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Hollywood woos Colombia for hostage rescue film
2008-12-31
BOGOTA (AFP) - The daring jungle rescue of Ingrid Betancourt, three Americans and 11 others from leftist guerrillas could become a movie soon if Hollywood producers can strike a deal with the Colombian government. Both Warner Brothers and Sony Pictures are competing to portray "Operation Jaque" (Operation Check), where Colombian soldiers in July posed as aid workers to free the hostages being held by guerrillas with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), officials said. Betancourt, a former Colombian presidential candidate who has dual French-Colombian nationality, had been in captivity for more than six years. "Sony Pictures representatives came here and presented a project already well underway. Warner Brothers came as well," Colombian Defense Minister Juan Manuel Santos told AFP. "At the ministry, we offered them our full collaboration. The goal is that they release a very good film true to the facts." Warner Brothers spokeswoman Jessica Zacholl, contacted by telephone in Los Angeles, confirmed that her studio had acquired the rights to a project on the rescue operation. "The film will focus on the operation," Zacholl said. She said the film was in development and that it was premature to provide any further details. Sony, contacted by AFP, said it was unable to comment on the project at this time. Santos said the producers could begin filming as early as mid-2009 and release the movie in theaters a year later, adding that the negotiations were coming to a close. The script, Santos said, would be adapted from a book on the rescue operation by Colombian writer Juan Carlos Torres. "I find great personal gratification in the film being produced. It is a tribute to the army and all Colombians, especially as it will be shown all over the world by either Sony or Warner, two top-notch production houses," said Torres, whose book is already a bestseller two weeks after its publication. Betancourt earlier this month indicated she would step out of the limelight for a year to write up her own memoir of her six-year hostage ordeal. On July 2, 2008 President Alvaro Uribe ordered the launch of top-secret operation to free hostages held by the FARC. The group included Betancourt, US contractors Thomas Howes, Marc Gonsalves and Keith Stansell -- kidnapped by the Marxist guerilla in February 2003 -- and 11 Colombian military and police. Authorities said the surprise operation came after carefully preparing Colombia's intelligence services and infiltrating the FARC cell guarding the hostages. Colombian soldiers arrived at the FARC's jungle hideout posing as aid workers and tricked guerillas into handing the hostages over, ostensibly to be transferred to another FARC site. Torres said part of his book's sale profits will be provided to rehabilitation and assistance programs for Colombian soldiers wounded in combat or during missions. "Some of the book's profits goes to the heroes of the Colombian army, and I hope that part of the film's ticket sales will also go to them," Torres said. The projected film is not the only FARC-related movie being planned. Colombian director Victor Gaviria is said to work on "Black Blood: The Hour of the Traitors," the true story of a young FARC leader betrayed by his family. Former FARC members who have laid down their arms are set to play leading roles. In early 2008 the FARC unilaterally released six other hostages to Venezuela, following mediation led by Colombian senator Piedad Cordoba and Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez. Another hostage was recovered on October 26 after a former FARC guerrilla fled the jungle with politician Oscar Tulio Lizcano. The FARC still holds an estimated 700 hostages, most of them ordinary Colombian citizens seized for ransom, with about 28 held as political prisoners.
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