A quick recap on this..
– First, the film is titled Doctor Bello.
– Second, it stars Isaiah Washington, as well as Vivica A. Fox, Jimmy Jean-Louis, Bern Cohen, Genevieve Nnaji (maybe the most internationally well known Nollywood actress), Stephanie Okereke (also a Nollywood actress) and many others.
– Third, the film’s synopsis states, "The Cure for Cancer has been found in the sky mountains of Africa, and an American Oncologist will risk everything to get it."
– Fourth, the film is scheduled for release in Summer 2012.
– Fifth, it's the first movie project financed in part by the recently established Nigerian Intervention Fund for the arts and entertainment industry administered by NEXIM Bank.
That's pretty much the gist of it all; I'm supposed to meet with the cast and crew this weekend, provided there aren't any schedule changes, so I'll hopefully have more to report to you afterward.
As noted in previous posts, we're seeing more and more of these cross-continental connections, between African American and African talents; most recently, Kimberly Elise in award-winning Ghanaian-American filmmaker Leila Djansi's Ties That Bind, and Vivica Fox in Nigerian filmmaker Jeta Amata's Black November.
I'm unfamiliar with director/producer Tony Abulu's past work, but that will hopefully be rectified soon enough; I will say, however, that, based on his resume I just read, he's been in the biz for a long while.
Check out the full poster below under the longer synopsis that follows. I'll be looking out for that trailer to drop real soon.
Here's a longer synopsis:
Brilliant Cancer specialist Dr. Michael Durant ( Isaiah Washington) is emotionally troubled, wrestling with the traumatic loss of his 10 year old daughter from Cancer. Immersing himself in his work in the hospital, away from his wife ( Vivica A. Fox) he forms an unlikely bond with a sick, loving, but rambunctious 11 year old boy Sam, the son of a rich Jewish couple who are major contributors to the hospital Cancer research fund.Unfortunately, Sam’s health deteriorates drastically, and with only a few days to live. Dr. Durant becomes desperate, willing to risk anything to save the child’s life. A surreptitious Nigerian Nurse convinces him to seek the help of Dr. Bello ( Jimmy Jean Louis), an uncertified Nigerian Doctor with a controversial past, known in the Brooklyn-African underground as a miracle worker. Dr. Bello secretly administers a strange African potion, replete with incantations to Sam and miraculously, the child begins to recover, the Cancer speeding into remission. Little did Dr. Durant know that this would start a criminal investigation by the hospital board, and eventually lead him to a mysterious, riveting journey of self discovery, love, forgiveness, and hope in the mysterious “Garden of life,” lodged deep in the recesses of Nigeria’s sky mountains.
