Trailer: Václav Marhoul’s controversial Holocaust drama ‘The Painted Bird’
THE PAINTED BIRD (IFC Films)
One of the most controversial films to come out the 2019 Venice and Toronto International Film Festivals, Václav Marhoul’s The Painted Bird, has an official trailer ahead of its theatrical release in April.
Based on the acclaimed Jerzy Kosiński novel, The Painted Bird is a meticulous 35mm black and white evocation of wild, primitive Eastern Europe at the bloody close of World War I as it follows the journey of The Boy, entrusted by his persecuted parents to an elderly foster mother. Some of the film’s more brutal scenes led to walkouts from audiences at the Venice, Toronto and London film festivals. It is the first film to feature the Interslavic language and was on the shortlist for this year’s International Feature Film Oscar.
Review: ‘The Painted Bird’ is an uncompromisingly daring and breathtaking work
The Painted Bird stars Petr Kotlár, Stellan Skarsgård, Harvey Keitel, Barry Pepper, Julian Sands, Udo Kier, Lech Dyblik, Jitka Cvancarová, and Aleksey Kravchenko and lands in select theaters on April 17 from IFC Films.
He is a Rotten Tomatoes-approved critic, accredited by the Cannes Film Festival, Telluride Film Festival, Toronto International Film Festival and more, is a member of the International Cinephile Society (ICS), The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics (GALECA), Critics Choice Association (CCA), San Francisco Bay Area Film Critics Circle (SFBAFCC) and the International Press Academy. Among his many achieved goals with AwardsWatch, he has given a platform to underrepresented writers and critics and supplied them with access to film festivals and the industry and calls the Bay Area his home where he lives with his husband and son.
- ‘Jay Kelly,’ ‘Hamnet,’ ‘Pluribus,’ ‘Task’ and More on AFI’s Top 10 Films and Television of 2025 Lists - December 4, 2025
- ‘Frankenstein’ to Receive Visionary Honor from Palm Springs International Film Awards - December 4, 2025
- Robert Yeoman to be Honored with American Society of Cinematographers’ Lifetime Achievement Award - December 3, 2025
‘Jay Kelly,’ ‘Hamnet,’ ‘Pluribus,’ ‘Task’ and More on AFI’s Top 10 Films and Television of 2025 Lists 
‘Frankenstein’ to Receive Visionary Honor from Palm Springs International Film Awards 
Robert Yeoman to be Honored with American Society of Cinematographers’ Lifetime Achievement Award 
National Board of Review: ‘One Battle After Another’ Tops in Film, Director, Actor, Supporting Actor; Netflix Lands Four in Top 10