Best-selling book that touches upon Eritrean struggle history to be
turned into a movie.
http://www.iexaminer.org/arts/cutting-stone/
"The children are raised by Hema and Ghosh, who eventually marry for
one year at a time, and are raised in a household supported by two
women—one Eritrean with a daughter of her own and a childless
Ethiopian woman. In this gloriously cosmopolitan, eccentric, and
multilingual home, the twins grow up each with his own talents but
connected by that mysterious ability of twins to communicate. Through
the lives of the children, we learn of Ethiopia’s colonial history,
the rise of Emperor Haile Selassie, the problems of Eritrea, the
crisis of poverty and health care that haunts the people, and the
heroic and compassionate abilities of two doctors to serve a people
whom they have adopted as their own. The twins both develop a passion
for medicine and while Marion studies medicine formally, Shiva
apprentices himself to Hema and becomes an excellent surgeon who
specializes in fixing fistulas. Both brothers are attracted to Genet,
their Eritrean nanny’s child, and their rivalry splits them just as
Eritrea rebels against Ehtiopia. Marion is falsely accused of treason
and escapes with the help of Eritrean guerillas to America where he
trains at an impoverished Bronx hospital. The plot wends its way in
near Dickensian perfection to a father –son reunion, a twins
reconciliation in a moment of medical glory (an event worthy of
tabloid journalism), and the novel ends with some sorrow, some joy,
and a lot of plot twists"
http://katherinebaileyonbooks.com/CuttingForStone.aspx
"Genet’s actions once again have a devastating effect on Marion. In
fact, some two years following Ghosh’s death, Marion is forced to flee
from Ethiopia. Verghese explains: “…Four Eritrean guerillas posing as
passengers had commandeered an Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 707 and
forced it to fly to Khartoum, Sudan. One of the four was Genet.”
During World War II the Allies had presented as a protectorate the
Italian colony of Eritrea (located north of Ethiopia) to Emperor
Selassie. Now, Eritrean rebels – the Eritrean Liberation Front – were
fighting for autonomy. Because Genet’s father had been Eritrean, she
considered herself one. Within an hour of the hijacking, Marion was
unjustly implicated in the crime."
http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118049969?refCatId=13
Posted: Thu., Feb. 9, 2012, 11:24am PT
Susanne Bier to helm 'Cutting for Stone'
Anonymous Content pic adapts Abraham Verghese novel
By Jeff Sneider
Anonymous Content has tapped Susanne Bier ("In a Better World") to
direct the feature adaptation of Abraham Verghese's best-selling novel
"Cutting for Stone," which will be written by Scott Teems ("That
Evening Sun").
Rosalie Swedlin and Steve Golin will produce the pic, which centers on
twin brothers born of a forbidden union between a beautiful Indian nun
and a brash British surgeon in an Ethiopian mission hospital. Orphaned
by their mother's death and their father's disappearance, and bound
together by a preternatural connection as well as a shared fascination
with medicine, the twins come of age as Ethiopia hovers on the brink
of the modern world.
Born in Ethiopia in the 1950s, Verghese's debut novel has more than 1
million copies in print in 25 languages. This coming Sunday will mark
its 105th consecutive week on the New York Times' trade paperback
bestseller list. Anonymous acquired feature film rights to the novel
in February 2011.
Bier, whose recent Danish film "In a Better World" took home the
foreign language Oscar, previously helmed "Things We Lost in the
Fire," "After the Wedding" and 2004's "Brothers," which was remade in
2009. Helmer recently signed on to direct Jennifer Lawrence and
Bradley Cooper in "Serena" and is currently shopping Pierce
Brosnan-starrer "All You Need Is Love" at Berlin.
Georgia-born Teems, who directed Mia Wasikowska and Ray McKinnon to
Indie Spirit Award noms in "That Evening Sun," recently reteamed with
that pic's star Hal Holbrook on the documentary "Holbrook/Twain: An
American Odyssey," which chronicles Holbrook's award-winning one-man
show "Mark Twain Tonight!" Filmmaker is currently developing an
adaptation of Stephen King's novella "The Breathing Method," and is
also eyeing an adaptation of Damon Galgut's novel "The Quarry" for his
second feature as writer-director.
Contact Jeff Sneider at jeff.sneider_at_variety.com
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Received on Thu Feb 09 2012 - 23:05:34 EST
