Saudi Arabia adopts World Drowning Prevention Day as national health priority    Saudi defense minister and Iranian FM discuss regional developments    GACA imposes SR2.8 million in fines for 87 civil aviation violations in Q2 2025    Desperate Gaza doctors cram several babies into one incubator as fuel crisis reaches critical point    ICC issues arrest warrants for Taliban leaders over women's rights violations    Syria issues appeal to EU for help battling massive wildfires along northwestern coast    Total e-messages sent to parties in lawsuits reach over 11.8 million during first half of 2025    3 arrested in assault case in Riyadh    New Property Ownership Law will take into effect in January 2026 Al-Hogail thanks King and Crown Prince for the updated law    Saudi, Iranian FMs discuss regional developments    Saudi Arabia sees 51% surge in blockchain business registrations by Q2 2025    SAMA announces launch of new e-commerce payments interface    HONOR returns to Esports World Cup as Official Smartphone Partner for 2025 The renewed commitment will see HONOR elevate mobile esports competition with cutting-edge AI technologies and industry-leading hardware    Riot Games responds to match-fixing allegations in VALORANT    BLAST responds to BESTIA Visa controversy ahead of CS2 Austin major    Christophe Galtier named NEOM SC head coach ahead of historic Saudi Pro League debut    Michael Madsen, actor of 'Kill Bill' and 'Reservoir Dogs' fame, dead at 67    BTS are back: K-pop band confirm new album and tour    Michelin Guide launches in Saudi Arabia with phased rollout in 2025    'How fragile we are': Roskilde Festival tragedy remembered 25 years on    Sholay: Bollywood epic roars back to big screen after 50 years with new ending    Ministry launches online booking for slaughterhouses on eve of Eid Al-Adha    Shah Rukh Khan makes Met Gala debut in Sabyasachi    Pakistani star's Bollywood return excites fans and riles far right    Exotic Taif Roses Simulation Performed at Taif Rose Festival    Asian shares mixed Tuesday    Weather Forecast for Tuesday    Saudi Tourism Authority Participates in Arabian Travel Market Exhibition in Dubai    Minister of Industry Announces 50 Investment Opportunities Worth over SAR 96 Billion in Machinery, Equipment Sector    HRH Crown Prince Offers Condolences to Crown Prince of Kuwait on Death of Sheikh Fawaz Salman Abdullah Al-Ali Al-Malek Al-Sabah    HRH Crown Prince Congratulates Santiago Peña on Winning Presidential Election in Paraguay    SDAIA Launches 1st Phase of 'Elevate Program' to Train 1,000 Women on Data, AI    41 Saudi Citizens and 171 Others from Brotherly and Friendly Countries Arrive in Saudi Arabia from Sudan    Saudi Arabia Hosts 1st Meeting of Arab Authorities Controlling Medicines    General Directorate of Narcotics Control Foils Attempt to Smuggle over 5 Million Amphetamine Pills    NAVI Javelins Crowned as Champions of Women's Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO) Competitions    Saudi Karate Team Wins Four Medals in World Youth League Championship    Third Edition of FIFA Forward Program Kicks off in Riyadh    Evacuated from Sudan, 187 Nationals from Several Countries Arrive in Jeddah    SPA Documents Thajjud Prayer at Prophet's Mosque in Madinah    SFDA Recommends to Test Blood Sugar at Home Two or Three Hours after Meals    SFDA Offers Various Recommendations for Safe Food Frying    SFDA Provides Five Tips for Using Home Blood Pressure Monitor    SFDA: Instant Soup Contains Large Amounts of Salt    Mawani: New shipping service to connect Jubail Commercial Port to 11 global ports    Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques Delivers Speech to Pilgrims, Citizens, Residents and Muslims around the World    Sheikh Al-Issa in Arafah's Sermon: Allaah Blessed You by Making It Easy for You to Carry out This Obligation. Thus, Ensure Following the Guidance of Your Prophet    Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques addresses citizens and all Muslims on the occasion of the Holy month of Ramadan    







Thank you for reporting!
This image will be automatically disabled when it gets reported by several people.



Africa advocate Ben Affleck to make movie on DRCongo
Published in The Saudi Gazette on 04 - 12 - 2010

winning screenwriter, actor, director and now Africa advocate Ben Affleck wants to make a movie about the troubled eastern Democratic Republic of Congo but has found no Hollywood taker yet.
“I would love to make a movie about Congo, but unfortunately I've asked Hollywood folks and they always say, ah, nobody wants to see a movie about Africa,” said Affleck, who earlier this year founded the Eastern Congo Initiative (ECI) advocacy group.
“I think that points to this general sense that people sort of tune out, that it doesn't matter,” he said in an interview.
“It's also a function of trends and conventional wisdom: if it comes down to a movie with fighting robots or a movie on what's happening in eastern Congo, you're not going to win.”
Affleck was speaking Tuesday after launching a report by his advocacy group, which calls for the United States to lead an international effort to bring stability to the troubled eastern Congo or risk the Great Lakes region becoming “another failure of humanity.”
“In eastern Congo, conflict and insecurity continue while the guns have fallen silent in other parts,” the report said. The Congo was riven by devastating back-to-back wars that began in the 1990s and ended early this century after claiming some 3.5 million lives.
“The international community – and the US in particular – must do more to address the challenges in eastern Congo if another failure of humanity is to be averted in central Africa,” the ECI report said.
Affleck directed, wrote and co-starred in bank heist movie “The Town” and has a slew of awards to his name, including a 1998 Oscar for the screenplay of “Good Will Hunting.” He is among a growing number of stars who use their celebrity to raise awareness of global crises.
George Clooney has advocated for Sudan, “Avatar” and “Alien” star Sigourney Weaver voiced a documentary film about ocean acidification and “Avatar” director James Cameron has spoken out for the Amazonian rain forest and indigenous peoples. Affleck has already made two short documentaries about eastern Congo, collaborating last year with Rolling Stones frontman Mick Jagger on a 23-minute video called “Gimme Shelter,” shot in the Nord-Kivu region and featuring the Stones' hit song by the same name.
On Tuesday, Affleck posted a five-minute video on YouTube about eastern DRC, featuring the U2 song “Bad.”
But if he makes a movie about DRC, it would be fictional rather than a documentary, he said. “There have been a lot of documentaries already, and fiction is more gripping,” Affleck said. “You can tell one person's story and really control the extent to which the history and the politics are layered in, but you keep that central through-line of a protagonist that you're really rooting for.”
Ideally, Affleck would like whatever movie he makes about eastern DRC to star African actors. And South African Oscar-winning actress Charlize Theron has already expressed interest in filming with Affleck in eastern DRC.
“But the other problem with movies about Africa is that there are no African movie stars in the United States. So the lead has to be someone who's American, and you have to figure out how to get an American person wedged into a story about Africa,” Affleck added.
“Leo (DiCaprio) did it really well in ‘Blood Diamonds,' so it's not impossible.”
In the 2006 film set against the backdrop of the civil war that raged in Sierra Leone in the 1990s, DiCaprio played a South African mercenary who sets off to recover a rare pink diamond with an African fisherman, played by Benin-born actor Djimoun Hounsou.
– Agence France


Clic here to read the story from its source.