The Weinstein Company have bolstered their award season stock by picking up the adaptation of Rula Jebreal‘s Israeli-Palestine conflict tale “Miral” by Julian Schnabel (“The Diving Bell And The Butterfly“).
The film was adapted by Jebreal herself and “revolves around a real-life orphanage established in Jerusalem by Palestinian woman Hind Husseini (Hiam Abbass) following the 1948 creation of Israel. In the fictional storyline, the title character (Frieda Pinto) is sent to the orphanage in 1978. Later in life, she goes to teach at a refugee camp and falls for an activist.” The film co-stars William Dafoe, Yasmine Elmasri, Alexander Siddig and Vanessa Redgrave.
“It is the first film I am involved in that shows the ‘other side’ of the Israel-Palestine conflict,” Harvey Weinstein noted. “As a staunch supporter of Israel, I thought this would be a movie I would have a hard time wrapping my head around. However, meeting Rula moved me to open my heart and mind and I hope we can do that same with audiences worldwide.”
The film will likely premiere at the Venice and/or Toronto film festivals after skipping Cannes where it was heavily tipped to feature, and is set to be released theatrically later this year. It will join the studio’s other awards season fare including Tom Hooper‘s “The King’s Speech” starring Colin Firth and Geoffrey Rush, Derek Cianfrance‘s acclaimed romantic drama “Blue Valentine” and the John Wells‘ downsizing-drama “The Company Men.”
