Gugu Mbatha-Raw will star in the humanitarian drama “Seacole,” based on the life of pioneering Jamaican nurse Mary Seacole, Variety has learned exclusively.Charlie Stratton will direct from a screenplay he’s written with Oscar-nominated Dianne Houston (“Tuesday Morning Ride”) and Marnie Dickens.
The project is to be co-produced and financed by Epic Match Media and UMedia.
Producers are Brunson Green (“The Help”), Hilary Shor, Peter Bevan (“Mandy”), Karl Richards, and Billy Peterson of Epic Match.The Exchange will introduce “Seacole” to buyers at next month’s European Film Market at the Berlin Film Festival.Seacole became known during the Crimean War for her care of wounded British soldiers, described in her 1857 autobiography “Wonderful Adventures of Mrs.
Seacole in Many Lands.” The film will focus on the action on the Crimean battlefield, Seacole’s desire to work with Florence Nightingale, and her dedication to care for the British soldiers during and after the war.
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