Jean-Claude Carrières Controversy of Valladolid to Be Adapted Into English-Language Film by Stéphane Célérier, Wassim Beji (EXCLUSIVE)

Stéphane Célérier (“CODA”) and Wassim Béji (“Black Box”) have teamed up to produce an English-language feature film based on “The Controversy of Valladolid,” the literary masterpiece of Oscar-winning screenwriter and novelist Jean-Claude Carrière.

The 1992 novel, inspired by historical events, dramatizes the sprawling moral debate that was conducted by Europeans and the Catholic Church after America was discovered, to determine how Native Americans should be treated. Considered the first of its kind, the 16th century debate “shook Europe at its core and divided America, causing inequalities and fueling racism with consequences that can still be felt today,” said Célérier and Beji, who are producing via their vehicles Gemma Pictures and WY Productions, respectively. The pair added that the film will ultimately be a “fresco about the birth of America.” 

Carrière, who received an Honorary Oscar Award in 2014, penned “The Controversy of Valladolid” in 1992 to mark the 500th anniversary of Christopher Columbus’ arrival to America. 

Like the book, the film will revolve around two powerful real-life figures of the Catholic Church who clashed over whether to enslave Native Americans or set them free. The movie will unfold inside a courtroom where both men will face each other, making decisions that will impact the fate of millions of Indigenous people.

The novel was previously adapted by Carrière into a TV film in 1992 starring Jean-Pierre Marielle and Jean-Louis Trintignant in the leading roles. It’s also been adapted into a play, which traveled around the world.

Carrière, who died in 2021, is best-known for having penned some of the most celebrated European films, including Luis Buñuel’s “Belle de Jour,” Jacques Deray’s “La Piscine,” Jean-Luc Godard’s “Every Man for Himself,” Volker Schlöndorff’s “The Tin Drum” and Jean-Paul Rappeneau’s “Cyrano de Bergerac.” He also earned Oscar nominations for the screenplays of Buñuel’s “The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie” and “That Obscure Object of Desire,” as well as Philip Kaufman’s “The Unbearable Lightness of Being.”

Célérier, a veteran French film executive who was an associate producer on “CODA” and whose former banner Mars Films co-produced “La Famille Belier,” says the feature will be a “gripping two-hander shedding light on this lesser known historical chapter.” The film will expand slightly on the book and will be headlined by three major actors. An international filmmaker will come on board at a later stage.

“The Controversy of Valladolid” is the first project to be announced by Célérier since the launch of Gemma Pictures during the Berlin Film Festival. He teamed with Philippe and Guillaume Souter, the founders of PGS Entertainment, to launch the banner. The outfit is developing several French and English-language films and TV series. Célérier previously co-founded and ran Mars Distribution, which acquired and distributed films such as the Oscar-winning “12 Years a Slave” and “Moonlight.”

Beji’s solid track record in production includes the biopic “Yves Saint Laurent” and thriller “The Black Box.” He’s also producing “Abbé Pierre, a Century of Devotion,” a film about France’s most famous Catholic priest, and is developing a film and a TV series adapted from French detective novels “Fantomas.”

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