MUMBAI: The Weinstein Company (TWC) has acquired the US rights to political documentary ‘The Oath Of Tobruk‘, the company announced at the on-going Cannes Film Festival.
The film, directed by French philosopher, journalist and filmmaker Bernard-Henri Levy, was made over the eight-month period of conflict that put an end to Muammar Gaddafi‘s reign in Libya. Levy documented the unfolding of the war and the spontaneous popular revolt that became a revolution through the efforts of the Libyan people in their country and in major cities including Paris, London and New York.
The course of action taken by the Libyan people that was revealed in the documentary exemplifies how ideas and convictions can change the course of history in the form of a political and humanitarian intervention that had otherwise seemed impossible.
The announcement was made by TWC co-chairman Harvey Weinstein, who fully supports the film and sees this acquisition as a political action that could provide hope for other countries in a similar state of peril including Syria.
On 25 May, the Cannes Film Festival will present a special showing of the film, which is an Official Selection of the festival. Four key figures of the Libyan revolution, who have been invited by Levy, will attend the screening to dedicate their achievement in Libya to their Syrian friends.
Levy said, "For me, Harvey Weinstein is not simply THE ARTIST. He is the producer who helped launch Amnesty International in the United States; the man who fought capital punishment with the weapon of cinema; and the one who defended Roman Polanski in the face of those who wished to lynch him. This Weinstein, I am happy to learn, is joining Studio 37 in the adventure of ‘The Oath Of Tobruk‘."
Weinstein said, "This wonderful movie shows BHL‘s incredible courage and the strength of former French president Nicolas Sarkozy, and also highlights the invaluable leadership from President Barack Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. American audiences will get a behind-the-scenes glimpse of how our government and the French government worked together to stop the slaughter of innocent civilians and brilliantly handled the overthrow of a government."