Julian Schnabel

Started by MacGuffin, July 06, 2005, 10:59:33 PM

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MacGuffin

Abbas to star in Schnabel's 'Miral'
Principal photography begins April 19
Source: Variety

Julian Schnabel has tapped Palestinian thesp Hiam Abbas will star in "Miral," a film about the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.

Julian Schnabel has written the screenplay and will direct. He's spent the past few months trying to put his passion project together. The recent conflagration of violence in Gaza between the Israeli army and militant Palestinian group Hamas, which left some 1,300 Palestinians and 13 Israelis dead, has made the project all the more relevant.

Project is an adaptation of Italo-Palestinian Rula Jebreal's book about the real-life Palestinian woman Hind Husseini, who started the Dar Al-Tifl orphanage in Jerusalem in the wake of the 1948 partition of Palestine and the creation of the state of Israel. Pic will span the years 1948-94.

Schnabel intends to lense the pic entirely on location in Israel and the Palestinian territories.

Jon Kilik, who worked previously with Schnabel on "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly," will produce the pic with Pathe financing. The Gallic mini-major is also looking to work with an Israeli co-producer.

Principal photography begins April 19.
"Don't think about making art, just get it done. Let everyone else decide if it's good or bad, whether they love it or hate it. While they are deciding, make even more art." - Andy Warhol


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Gold Trumpet

Whatever the final product turns out to be, I'm happy Schnabel is tackling this subject. More filmmakers need to have this kind of daring with their projects. The Diving Bell and the Butterfly was an immensely excellent film in all regards, but it was such a stylistic jump from Before Night Falls that I imagined Schnabel's future could become more Hollywood, but I'm happy the cynic in me was negated.

Steven Soderbergh tackled Che and Oliver Stone is working on a documentary or two about Hugo Chavez. I can't say I know it was easier to make political films in the 1960s than now. I really don't know, but I will say the major political films of those days have aged better than most dramas of the time. Battle of Algeirs became wonderfully relevant for modern times and Dr. Strangelove went on to full acceptance after first being branded as just communist propaganda by the New York Times. The point is that not all political films are good, but our premieire filmmakers need to keep with the tradition of having eyes and ears open to our most troubling world issues.


matt35mm

I fully agree with GT.  A lot of people are going to want to see what Schnabel is up to after Diving Bell, and it's a great way to draw attention to something that attention needs to be drawn to.  It sounds like an interesting film, and a good way to either directly or indirectly call attention to how all the little tensions grew into this long period of violence.

pete

there are QUITE A FEW films about israel and palestine.
"Tragedy is a close-up; comedy, a long shot."
- Buster Keaton

MacGuffin

Freida Pinto heads to 'Miral'
'Slumdog' star boards Schnabel pic
Source: Variety

Freida Pinto has joined the cast of Julian Schnabel's "Miral."

Pic is an adaptation of Italo-Palestinian Rula Jebreal's book about Hind Husseini, who founded an orphanage in Jerusalem in the wake of the 1948 partition of Palestine and the creation of the state of Israel. Schnabel wrote the screenplay.

Palestinian thesp Hiam Abbas will play Husseini (Daily Variety, Feb. 1).

Pic will lense in Israel and the Palestinian territories. Principal photography begins April 19.

Jon Kilik will produce with Pathe financing. The Gallic mini-major has also brought Israeli helmer and producer Eran Riklis aboard in a production services capacity.

Pinto recently boarded Woody Allen's London-set project.
"Don't think about making art, just get it done. Let everyone else decide if it's good or bad, whether they love it or hate it. While they are deciding, make even more art." - Andy Warhol


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MacGuffin

Exclusive: Julian Schnabel Planning 'In The Hand Of Dante' With Johnny Depp As Next Project
Source: Playlist

We just got off the phone with director/artist Julian Schnabel ("Basquiat," "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly"), who is currently doing press for the Blu-ray/DVD release of his controversial 2010 release, "Miral," based on the novel by Rula Jebreal about a Palestinian girl growing up in the wake of the Arab-Israeli conflict.

During our interview, Schnabel also revealed plans for his next film, "In the Hand of Dante" based on the book by Nick Tosches. Johnny Depp bought the rights to the book a few years back and the actor asked Schnabel to take a look at the book as a potential next project. The director and Depp bonded during the actor's double-duty role in 2000's "Before Night Falls" and cemented that affection when Depp offered high praise for his work on "Miral."

"There's a great book called 'In the Hand of Dante' by Nick Tosches," Schnabel told The Playlist. "It belongs to Johnny, but I'm not going to make it for a couple of years. We're gonna work on writing it, developing it. We didn't sign anything. It's just something Johnny asked me to read and I think it's a great book so maybe you should read it. It's pretty beautiful. It's about everything."

"In the Hand of Dante" revolves around Dante's masterwork "The Divine Comedy," and interweaves two separate stories, one set in 14th century Sicily, Italy featuring the legendary poet Dante Alighieri, and another set in the autumn of 2001 featuring a fictionalized version of Nick Tosches as the lead. Both stories alternate as Dante tries to finish writing his magnum opus and goes on a journey for mystical knowledge in Sicily. Meanwhile Tosches the Dante expert, living a quiet life in New York is swept up into an underworld of danger and mystery when black market traders ask him to authenticate what might be Dante's original manuscript. Depp's Infinitum Nihil production company landed rights to the project back in 2008, eyeing it as a starring vehicle for him to play the Toches surrogate.

"Miral" hits Blu-ray/DVD tomorrow, July 12th. Check back this week for our full exclusive interview with Schnabel for "Miral."
"Don't think about making art, just get it done. Let everyone else decide if it's good or bad, whether they love it or hate it. While they are deciding, make even more art." - Andy Warhol


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