The Polka King
| The Polka King | |
|---|---|
Film poster | |
| Directed by | Maya Forbes |
| Screenplay by | Maya Forbes Wallace Wolodarsky |
| Based on | The Man Who Would Be Polka King by Joshua Brown and John Mikulak |
| Produced by | Jack Black Stuart Cornfeld Monica Levinson Priyanka Mattoo David Permut Shivani Rawat Wallace Wolodarsky |
| Starring | Jack Black Jenny Slate Jason Schwartzman J. B. Smoove Vanessa Bayer Jacki Weaver |
| Cinematography | Andrei Bowden-Schwartz |
| Edited by | Catherine Haight |
| Music by | Theodore Shapiro Alex Meixner |
Production companies | |
| Distributed by | Netflix |
Release dates |
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Running time | 95 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
The Polka King is a 2017 American biographical comedy-drama film directed by Maya Forbes and written by Forbes and Wallace Wolodarsky. The film is about real-life Polish-American polka band leader Jan Lewan, who was imprisoned in 2004 for running a Ponzi scheme. The film stars Jack Black as Lewan, as well as Jenny Slate, Jason Schwartzman, and Jacki Weaver. It premiered at the 2017 Sundance Film Festival on January 22, 2017. It was released on Netflix on January 12, 2018.
The Polka King is based on a 2009 documentary about Lewan, The Man Who Would Be Polka King, directed by Joshua Brown and John Mikulak.