Nick Nolte to star in Krauzes’ Rwandan drama

by Dorota Hartwich

01/07/2008 - The massacres that took place in Rwanda in 1994 at the height of the ethnic conflict between the Hutus and Tutsis will be the focus of the forthcoming film by Polish directors Joanna and Krzysztof Krauze, who won the Crystal Globe at the Karlovy Vary Film Festival in 2005 for My Nikifor, the Grand Prize at Gdynia in 2006 and the 2007 Eagle Award for Best Polish Film of the Year for Saviour Square [trailer].

Their new film, Ptaki spiewaja w Kigali (The Birds Sing in Kigali), will star Nick Nolte, who tackled the same subject in Terry George’s Hotel Rwanda [trailer, film focus].

Having discovered the Krauzes’ project at the latest Cannes Film Festival, Nolte took the initiative to contact the two directors. The US actor will play the role of an ornithologist who saves a young Tutsi woman. The latter – who witnessed the genocide – accompanies him to Canada where she tries to find her place.

According to the directors, the film also looks at unfulfilled emotions, forgiveness and responsibility towards others. Moreover, the Krauze couple want the role of the young girl to be played by a Tutsi woman who experienced these tragic events.

Co-written by the filmmakers, Ptaki spiewaja w Kigali is adapted from a short story by Wojciech Albinski, a Polish writer who has lived in Africa for over 30 years.

The film will be lensed by Krzysztof Ptak, who is considered one of the best Polish DoPs today. Produced by Studio A, the title is a co-production between Poland, the US, Canada and South Africa. Shooting is set to kick off in October.

(Translated from French)