“The Kissing Booth” producer Andrew Cole-Bulgin has boarded Holocaust feature “Land Mine,” which he is developing with writer and director Darren Statman.
The project, which will also include an accompanying novel, has already been made into a short film of the same name under Cole-Bulgin’s banner Tickled Pink, a new gen-IP development company.
“Land Mine” is set in Poland in the late summer of 1945. based on historical records and witness testimonies, it tells the story of a young Jewish man, Samuel, who emerges from Bergen-Belsen concentration camp as his family’s sole survivor. Returning to his family’s Polish farm, 22-year-old Samuel finds it has been occupied by a local laborer called Piotr who is using it to run a moonshine business.
“Samuel disrupting Piotr’s new-found equilibrium results in escalating violence and reignites past traumas and painful buried memories for both Samuel and his aggressor,” reads the logline.
Statman is an award-winning commercial director and “Land Mine” marks his narrative short directorial debut.
“Darren is a wonderful storyteller with a vivid eye for the cinematic,” said Cole-Bulgin. “He shows so much emotion through his smart cinematography and the performances of the actors he works with. I am a firm believer in bringing great stories and characters to life whether that’s in a book, TV series, cinema screen or stage. ‘Land Mine’ represents one of four projects Tickled Pink has in development and clearly demonstrates our commitment to find and tell unique stories by great storytellers.”
Statman said: “’Land Mine’ is a story about the horrors and challenges faced by those returning from concentration camps. This is a time that is often forgotten or ignored in the narrative of the second world war, and what with the Russian invasion of Ukraine poses important questions about what happens to those who have had everything taken from them in the immediate aftermath of war. It’s a film that is inherently tense, yet it is balanced with heartfelt moments that explore the human capacity for kindness and cruelty. This short is rich in ideas that will be expanded upon in the novel and feature film that I’m creating with Andrew Cole Bulgin and the incredible team at Tickled Pink.”
