Jean Seberg

Augustana’s Simonsen contributes to Emmy-winning documentary

By Augustana College
Rock Island, IL

Dr. Jane Simonsen, professor of history at Augustana College in Rock Island, Illnois, was a contributor to the documentary “Jean Seberg: Actress Activist Icon,” winner of a Mid-America Emmy® Award in the historical documentary category.

The feature-length documentary was produced by Quad Cities filmmakers Kelly and Tammy Rundle of Fourth Wall Films, and Garry McGee of McMarr, LTD.

“We feel the Emmy win for 'Jean Seberg' affirms the amazing life and enduring legacy of Jean, an Iowa daughter, a caring humanitarian, and an American and international movie star,” said producer Kelly Rundle.

Jean Serg with "Breathless" director Jean-Luc Godard

Selected from 18,000 aspiring actresses world-wide at age 17, Seberg debuted in Otto Preminger’s 1957 "Saint Joan" and starred in Hollywood films “Lilith,” “The Mouse that Roared” and the blockbuster “Airport,” among others. She is best known for her performance in the groundbreaking French New Wave film “Breathless.”

Seberg’s civil rights activism and her financial support for the Black Panther Party made her a target of the FBI's COINTELPRO. The actress died in mysterious circumstances in Paris at age 40, and her family blamed FBI harassment.

Dr. Simonsen did an in-depth on-camera interview for the film focused on Seberg’s activism.

“If you look at Jean’s history, especially the joining the NAACP when she was 14, it seems she was pretty interested in racial equality and passionate about the quest for equality,” said Simonsen. “She was open-minded about who people were, and where they came from, and was genuinely interested in them.

“Jean Seberg just stepped right into the middle of so many conflicts at that time — conflicts about race, about sexuality, about communism, about politics, about women’s political involvement. And, that seems to be what got her: Seemingly, the wide belief that she overstepped her bounds in some way.”

"Seberg," a 2019 political thriller film starring Kristen Stewart, was based on the life of Jean Seberg.

The documentary features never-before-seen private photographs, and home movie footage. It is the first documentary film to focus on the private side of the international movie star, combining exclusive interviews with Seberg’s family, according to Fourth Wall Films.

 

"Jean Seberg: Actress Activist Icon" Garners 2022 Emmy Nomination

Producers Garry McGee of McMarr, LTD, and Kelly and Tammy Rundle of Fourth Wall Films, have received a 2022 Mid-America Emmy® nomination for their documentary film Jean Seberg: Actress Activist Icon. 

Jean Seberg: Actress Activist Icon received a nomination in the Historical Documentary category. Selected from 18,000 aspiring actresses world-wide at age 17, Marshalltown, Iowa’s Jean Seberg made her acting debut in Otto Preminger’s 1957 Saint Joan and starred in Hollywood films Lilith, Paint Your Wagon, and the blockbuster Airport, among others. She is best known for her performance with co-star Jean-Paul Belmondo in director Jean-Luc Godard’s groundbreaking French New Wave film Breathless.

Seberg’s offscreen civil rights activism and her financial support for the Black Panther Party made her a target of the F.B.I.’s COINTELPRO and their plan to “neutralize” her initiated a downward spiral leading to her mysterious and untimely death in Paris.

Jean Seberg: Actress Activist Icon is the first documentary film to focus on the private side of the international movie star, combining exclusive interviews with Jean’s family, including her sister Mary Ann Seberg and former husband François Moreuil; co-star Mylene Demongeot, director Nicolas Gessner, and former Black Panther Party leader and Jean’s friend Elaine Brown. The film features never-before-seen private photographs, home movie footage, and original music by musicians Mark and Amy Adams-Westin of Amy & Adams. Mark, a close friend of Jean Seberg’s, was interviewed for the documentary.

“We feel the Emmy nomination for “Jean Seberg” affirms the amazing life and enduring legacy of Jean, an Iowa daughter, a caring humanitarian, and an American and international movie star.” said co-director Kelly Rundle. The film had its broadcast premiere on WQPT-PBS.

“Jean Seberg: Actress Activist Icon” was funded in part with grants from Humanities Iowa, the National Endowment for the Humanities, and Iowa Arts Council.

Kelly and Tammy Rundle received a Mid-America Emmy® award for their environmental documentary Over and Under: Wildlife Crossings, and have received a total of twelve Emmy-nominations for their various film projects over the last decade. Garry McGee was nominated for an Upper-Midwest Emmy® in the writing category for his documentary The Last Wright.

Jean-Luc Godard Dies at 91

Breathless director Jean-Luc Godard and Jean Seberg.

Director Jean-Luc Godard has died. He was 91. His seminal film "Breathless" would not have been possible had Jean Seberg not lent her luster and performance to the now legendary movie. We share Hollywood Reporter's Jordan Mintzer's story about the man who "revolutionized cinema" in the 1960s.

By Jordan Mintzer, Hollywood Reporter

In the wake of 'Breathless,' New Waves that sprang up across the planet, from Brazil to Czechoslovakia to Japan, owed a major debt to him, as did generations of American directors, including Scorsese, De Palma and Tarantino.

Jean-Luc Godard, the brilliant and polemical Franco-Swiss filmmaker whose work revolutionized cinema, has died. He was 91.

Godard resorted to assisted suicide Tuesday in Switzerland, a family spokesperson told Agence France-Presse.

“Jean-Luc Godard died peacefully at home, surrounded by loved ones,” his wife, filmmaker Anne-Marie Mieville, and producers said in a statement. He will be cremated and there will be no official ceremony, they said.

A former film critic who wrote for the legendary Cahiers du Cinéma during its heyday of the 1950s, Godard emerged onto the scene in 1960 with his seminal debut feature, Breathless, which won the Silver Bear at the Berlin Film Festival.

The Paris-set crime caper, which starred Jean Seberg and Jean-Paul Belmondo, forever changed the course of movies and heralded the arrival of cinematic modernism. Using jump cuts, nods to the camera and other meta-fictional devices, Breathless constantly interrupted and commented on the story as it was happening.

Read the rest of the Hollywood Reporter story at HERE!

Produced by Emmy-nominated and award-winning filmmaker Garry McGee (McMarr Ltd.), and Emmy-award winning filmmakers Kelly Rundle and Tammy Rundle (Fourth Wall Films), Jean Seberg: Actress, Activist, Icon tells the true story of Hollywood and heartbreak, beginning when an unknown 17-year-old Iowa girl who beat out 18,000 actresses to play Saint Joan in Otto Preminger's 1957 film. The documentary goes behind the scenes of her rocky life in the international film spotlight, her civil rights activism that drew FBI attention, and her mysterious death in Paris in 1979. The documentary is in the distribution phase.

Visit JeanSebergMovie for updates on the documentary, glimpses behind-the-scenes, all things Jean Seberg, and upcoming news on the film's release in late 2022/early 2023.

For more on Jean Seberg read Garry McGee's books: Jean Seberg--Breathless, Neutralized: the FBI vs. Jean Seberg (with Jean Russell Larson) and The Films of Jean Seberg (with Michael Coates-Smith). 

Filmmaker Kelly Rundle talks "Jean Seberg" on The Cities with Jim Mertens

The award-winning documentary "Jean Seberg: Actress Activist Icon" will have its broadcast premiere on WQPT-Quad Cities PBS and screen one time on Oscar night, Sunday, March 27 at 7 p.m. The film was produced by Mid-America Emmy Award winners Kelly and Tammy Rundle of Fourth Wall Films, and Regional Emmy-nominated filmmaker Garry McGee of McMarr, Ltd.

Filmmaker Kelly Rundle appeared on Jim Mertens' "The Cities" to talk about the documentary and Jean's activism throughout her life. Rundle's interview begins at about 16:55 at this link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aNhR8ULiXPM&t=3s

Seberg Co-star Peter Robbins Has Died

ComicBook.com image

Peter Robbins, the child actor most famous for voicing Charlie Brown and starred with Jean Seberg in the film “Moment to Moment” died by suicide on January 18.

Of Hungarian descent, Robbins was born Louis Nanasi in Los Angeles, California, on August 10, 1956. After adopting his professional name Peter Robbins, he began acting at age seven with appearances in various films and television shows including “The Munsters,” “F Troop,” and “Get Smart”. He was most famous for providing the voice of Charlie Brown in six “Peanuts” television specials and one movie based on the popular comic strip by Charles Schulz. From 1963 through 1969 these “Peanuts” works included “A Boy Named Charlie Brown” and the television specials A Charlie Brown Christmas and It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown which included his trademark scream of "AAUGH!!"

In-between his voice-over work as Charlie Brown and episodic television appearances, Robbins appeared alongside Honor Blackman, Sean Garrison, and Jean Seberg in the 1965 film Moment to Moment. Playing Seberg’s precocious son Timmy, he held a pivotal role in the suspense love story of an illicit affair, murder, and amnesia. Directed by Hollywood veteran Mervyn LeRoy, the work was considered a soap opera “woman’s” picture by the director. Critics, however, cried out for direction by someone like Alfred Hitchcock. The work was available for the home market in VHS form for a limited time in the 1990s and has not been legitimately released on DVD or BluRay.

Robbins retired from the entertainment industry in 1972, and later graduated from the University of California, San Diego, in 1979.  He pursued his career in real estate, with stints in radio including hosting a talk radio show in 1996 on KPSL 1010 Talk Radio in Palm Springs. Prior to his death, Robbins was working on his autobiography, “Confessions of a Blockhead,” detailing his life, living with bipolar disorder and run-ins with the law, as well as his future.

Getty Image.

Produced by Emmy-nominated and award-winning filmmaker Garry McGee (McMarr Ltd.), and Emmy-award winning filmmakers Kelly Rundle and Tammy Rundle (Fourth Wall Films), Jean Seberg: Actress, Activist, Icon tells the true story of Hollywood and heartbreak, beginning when an unknown 17-year-old Iowa girl who beat out 18,000 actresses to play Saint Joan in Otto Preminger's 1957 film. The documentary goes behind the scenes of her rocky life in the international film spotlight, her civil rights activism that drew FBI attention, and her mysterious death in Paris in 1979. The documentary is in the distribution phase.

Visit JeanSebergMovie for updates on the documentary, glimpses behind-the-scenes, all things Jean Seberg, and upcoming news on the film's release.

For more on Jean Seberg read Garry McGee's books: Jean Seberg--Breathless, Neutralized: the FBI vs. Jean Seberg (with Jean Russell Larson) and The Films of Jean Seberg (with Michael Coates-Smith). 

Jean Seberg's "Breathless" Co-Star Jean-Paul Belmondo Dies

Jean-Paul Belmondo and Jean Seberg in Backfire (Échappement libre), directed by Jean Becker (1964).

Jean-Paul Belmondo, the French actor who shot to international fame in Jean-Luc Godard’s revolutionary New Wave classic Breathless with Jean Seberg has died aged 88.

Belmondo became one of the country’s biggest box-office stars in the 60s and 70s with films including Two Women , starring Sophia Loren, and That Man From Rio. His rugged yet boyish looks combined with the series of films he made with Godard--which included A Woman Is a Woman and Pierrot le Fou--made an indelible mark.

Born in 1933, Belmondo embarked on a brief amateur boxing career as a teenager. After contracting tuberculosis, he became interested in performing, and applied to and attended the elite National Academy of Dramatic Arts in 1952.

After graduation, Belmondo began acting in the theatre and in small film roles. One of them, Marc Allegret’s 1958 comedy Un Drôle de Dimanche, brought Belmondo to the attention of Godard who was then still a critic at Cahiers du Cinéma. Godard cast him in his 12-minute short, Charlotte and Her Boyfriend.

Jean-Paul Belmondo and Jean Seberg in Jean-Luc Godard's French New Wave classic "Breathless" (Photo by Raymond Cauchetier).

Before Godard could get a full-length feature off the ground, his fellow critic Claude Chabrol cast Belmondo in his 1959 thriller A Double Tour playing the murder victim’s boyfriend. But it was Godard’s film, shot in the late summer of 1959, that secured Belmondo’s (as well as Seberg’s and Godard’s) ascension into the small circle of members of the French New Wave.

Jean-Paul Belmondo and Jean Seberg reteamed in the comedy caper film Echappementlibre (Backfire) four years after Breathless to the enjoyment of many. Although they were friendly to each other and grateful for the success of Breathless, Belmondo and Seberg were never close friends. However, when Seberg passed away in 1979, Belmondo attended her graveside service at Montparnasse Cemetery as a tribute to his former co-star.

Garry McGee is the co-producer-director-writer of Jean Seberg: Actress, Activist, Icon (now in the distribution phase). He is the Emmy® nominated filmmaker behind the documentary The Last Wright (co-produced with Lucille Carra) and the author of Jean Seberg--Breathless, Neutralized: the FBI vs. Jean Seberg (with Jean Russell Larson) and The Films of Jean Seberg (with Michael Coates-Smith). 

The award-winning documentary Jean Seberg: Actress, Activist, Icon tells the true story of Hollywood and heartbreak, beginning when an unknown 17-year-old Iowa girl who beat out 18,000 actresses to play Saint Joan in Otto Preminger's 1957 film. The documentary goes behind the scenes of her rocky life in the international film spotlight, her civil rights activism that drew FBI attention, and her mysterious death in Paris in 1979 - deemed a "probable suicide." Produced by Emmy-nominated and award-winning filmmakers Garry McGee (McMarr Ltd.), and Kelly Rundle and Tammy Rundle (Fourth Wall Films).

Visit JeanSebergMovie for updates on the documentary, glimpses behind-the-scenes, all things Jean Seberg, and upcoming news on the film's release.

Jean Seberg's Widower Dennis Berry Dies

By Garry McGee

Jean Seberg’s widower, Dennis Berry, died on June 12 in Paris. He was 76.

Berry was married to Seberg from 1972 until her death in 1979. From 1982 he was married to actress Anna Karina until her death in 2019.

Born in the United States, Dennis Berry had lived in Paris most of his life. His father was the exiled Hollywood film director John Berry. In 1950, John Berry agreed to direct a short documentary on the Hollywood 10, a group of directors and writers who refused to cooperate with the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) in their pursuit of supposed Communist Party infiltration within the US film industry. John Berry was named as a communist by fellow director and former party member Edward Dmytryk, one of the Hollywood Ten who had been jailed for contempt of Congress for refusing to cooperate with HUAC. After being released from prison, Dmytryk had gone into exile in England, but he subsequently sought to reenter the Hollywood film industry and voluntarily testified before HUAC in April 1951, clearing himself by "naming names."

The Hollywood 10.

By naming John Berry and 25 other alleged communists, Dmytryk was then able to resume his Hollywood career. Berry was also named by ex-Communist Party member Frank Tuttle, who testified before HUAC in 1951 after returning from Austria, to clear his name and regain employment in Hollywood. Unable to secure work and unwilling to compromise his principles, Berry left the U.S. and resettled with his family in Paris.

Jean Seberg and Dennis Berry at the premiere of Last Tango in Paris in 1972.

Dennis Berry was introduced to Jean Seberg at a party in early 1972. A whirlwind courtship took place and the couple married in Las Vegas several weeks after meeting. Although separated, the couple remained married at the time of Seberg’s death in 1979. The couple had no children.

Dennis Berry appeared as an actor in various works including a brief bit in 1970’s “Promise at Dawn”, a biographical work of Seberg’s second husband novelist Romain Gary. Berry’s film shorts drew attention and acclaim in France, and in 1975 he directed his first full-length film “le grand delire” with Seberg and Isabelle Huppert. He continued to work in American and French film and television productions including “Highlander” with Marion Cotillard in 1992. His last film, “Savages”, was released in 2019.

Seberg’s first husband, film director and producer Francois Moreuil, died in 2017. Her second husband, Romain Gary, passed in 1980.

Garry McGee is the co-producer-director-writer of Jean Seberg: Actress, Activist, Icon (now in the distribution phase). He is the Emmy® nominated filmmaker behind the documentary The Last Wright (co-produced with Lucille Carra) and the author of Jean Seberg--Breathless, Neutralized: the FBI vs. Jean Seberg (with Jean Russell Larson) and The Films of Jean Seberg (with Michael Coates-Smith). 

The award-winning documentary Jean Seberg: Actress, Activist, Icon tells the true story of Hollywood and heartbreak, beginning when an unknown 17-year-old Iowa girl who beat out 18,000 actresses to play Saint Joan in Otto Preminger's 1957 film. The documentary goes behind the scenes of her rocky life in the international film spotlight, her civil rights activism that drew FBI attention, and her mysterious death in Paris in 1979 - deemed a "probable suicide." Produced by Emmy-nominated and award-winning filmmakers Garry McGee (McMarr Ltd.), and Kelly Rundle and Tammy Rundle (Fourth Wall Films).

Visit JeanSebergMovie for updates on the documentary, glimpses behind-the-scenes, all things Jean Seberg, and upcoming news on the film's release.

Jean Seberg Friend & American Indian Rights Activist Donald Wanatee Walks On

Garry McGee, Tammy Rundle and Kelly Rundle (outside photo) interviewing Meskwaki tribal council member Don Wanatee for Jean Seberg: Actress, Activist, Icon.

Meskwaki Elder Donald Wanatee, 88, has walked on.

As a child growing up in Marshalltown, Iowa, Jean Seberg was well aware of the Meskwaki Nation (Sac & Fox Tribe of the Mississippi--Red Earth People) settlement in nearby Tama. 

In September 1970, while visiting her parents following the burial of her daughter, Nina Hart Gary, actress Jean Seberg visited the Meskwaki Settlement and met Donald Wanatee for the first time. She saw the challenges the Tribe was facing, and asked what she could do to help.

"There were no jobs. No housing. No running water. It was extreme poverty," said Wanatee, who befriended Jean.

In 1972, a donation was made by Seberg for athletic equipment for the Meskwaki boys' basketball team.

Actress Jean Seberg.

Don talked about his friendship with Jean and her interest in the civil rights movement during an interview for the documentary Jean Seberg: Actress Activist Icon. 

"I think she was a real educated person. She was worried about what was happening in the state and in the world, especially concerning minorities. She was welcome to come here anytime."

Wanatee died in his home on the Meskwaki Settlement on April 21.

Dr. David Gradwohl, Professor Emeritus of Anthropology at Iowa State University, posted a tribute on Facebook: "...Don was a student of mine at Iowa State University in the early 1970s. Along with his wife, Priscilla Lasley Wanatee, they co-founded the United Native American Student Association (UNASA) with two other students; I was privileged to serve as UNASA's first faculty advisor. He was seminal in the establishment of the American Indian Studies Program at ISU. Donald went on to obtain his Masters of Social Work degree at the University of Iowa. Donald helped establish the national Coalition of Indian Controlled School Boards which eventually led to the Meskwaki creating their own schools at the Settlement without the interference of the Bureau of Indian Affairs. Donald served several terms on the Meskwaki Tribal Council and mentored many young Native American men and women. His legacy will live on."

Des Moines Register, March 1968.

Jean Seberg did not live to witness the transformative conditions on the Settlement over the decades that followed her first meeting with friend and activist Donald Wanatee--the Meskwaki Nation's several successful enterprises, and work to provide health services, senior services, family services, youth services, higher education and housing to its people; its efforts for historic preservation, language preservation, and cultural celebration; the establishment of Meskwaki, Inc., a family of companies dedicated to the Meskwaki mission of developing and operating successful tribally-owned business enterprises; providing meaningful jobs and opportunities for its Tribal members; and providing its Tribe with an adequate income stream from its business operations so the Tribe may reach total economic self-sufficiency.

In 2013, nearly 70 years after eight Meskwaki men were trained to use their native language to provide secure battlefield communication, Donald Wanatee was among representatives of the Meskwaki Settlement to accept the Congressional Gold Medal on behalf of their ancestors who served as World War II “code talkers.”

"It was an honor to see the Meskwaki veterans recognized for their “historic role in World War II, using their native language as the basis for creating unbreakable codes for communicating messages in combat,” Sen. Tom Harkin said. In their efforts, they “exemplified the traditional Meskwaki values of bravery, honor and justice.”"

Donald Wanatee, a member of the Meskwaki tribal council at the time simply said, “At last.”

It was truly an honor for us to meet and talk with Don. Our deepest sympathy goes out to his family, his friends, and all who knew and loved him.

Documentary filmmakers Garry McGee and Kelly Rundle with Donald Wanatee (center).

Garry McGee is the co-producer-director-writer of Jean Seberg: Actress, Activist, Icon (now in the distribution phase). He is the Emmy® nominated filmmaker behind the documentary The Last Wright (co-produced with Lucille Carra) and the author of Jean Seberg--Breathless, Neutralized: the FBI vs. Jean Seberg (with Jean Russell Larson) and The Films of Jean Seberg (with Michael Coates-Smith). 

The award-winning documentary Jean Seberg: Actress, Activist, Icon tells the true story of Hollywood and heartbreak, beginning when an unknown 17-year-old Iowa girl who beat out 18,000 actresses to play Saint Joan in Otto Preminger's 1957 film. The documentary goes behind the scenes of her rocky life in the international film spotlight, her civil rights activism that drew FBI attention, and her mysterious death in Paris in 1979 - deemed a "probable suicide." Produced by Emmy-nominated and award-winning filmmakers Garry McGee (McMarr Ltd.), and Kelly Rundle and Tammy Rundle (Fourth Wall Films).

Visit JeanSebergMovie for updates on the documentary, glimpses behind-the-scenes, all things Jean Seberg, and upcoming news on the film's release.

How Accurately Are the Black Panthers Depicted in Movies? Former BPP Leader Elaine Brown Rates 6 Films

Elaine Brown during her interview for Jean Seberg: Actress. Activist. Icon.

Former Black Panther Party leader Elaine Brown was recently asked to rate six films involving the Black Panther Party for realism. Brown, a BBP contact and close friend of Jean Seberg's, provided a riveting interview for the new documentary Jean Seberg: Actress. Activist. Icon. (currently in distribution review). Among the films she rated is SEBERG starring Kristen Stewart released in 2019.

2021 Oscar nominated "Judas and the Black Messiah".

INSIDER noted: "Brown joined the Black Panther Party in 1968 and was the acting chair of the party from 1974 to 1977 while Black Panther cofounder Huey Newton was in self-imposed exile in Cuba. The Black Panther Party was an organization focused on creating a revolution for Black freedom, housing rights, the end of police violence against Black people, and other social causes. It was founded by Newton and Bobby Seale in 1966 in Oakland, California. Its ideology incorporated socialism, Marxism-Leninism, and Black nationalism. The party was active between 1966 and 1982 and had chapters across the United States. Brown discusses the accuracy of the portrayal of the Black Panther Party in films such as "Judas and the Black Messiah" (2021), "Forrest Gump" (1994), and "The Butler" (2013). Brown has personal connections to Seale, Fred Hampton, and Jean Seberg, and she comments on their depictions in "Panther" (1995), "The Trial of the Chicago 7" (2020), and "Seberg" (2019)."

"Seberg" (2019).

DISCLAIMER: Please note that the interview subtitles are inaccurate with numerous errors and misspellings. View Elaine Brown's INSIDER interview HERE!

Garry McGee is the co-producer-director-writer of Jean Seberg: Actress, Activist, Icon (now in the distribution phase). He is the Emmy® nominated filmmaker behind the documentary The Last Wright (co-produced with Lucille Carra) and the author of Jean Seberg--Breathless, Neutralized: the FBI vs. Jean Seberg (with Jean Russell Larson) and The Films of Jean Seberg (with Michael Coates-Smith). 

The award-winning documentary Jean Seberg: Actress, Activist, Icon tells the true story of Hollywood and heartbreak, beginning when an unknown 17-year-old Iowa girl who beat out 18,000 actresses to play Saint Joan in Otto Preminger's 1957 film. The documentary goes behind the scenes of her rocky life in the international film spotlight, her civil rights activism that drew FBI attention, and her mysterious death in Paris in 1979 - deemed a "probable suicide." Produced by Emmy-nominated and award-winning filmmakers Garry McGee (McMarr Ltd.), and Kelly Rundle and Tammy Rundle (Fourth Wall Films).

Visit JeanSebergMovie for updates on the documentary, glimpses behind-the-scenes, all things Jean Seberg, and upcoming news on the film's release.

Film Biography of Romain Gary in the Works

 

 

Note: The following news story was published today on a new film in pre-production by Living Time Motion Pictures on diplomat, writer and filmmaker Romain Gary. Nicolas Cage is on the wish list as the actor to portray Gary. While Jean is identified in the photo below as the "tragic suicide actress Jean Seberg" (the cause of death was inconclusive and officially recorded as "probable suicide"). Romain Gary committed suicide on December 2, 1980.

 

NEWS PROVIDED BY

FILM TIME Entertainment News

 

Living Time Motion Pictures is producing the Film Biography of War Hero Aviator, Literary Great, Top-Ranking Diplomat, Filmmaker and Man of Mystery Romain Gary.

 

Romain Gary was husband to tragic suicide actress Jean Seberg.

LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM, April 2, 2021 /EINPresswire.com/ -- At their virtual Easter press conference on April 1st, Living Time Motion Pictures announced a slate of new productions for 2021-2022, headed by the biographical film 'Man of Promise' about the life and work of multi-award-winning novelist Romain Gary. Four other features were also announced - including documentary 'In the Absence of the Author' as well as the forthcoming television series 'Crimes Past'. Attending the event, it was clear from the core focus being given to 'Man of Promise' that it is one of LTMP's major productions - they were fully at the ready with two poster designs for the movie whose full title was presented as 'Man of Promise: The Many Lives of Romain Gary'.

Nicholas Cage (sic) is the #1 choice of screenwriter Edouard d'Araille

Jack D. Goldstein, Vice-President of Production for Living Time Motion Pictures, announced that 'Man of Promise' would be going ahead on a $43 Million budget and will be shooting from 2021-2022 - partially dependent on Coronavirus restrictions. Some further details were provided about the financials into the film, including that England, France, Poland and Germany have staked investments into it, making it an international co-production. The involvement of Lithuania in the film was also explained, as it turns out Romain Gary was originally from Vilnius, having been born there in 1914. Other shooting locations were also named, including Paris, New York, Warsaw, Hollywood, Nice and Casablanca.

But who was Romain Gary? And why is a motion picture being made about his life now? 

Read the rest of the EIN news story HERE.

Garry McGee is the co-producer-director-writer of Jean Seberg: Actress, Activist, Icon (now in the distribution phase). He is the Emmy® nominated filmmaker behind the documentary The Last Wright (co-produced with Lucille Carra) and the author of Jean Seberg--Breathless, Neutralized: the FBI vs. Jean Seberg (with Jean Russell Larson) and The Films of Jean Seberg (with Michael Coates-Smith). 

The award-winning documentary Jean Seberg: Actress, Activist, Icon tells the true story of Hollywood and heartbreak, beginning when an unknown 17-year-old Iowa girl who beat out 18,000 actresses to play Saint Joan in Otto Preminger's 1957 film. The documentary goes behind the scenes of her rocky life in the international film spotlight, her civil rights activism that drew FBI attention, and her mysterious death in Paris in 1979 - deemed a "probable suicide." Produced by Emmy-nominated and award-winning filmmakers Garry McGee (McMarr Ltd.), and Kelly Rundle and Tammy Rundle (Fourth Wall Films).

Visit JeanSebergMovie for updates on the documentary, glimpses behind-the-scenes, all things Jean Seberg, and upcoming news on the film's release.