 |
| MS SUMIA SUKKAR |
For Immediate Release
B7 Media secures film and
television rights
to Sumia Sukkar’s acclaimed novel
of Syrian conflict
– The Boy from Aleppo Who Painted the War follows
B7 Media’s successful BBC Radio 4 dramatisation of a modern literary
masterpiece –
London,
6 July 2015: The film and television rights
to The Boy from Aleppo Who Painted the
War, the debut novel by Sumia Sukkar set during the outbreak of the Syrian
conflict, have been acquired by B7 Media.
Independent
production and distribution company B7 Media has announced it has acquired an
option to develop a motion picture or television serial based on Sumia Sukkar’s
acclaimed debut novel of the Syrian conflict, The Boy from Aleppo Who Painted the War.
Following B7’s critically acclaimed radio dramatisation of the novel for BBC Radio 4 in 2014, featuring Farshid Rokey, this new film adaptation will look to explore this powerful and intimate drama in a widescreen setting. Simon Moorhead (Mirrormask, Luna) and Andrew Mark Sewell (Mrs. Palfrey at the Claremont, Exit Thread) will produce.
Published by
Eyewear, London, the novel was an immediate critical success on publication.
The story gained a whole new audience when B7 Media adapted it into a
successful Saturday Drama for BBC Radio 4, directed by Fiona McAlpine, produced
by Andrew Mark Sewell and Patrick Chapman and dramatised for radio by Richard
Kurti and Bev Doyle. Farshid Rokey, Noof Ousellam and Jalleh Alizadeh led an
outstanding young cast in this moving realisation of a heartrending story.
About The Boy
from Aleppo Who Painted the War
Adam is a
14-year-old boy with Asperger Syndrome, who attempts to understand the Syrian
conflict and its effect on his life and family by painting his feelings.
Yasmine, his devoted older sister, has to cope with her own traumas when government
soldiers abduct and torture her. His older brothers face the dilemma – on
whether or not to take sides and the consequences of their eventual choices
have repercussions for the entire family.
The Boy From Aleppo Who Painted The War is the powerful and deeply moving debut novel from Sumia Sukkar.
It chronicles the intimate sufferings of a family in the midst of civil war –
with uncommon compassion, wit and imaginative force. Told mainly from
Adam’s perspective, this gripping story achieves the timeless dignity of a true
report from an unpredictable and frightening place. How do we preserve love and
beauty in brutal times? What does a major conflict do to the fabric of a
family? How does one challenged young man survive when his world falls apart?
Producer, Andrew
Mark Sewell says of the project: “The immediacy and impact of this drama bear
witness to the horror of war, and the triumph of the human spirit over almost
unbearable adversity. When our development producer, Patrick Chapman, first
brought Sumia’s novel to my attention, I was struck by the intimate and powerful
voice Sumia brought to the story.”
Written when she was a mere 21-years-old, Sumia Sukkar is the youngest female British Muslim to have had a novel published in the UK: “Writing my timely novel was a way for me to express my grief towards the tragedies of what's happening in my country. Readers will find it interesting to experience the traumatising events of war through the eyes of an innocent young autistic boy who has lived his whole life completely dependant on his family and then having to be separated from them. It contains a blend of political events, emotional drive and Arabian tradition.”
About
B7 Media
B7 Media is an independent production company that has
an extensive track record in film, television, radio and theatre. Notable
credits include Haunted for UKTV (shortlisted for the Montreux e-Rose); the
acclaimed motion picture Mrs. Palfrey at the Claremont starring Joan
Plowright, Anna Massey and Rupert Friend; and Tim Arnold’s Sonnet 155,
staged at the Almeida Theatre featuring Benedict Cumberbatch, Hattie Morahan,
Paul McGann, Lisa Dillon and Richard Briers (in his last stage appearance).
Recently completed projects include two independent
features by Canadian director Paul Kimball, The Cuckoo in the Clock,
featuring Jacob James; and Roundabout, featuring Annie Briggs. Both
films premiered at last year’s Atlantic Film Festival. B7’s latest
collaboration with Kimball, Exit Thread, is currently shooting in Nova
Scotia.
In the realm of radio drama its reputation for
creating dramatic, widescreen audio worlds that sound lived-in, real and
cinematic, was demonstrated to epic effect in its recent BBC Radio 4 adaptations
of Ray Bradbury’s The Martian Chronicles (a Silver award winner for
Best Drama Special in the prestigious 2015 New York Festivals International
Radio Program Awards); and Sumia Sukkar’s The Boy from Aleppo Who Painted
the War. B7 is also known for the epic audio reboot of cult TV classic Blake’s
7, featuring Derek Riddell,
Colin Salmon and Daniela Nardini (for BBC Radio 4 Extra).
Press
Contact
Patrick Chapman | Development
Executive
B7 Productions Ltd
| Station Court | High Road | Cookham | Berkshire | SL6 9JF
e:
patrick@b7media.com | w: www.b7media.com | Twitter: @B7Media
Comments