Iconic American actor John Malkovich is in Cape Town filming Disgrace, based on South African Nobel Prize-winning author J.M Coetzee’s novel of the same name. The South African co-producers on the film are Brigid Olen and Marlow de Mardt of DO Productions.
The adapted screenplay is by Anna-Maria Monticelli (writer/producer of La Spagnola), who is producing together with Emile Sherman of Sherman Pictures (Candy).
“We are thrilled that the adaptation of J.M.Coetzee’s masterpiece is finally underway, and starring John Malkovich – one the most wonderful actors of our time,’ say Monticelli and Emile Sherman.
Two-time Academy Award nominee Malkovich (In the Line of Fire, Places in the Heart) stars alongside Jessica Hains, Eriq Ebouaney and Fiona Press in the film, which is being directed by Steve Jacobs (La Spagnola).
International Sales are handled by Fortissimo Films, and co-chairmen Wouter Barendrecht and Michael J. Werner also serve as executive producers alongside Soho Screen Production’s Julio DePietro (whose documentary Send a Bullet, garnered the Sundance Grand Jury Prize, 2007).
Disgrace is being shot on location in South Africa, and is funded by Film Finance Corporation Australia, Newbridge Film Capital, Soho Screen Productions, New South Wales Film and Television Office and South Australian Film Corporation.
The film tells the story of David Lurie, a professor of Romantic Poetry who leaves his university after being charged with sexual harassment, following an affair with a student. Lurie finds refuge with his daughter, Lucy, on her farm, who allows a black African, Petrus, to co-own some of her land in the new South Africa. When Lurie and Lucy are savagely attacked suspician falls on Petrus and matters deteriorate even more from there.
“Our film will be faithful to J.M Coetzee’s novel,’ says director Jacobs. “Played out through the relationship of David and his daughter, Lucy, the intimacies of their drama reflect the myriad reactions to the horrific event that surrounds the film. Set against a spectacular contrast of mountains and valleys, our characters struggle for emotional survival. This landscape becomes integral to their personal journey; one that is both the new, and old South Africa.’
