“Castro’s Daughter” historical drama adds Maven Pictures

"Castro's Daughter" historical drama adds Maven Pictures
February 1, 2016 - 14:34 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net - Maven Pictures has joined Mankind Entertainment in
producing historical drama "Castro's Daughter", Variety has learned
exclusively.
Maven's Celine Rattray and Trudie Styler will be joining the production
as lead producers with developing producers John Martinez O'Felan, Joe
Lamy and Mexican filmmaker Luis Mandoki, who came on board last July to
direct.
The screenplay was redeveloped this year by Mandoki and Nilo Cruz,
author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning play "Anna in the Tropics." Cruz
escaped Cuba as a child. Oscar winner Bobby Moresco ("Crash") is also
credited as a co-writer.
The announcement comes six months after the July 20 resumption of normal
ties between the U.S. and Cuba.
"Castro's Daughter" is based on the life story of Alina Fernandez, who
was born in 1956 — three years before her father Fidel Castro took
power. Fernandez was Castro's love child with Naty Revuelta, a wealthy
socialite who sold her belongings to sponsor and co-finance Castro's
army and allowed her home to be used as a headquarters for planning his
coming to power.
She fled Cuba as a dissident in 1993 disguised as a Spanish tourist and
later wrote her memoir "Castro's Daughter: An Exile's Memoir of Cuba."
She now lives in the U.S., but has returned several times to Cuba, most
recently in March, 2014, for her mother's funeral.
Mandoki's credits include "When a Man Loves a Woman," "Message in a
Bottle" and "Gaby: A True Story," which followed the life of the child
of Austrian immigrants in Mexico who suffered from cerebral palsy.
Mandoki has also travelled to Cuba and met Fidel Castro during an
entertainment festival in Havana.
The project has been in development for several years. Wilmer Valderrama
and Catalina Sandino Moreno had been attached to star in 2013, with
Sarah Siegel-Magness directing.
"Alina is much like a Mona Lisa of modern time and is a symbol of faith
and empowerment for women around the globe," O'Felan said. "And we think
that Celine and Trudie are the perfect producers to help deliver this
project of importance as the world watches the U.S and Cuba go through
such a positive transformation for the sake of humanity."
The production aims to film on location in Cuba with Alina Fernandez
herself on set during shoot as a voice of the project.
Maven is a financier on "American Honey," starring Shia LaBeouf and
Riley Keough." The coming of age drama was sold in mid-January to A24.
Rattray was a producer on "The Kids Are Alright" and "Bernie." She and
Styler were executive producers on "Still Alice." Under the Maven
banner, they've produced "Black Nativity," "Filth," "Wilding" and "Freak
Show."

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