American producer planning to make a somali political drama
Posted: Sat Apr 12, 2014 8:57 am
He’s not just good for disarming military bombs and hunting witches: Jeremy Renner’s production company The Combine is developing Somali, a political drama centering in — you guessed it — Somalia. The film will center on a man with little political experience who is unexpectedly appointed Prime Minister of Somalia, only to realize his election was a move by those using him as a puppet for a greater goal. The current Prime Minister of Somalia, Abdiweli Sheikh Ahmed, has yet to comment on the concept of the film, but we imagine he’ll have something to say if the project gets up and running.
While at first glance the political project might seem like an odd project for the MI4 actor to take on, let’s not forget about his humanitarian past. From StandUp2Cancer to UNMAS, there’s even a website dedicated to documenting all of the actors good deeds. And while Somalia has had it’s day in the sun in American film in recent years, we doubt Somali will focus on the “Somali Piracy phenomenon” an epidemic highlighted by Oscar-nominated Captain Phillips.
Captain Phillips was a breakthrough for Somalian actors, not only did it employ more than a dozen Somalians, it also gave one, Barkhad Abdi, an Oscar nomination. (However, Barkhad was only paid $65K for his role, a meek salary compared to his counterpart Tom Hanks.) Yet this film still stayed in the general pirating genre, and offered limited views of what life is like in Somalia — according to the film, starvation and violence trumped any real sense of community.
The film is still in need of a director, and no word yet if Renner will star, but we can’t wait to see what he does with the film, and how it might effect the American audience’s perspective on Africa.
Source: http://www.bustle.com
While at first glance the political project might seem like an odd project for the MI4 actor to take on, let’s not forget about his humanitarian past. From StandUp2Cancer to UNMAS, there’s even a website dedicated to documenting all of the actors good deeds. And while Somalia has had it’s day in the sun in American film in recent years, we doubt Somali will focus on the “Somali Piracy phenomenon” an epidemic highlighted by Oscar-nominated Captain Phillips.
Captain Phillips was a breakthrough for Somalian actors, not only did it employ more than a dozen Somalians, it also gave one, Barkhad Abdi, an Oscar nomination. (However, Barkhad was only paid $65K for his role, a meek salary compared to his counterpart Tom Hanks.) Yet this film still stayed in the general pirating genre, and offered limited views of what life is like in Somalia — according to the film, starvation and violence trumped any real sense of community.
The film is still in need of a director, and no word yet if Renner will star, but we can’t wait to see what he does with the film, and how it might effect the American audience’s perspective on Africa.
Source: http://www.bustle.com
