Click the images to enlarge and Sneak Peek "The Whistleblower"...
- 7/1/2011
- by Michael Stevens
- SneakPeek
The Whistleblower is the real life story of Kathryn Bolkovac, who tried to break up a local sex ring, set up by United Nation Peacekeepers. She was unfairly sacked from her job and now her real life story is being told in theatres, through Samuel Goldwyn Films. This dramatic thriller will release in theatres August 5th, 2011 and Kathryn, played by Rachel Weisz, must battle her superiors to cover a story on prostitution, and corruption to save the underage girls therein. Have a look at an early trailer for The Whistleblower, which shows some of the real life struggles of Bolkovak and survivors of the Balkan War.
The synopsis for The Whistleblower is here:
"Inspired by actual events, Kathy (Rachel Weisz) is an American police officer who takes a job working as a peacekeeper in post-war Bosnia. Her expectations of helping to rebuild a devastated country are dashed when she uncovers a dangerous reality of corruption,...
The synopsis for The Whistleblower is here:
"Inspired by actual events, Kathy (Rachel Weisz) is an American police officer who takes a job working as a peacekeeper in post-war Bosnia. Her expectations of helping to rebuild a devastated country are dashed when she uncovers a dangerous reality of corruption,...
- 5/31/2011
- by Remove28DaysLaterAnalysisThis@gmail.com (Michael Allen)
- 28 Days Later Analysis
Samuel Goldwyn Films picked up U.S. rights to the Rachel Weisz thriller “The Whistleblower” with plans for an August 2011 release. According to “The Hollywood Reporter,” “Whistleblower” sales company Voltage Pictures recently signed a number of international deals prior to its U.S. sale to Samuel Goldwyn. Larysa Kondracki directed the film and co-wrote its screenplay with Eilis Kirwan. Inspired by true events, Weisz plays a Nebraska police officer currently working as a peacekeeper in post-war Bosnia.
- 11/5/2010
- Upcoming-Movies.com
A trailer for the sex trafficking drama, The Whistleblower, has made it’s way online this afternoon, via The Playlist.
Directed by Larysa Kondracki, making her feature film debut, The Whistleblower has an impressive cast, including Rachel Weisz, Vanessa Redgrave, David Strathairn, Monica Bellucci, Benedict Cumberbatch and Luke Treadaway.
Larysa Kondracki co-wrote the script alongside Eilis Kirwan.
Below, you can read the official synopsis, and then watch the trailer:
Kathryn Bolkovac (Weisz) is a Nebraska cop who is thrust into the gravelly snake pit of Un regulated Bosnia. She works as part of a private corporate army, training Bosnian police to restore order to the war-torn country. As she begins to get the lay of the land in her new environment, she starts to see signs of a terrible underground industry whose patrons are not only from within the corporation but from within the United Nations as well. After finding...
Directed by Larysa Kondracki, making her feature film debut, The Whistleblower has an impressive cast, including Rachel Weisz, Vanessa Redgrave, David Strathairn, Monica Bellucci, Benedict Cumberbatch and Luke Treadaway.
Larysa Kondracki co-wrote the script alongside Eilis Kirwan.
Below, you can read the official synopsis, and then watch the trailer:
Kathryn Bolkovac (Weisz) is a Nebraska cop who is thrust into the gravelly snake pit of Un regulated Bosnia. She works as part of a private corporate army, training Bosnian police to restore order to the war-torn country. As she begins to get the lay of the land in her new environment, she starts to see signs of a terrible underground industry whose patrons are not only from within the corporation but from within the United Nations as well. After finding...
- 8/17/2010
- by Jamie Neish
- HeyUGuys.co.uk
Vanessa Redgrave, David Strathairn and Monica Bellucci have joined the cast of the indie political drama "The Whistleblower."Rachel Weisz stars in the true-story-based film, which is being directed by first-timer Larysa Kondracki. Story centers on a policewoman, played by Weisz, who risks her life to uncover and bring to light a scandal involving both American contractors and the United Nations in postwar Bosnia.According to Variety, Kondracki and Eilis Kirwan wrote the film, which begins shooting next week in Romania. They based the screenplay on the story of Kathryn Bolkovac, who traveled to Bosnia in 1999 as a U.N. peacekeeper.
- 10/21/2009
- by Adnan Tezer
- Monsters and Critics
We've known for a few months that Rachel Weisz was attached to play the lead in the indie political drama The Whistleblower, but Variety now reports that Vanessa Redgrave, Monica Bellucci and David Strathairn have joined the cast.Based on a true story, it's the directorial debut (at least at feature-length) of Larysa Kondracki, and sees Weisz as Kathryn Bolkovac, a Un International Police Force monitor hired by the Us company DynCorp in Bosnia on a Un related contract. No details yet on the roles reserved for the newbies.Bolkovac risked her own safety and lost her job (she sued) when she learned of and reported what Variety coyly describes as "a scandal" (it was a sex trafficking ring) within the company, which was contracted to hire and train police officers. Several Dyncorp employees were forced to resign, but were immune from prosecution in Bosnia.The Canadian-German co-production has been...
- 10/21/2009
- EmpireOnline
Vanessa Redgrave, David Strathairn and Monica Bellucci are joining the cast of the indie political drama The Whistleblower, reports Variety. Rachel Weisz toplines the film, which marks the directorial debut of Larysa Kondracki.
Based on a true story, Whistleblower chronicles the trials of a female cop from Nebraska who serves as a peacekeeper in post-war Bosnia and exposes a United Nations cover-up of a sex trafficking scandal.
Nikolaj Lie Kaas and Anna Anissimova are also joining the cast.
Kondracki and Eilis Kirwan wrote the film, which begins shooting next week in Romania. The pair based the screenplay on the story of Kathryn Bolkovac, who traveled to Bosnia in 1999 as a U.N. peacekeeper.
The film is a Canadian-German co-production in partnership with Barry Films. E1 Entertainment is distributing The Whistleblower in Canada, and Voltage Pictures will rep internationally.
Based on a true story, Whistleblower chronicles the trials of a female cop from Nebraska who serves as a peacekeeper in post-war Bosnia and exposes a United Nations cover-up of a sex trafficking scandal.
Nikolaj Lie Kaas and Anna Anissimova are also joining the cast.
Kondracki and Eilis Kirwan wrote the film, which begins shooting next week in Romania. The pair based the screenplay on the story of Kathryn Bolkovac, who traveled to Bosnia in 1999 as a U.N. peacekeeper.
The film is a Canadian-German co-production in partnership with Barry Films. E1 Entertainment is distributing The Whistleblower in Canada, and Voltage Pictures will rep internationally.
- 10/21/2009
- CinemaSpy
One of my first Cinematical posts all the way back in 2006 was about The Whistleblower, and all these months and years later, it's finally coming to fruition after a little studio jostling. Variety reports HBO Films has grabbed the indie drama, and they have nabbed none other than Rachel Weisz to star. While I was definitely hoping for her to add some more intelligent quirk to her resume (a la Brothers Bloom) this project will definitely give her some meaty material to work with.
Written by Eilis Kirwan and Larysa Kondracki (and to be directed by the latter), Whistleblower focuses the story of Kathryn Bolkovac, a cop from Nebraska who traveled overseas to work in post-war Bosnia as a Un peacekeepe. She ran an office that investigated sex crimes, and while there, she witnessed atrocities, but shockingly -- they were performed by "peacekeepers, police, and U.N. workers." This, of course,...
Written by Eilis Kirwan and Larysa Kondracki (and to be directed by the latter), Whistleblower focuses the story of Kathryn Bolkovac, a cop from Nebraska who traveled overseas to work in post-war Bosnia as a Un peacekeepe. She ran an office that investigated sex crimes, and while there, she witnessed atrocities, but shockingly -- they were performed by "peacekeepers, police, and U.N. workers." This, of course,...
- 5/7/2009
- by Monika Bartyzel
- Cinematical
Rachel Weisz has signed on to star in the political drama The Whistle Blower. Based on the real life story of Kathryn Bolkovac, in it, Weisz plays a cop working as a peacekeeper in post-war Bosnia who uncovers and exposes a United Nations sex trafficking cover-up. Larysa Kondracki will be making her feature directorial debut from a script by Kondracki herself and Eilis Kirwan. Weisz can next be seen as a serial hobbyist in Rian Johnson's caper The Brothers Bloom, as infamous Roman philosopher...
- 5/6/2009
- by Omar Aviles
- JoBlo.com
- I don't question his talent (Adaptation), I question his film role choices (Ghost Rider). With The Wrestler (a film with that Darren Aronofsky might be lensing) up next, Variety reports the Nicolas Cage will make it back to back indie projects by taking the lead in Hany Abu-Assad's newest project for Focus Features. Written by Larysa Kondracki and Eilis Kirwan, The Vanished concerns a father who goes in search of his college-aged American-born Muslim son, who's missing overseas. Abu-Assad is of course the director behind Paradise Now, the Oscar-nominated 2005 film giving a personal account of suicide bombers from Palestine. The Focus project will be produced by Noah Rosen and David Alpert of Circle of Confusion and Tracy Seward. Production is scheduled for the spring....
- 10/17/2007
- IONCINEMA.com
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