EXCLUSIVE: Roger Donaldson, whose long career in Hollywood has encompassed movies including The Bounty, Species, Cocktail, Dante’s Peak and The World’s Fastest Indian, is attached to direct the German-produced and Vietnam-set TV series Nhiem.
The show comes from local producers Carte blanche International, which is at this week’s European Film Market in Berlin with its feature film Merkel, about the German premier, which Paramount is releasing locally.
Heinrich Hadding, who wrote the 2009 feature Pope Joan, is penning the screenplay with David Wenham and John Goodman. The series will follow titular character Nhiem, a 19-year-old film student who is forced to leave his studies and join the Vietnam War, eventually becoming the Viet Cong’s documentary eye.
Producers are Carte Blanche International’s Alexander van Dülmen and Stephan Wagner. Director Donaldson and van Dülmen previously collaborated on The World’s Fastest Indian starring Sir Anthony Hopkins and Diane Ladd.
Donaldson most recently helmed racing pic McLaren and the Pierce Brosnan-starring action movie The November Man.
”Nhiem is a truly unique perspective on the Vietnam war that shows us life through the eyes of an artist during a time of intense conflict and struggle. It certainly delivers on the Carte Blanche ethos of bringing projects that shed light on the human experience during some of the most pivotal points in history to international audiences,” said van Dülmen.