Ukrainian producer Yehor Olesov and director Shekhar Kapur are beginning work on the film Foreign Bodies.
The project has already been presented at the Cannes Film Festival.
The film will tell the story of Odessa-born Waldemar Haffkine, the scientist who created vaccines against cholera and plague. Haffkine was born in Odessa, and in the late 19th and early 20th centuries his work on cholera and plague vaccines helped save millions of lives, while his scientific legacy remains an important part of the history of modern vaccinology. The British administration in India appointed Haffkine as a state bacteriologist, but he was later unjustly accused in a case that became known as the “second Dreyfus affair.” The film will take place in Odessa, Paris, London, Mumbai, and Kolkata.
Director Shekhar Kapur describes Foreign Bodies as a story of epic scale and deep inner conflict:
“This is a story of extraordinary scale, but at the same time a very personal and internal conflict — about a man who saved millions of lives and at the same time became both worshipped as a God and hated as a devil. The film contains a love story that transcends cultural conflicts; it both warms and breaks the heart. In another time and another context, but in its epic nature, this film reminds me of Lawrence of Arabia.”
The Ukrainian producer of the project is Olesov, co-founder of the company United Heroes, who has produced such films as Mr. Jones, Mavka: The Forest Song, and The Rising Hawk. Kapur is a BAFTA-winning director known for Elizabeth.
The screenplay was written by British screenwriter Paul Twivy, who spent three years researching Haffkine’s story, including work with family archives. The international production team also includes Jay D. Zacharias of Curiosity Rights, Helen Hadfield, and Alexandra Stone.
“It is important for us to be part of a project that returns Waldemar Haffkine to the international context not only as a great scientist, but as a person whose story begins in Ukraine and at the same time belongs to the whole world. This is a film about science, dignity, prejudice, belief in truth, love, and the price sometimes paid by a person who is ahead of his time,” Olesov said.
Casting for the leading roles is currently underway.
