Danny Glover Haiti film shelved?

Apparently actor Danny Glover’s planned film on Haitian independence hero Toussaint-Louverture is being shelved due to lack of funds.

Though the Venezuelan government has provided $18 million of the $30 million needed to shoot the epic, foreign producers are supposedly reluctant to sign on to the project:

According to Villa del Cine chairwoman Lorena Almarza there is prejudice by US and European producers, who have not contributed the money…

In statements to the Bolivarian News Agency, Almarza pointed out that the script remains unchanged, as well as production agreements in the country, with participation of 50 percent of Venezuelan professional, technical or artistic personnel…

Almarza added that big producers are not interested in producing a film dealing with an anti-slavery movement.

In an interview last month, Glover admitted that producers ask “where are the white heroes?” and claim that “a black film” would fail in the international box office.

“Toussaint” is planned to star Don Cheadle in the titular role along with Angela Bassett and Mos Def.

Image- AFP

Sources- AFP, imdb.com, The Latin Americanist, Prensa Latina

$18 million from Chavez for Danny Glover films

Venezuela’s government approved a plan to pay nearly $18 million for two films to be directed by Danny Glover. One of the movies will be based on the leader of Haiti’s colonial uprising- Toussaint L'Overture, while the other will be on Gabriel Garcia Marquez’ novel The General in His Labyrinth.

In remarks made to the Guardian UK, Glover (image) expressed cautious optimism over the eventual financing of the movies:

“One of the major axioms in theatre is never talk about anything until the deal is signed. There's a lot of deliberation that goes on before something actually happens.”

Sources- International Herald Tribune, Guardian UK, Wikipedia

Image- BBC News