Fugitive Pieces tells the story of Jakob Jakob Beer (Stephen Dillane), a man whose life is haunted by his childhood experiences during the Second World War. As a child in Poland he is orphaned during wartime then saved by a compassionate, Greek archeologist. He then spends the rest of his life trying to come to terms with the losses he has endured. Through his writing, and then through the discovery of true love, Jakob is given the opportunity to free himself from the legacy of his past.

Toronto-based Jeremy Podeswa is the writer, director and co-producer of the critically acclaimed feature films "The Five Senses” ( starring Mary-Louise Parker) and “Eclipse," both of which have received rave reviews and played at some of the top festivals including Cannes, Sundance, TIFF, and Berlin.  Podeswa also enjoys a prolific television career directing episodes of QUEER AS FOLK, SIX FEET UNDER, CARNIVÀLE, ROME, JOHN FROM CINCINNATI and others.

With such a track record, it’s no surprise that Variety Magazine has listed Podeswa in "Tomorrow's Hot Exports," its survey of new international directors.


First Weekend Club had caught up with Jeremy in the midst of festival excitement to discuss his film, amongst other things:

You’re no stranger to TIFF, the festival had screened your short films and first feature (ECLIPSE) in the past, and now FUGITIVE PIECES is opening the festival, which must be quite exciting—how did you react when you found out?
I was very surprised and honoured. It's an excellent year for Canadian films, with new works by Denys Arcand, David Cronenberg and Francois Girard to name a few, so I was very touched that they selected my film to open the festival.  I've had a long history with the festival and it feels like a really sweet progression in the relationship.  Also, I've been to so many opening night films made by close friends and have felt so proud of them all... now it's great for me to be able to share my film with them (and with family and with all the people who worked on the film) in such a special way.

How did Fugitive Pieces come to you? What attracted you to the story?
I read the novel shortly after its publication and was extremely moved by it. It's an exquisite novel... poetic,  rich, dense, powerful... and completely unlike anything else I'd ever read. It's a serious literary work, but at the same time it's entirely without pretension. It's brilliant, but not intellectual to the point of alienation. It's absolutely affecting on an emotional level, and it's narrative is extremely compelling. Which is why, I think, that it became not only a huge critical success, but an enormous best-seller as well. It's been embraced by readers as few serious, literary novels have.

Anne Michaels writes in a very poetic style, how were you able to translate that to the film? What were the challenges of adapting such a well-respected novel?
The challenge was to find a filmic equivalent to the poetry of the novel.  I knew that I would have to incorporate the specific language of the book (which the film does through judicious voiceover) because Jakob is a writer and his words are critical to an understanding of the way he views the world. Also, Anne's words are so precise and powerful and moving that I knew I wanted them to be a part of the fabric of the film.  But another aspect of adapting the poetry of the novel to film has to do simply with finding a visual language that parallels the depth and richness of the novel's words.

Through art direction, cinematography and editing, we all (myself and my crew) tried to convey the timeless and profound qualities of the book.   The main thing was to try to provide the viewer with an experience not dissimilar from reading the book.  My intention was to faithfully capture the book  in another medium, rather than use the book as a mere jumping off point to do something else, something different.  I think we got pretty close.  Everyone who's seen the film to date who is also a fan of the novel has spoken of the similarity in "feeling" between the two.

Fugitive Pieces deals with some very traumatic experiences during wartime—what is the relevancy of this to people today?
Well the film deals with all kinds of trauma, I think... not just the trauma of wartime experience.  And that's one of the great, universal things about it.  It is about war, but it's also equally about what it takes to get over any sort of tragic, life-altering experience.  Everyone in the world has experienced loss or tragedy.  That's what it is to be human (partly).  So I think in this way the story is timeless and relevant across all boundaries of nationality, culture, gender, whatever.

Fugitive Pieces took 7 years to make. How is your 'take' on the story and its relevance different now than 7 years ago? What kept you holding on to it for so long?
My take on the material has never really changed and I never found the project to be trendy or relevant only to a particular time.  The book is timeless, I think, and so from a creative point of view it never really mattered to me when exactly the film would be made. That being said, it was sometimes difficult to hang in there for the length of time it took to pull the film together financially.  But then that's the world of independent filmmaking.  This is a complex film and it required a great deal of faith from investors to become involved. That degree of faith often takes time to develop.

Your film is technically Canadian, having met all the criteria to qualify as such. But what do you think really makes a Canadian film...Canadian?
Well this film is more than technically Canadian really.  The novelist, the screenwriter, the director, the producers and all the key crew are Canadian.  Many Canadians are in the cast and more than half the film was shot in Canada.  In terms of sensibility, I suppose what makes a film Canadian is that it speaks from a particular place, distinct from any other... which I think this film clearly does.  

I don't think a film on this subject, made in this way would ever have been made in the U.S., or the    U.K. Or anywhere else for that matter.  Sensibility is a hard thing to put  your finger on but it encompasses aesthetics, point of view, and  many other things... maybe you have to be Canadian to see the difference, but it's something quite obvious to me... most of the time.


FUGITIVE PIECES had its world premiere on September 6th, 2007 at Roy Thomson Hall as the gala opening film for the Toronto International Film Festival.