Ejiofor to play charismatic political leader Patrice Lumumba.
Award winning filmmaker Joe Wright (‘Anna Karenina,’ ‘Atonement,’ ‘Pride & Prejudice’) is set to step behind the camera to direct Chiwetel Ejiofor (‘12 Years a Slave,’ ‘American Gangster’) in a big screen adaptation of Aimé Césaire’s acclaimed play ‘A Season in the Congo,’ according to an article over at The Guardian.
Based on The Young Vic stage production, the drama charts the rise and fall of legendary Congolese independence leader Patrice Lumumba, whose passionate determination to free his people from Belgian rule inspired great courage and betrayal.
Filming is expected to kick off early next year in Kinshasa, with a spin-off short film based on the play to be released in November. A screen adaptation of another Young Vic production, Henrik Ibsen’ ‘A Doll’s House,’ is also in development.