Our last post on this was almost exactly a year ago – a slave uprising project titled Tula, The Revolt, from Dutch director Jeroen Leinders, which is based on a true story about a slave uprising on the island of Curacao, a Dutch colony in 1795, and the man called Tula, who dared to stand up against his oppressors, and led the revolt that would last about a month.
At the time of that last post, the filmmakers were feverishly working to raise the necessary funds to see the film to fruition.
A year later, it looks like they're just about ready to roll, but with one problem.
They weren't able to raise the full amount that they initially budgeted for the film, but have decided that they've raised enough to get it made. In essence, they're readjusting their initial budget, so that they can get the film produced for the amount of money that they have raised.
By any means necessary.
I guess it's either that, or they spend another who know how long trying to raise the rest of the initial budget.
Another motivation is that they want to complete the film to release in 2013, a year that marks the 150th anniversary since slavery was finally abolished on the island of Curacao (1863).
So they're aiming for an October start date, and have begun putting together cast and crew. No word on whether they'll cast primarily local actors, or if they're going after *bigger* international names for the project.
Director Jeroen Leinders (whose background is heavy in documentary filmmaking) is said to have spent much of his youth on Curacao, and has been working there for the past 6 years, when he learned of the historical account of the slave wrote, and pursued the idea of turning it into a film; and here we are.
The source of the rebellion was that Tula and an initial group of 40 to 50 slaves requested 3 things of their overseers: an end to collective punishment, an end to working on Sundays, and lastly, the right to buy their wears from anywhere they wanted, not just from their masters, which was the rule of the day.
Apparently, they didn't get what they asked for, and thus, Tula organized a group of fellow slaves who resolved not to work as slaves anymore. The rebellion, which actually began peacefully and was meant to be 'won with words, rather than arms," lasted for more than a month. But, unfortunately, it didn't end as peacefully as it begun, because the colonial forces crushed the revolt, Tula was captured, tortured, convicted and executed.
This film will tell his story – a man who's revered in Curacao today. The producers are calling it an action-drama.
The below video was shot by the filmmakers about 3 years ago, to use as a sales promo for potential investors, giving them an idea of the style in which the film will be shot (so it's not a trailer or anything from the upcoming film, which hasn't been shot yet):
