Raven Banner Acquires Polish Folk Horror ‘Òpi’ Ahead of Brooklyn Horror Film Festival Premiere
Raven Banner Entertainment has acquired worldwide rights to Polish folk horror Òpi ahead of the film’s international premiere at the Brooklyn Horror Film Festival.
The feature marks the directorial debut of Polish filmmaker Marta Giec and draws from the folklore and ancient beliefs of Kashubia, an ethnocultural region in northern Poland.
Òpi follows 18-year-old Trina, played by Wiktoria Kruszczyńska, as she attempts to separate herself from a strained relationship with her mother and a household shaped by family tensions, secrets and generational trauma.
The situation changes following the arrival of Trina’s aunt Helena and her paralyzed grandmother Regina. Their presence coincides with increasingly disturbing nightmares as the boundaries between Trina’s everyday life, family history and the ancestral superstitions surrounding her begin to blur.
The film combines psychological drama with folk-horror elements rooted in the West Slavic mythology of Kashubia, using Trina’s family relationships and supernatural experiences to explore themes of violence, repression and trauma passed between generations.
Kruszczyńska leads a cast that also includes Gabriela Muskała, Magdalena Boczarska, Iwona Bielska and Pitry.
Òpi made its world premiere at the 51st Polish Film Festival in Gdynia in September before heading to the United States for its Brooklyn Horror Film Festival screening. According to sales company Raven Banner, the film’s Polish trailer accumulated nearly 400,000 views during its first three weeks online.
“Òpi is the kind of horror that gets under your skin and stays there,” Raven Banner managing partner Michael Paszt said in announcing the acquisition.
Paszt pointed to the film’s use of Kashubian folklore and its combination of family trauma and superstition as factors behind the company’s interest in the project.
“We’re always hunting for bold genre films with a distinct cultural identity, a filmmaker’s vision and the ability to leave a lasting impression,” he added. “Òpi delivers on all three fronts and we’re stoked to introduce it to audiences.”
Toronto-based Raven Banner specializes in international genre cinema and has previously handled sales titles including The Sadness, Deathstalker and Deathgasm 2: Goremageddon.
The company will have another title represented at this year’s Brooklyn Horror Film Festival with Sundown, the supernatural horror feature from director Rebekah McKendry.
Starring Olwen Fouéré, Camille Sullivan and Summer H. Howell, Sundown previously premiered at the Locarno Film Festival. Raven Banner serves as a producing partner on the project and is also handling international sales.
For Òpi, the Brooklyn screening represents the next stage in the film’s festival run following its September debut in Poland and arrives with worldwide sales now being handled by Raven Banner.
The Brooklyn Horror Film Festival runs Oct. 15-22.
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