50 years of Mother Teresa’s life to glisten on screen
Titled The Letters, the biopic is scheduled to release in March next year.
The biopic is based on the real-life letters Mother Teresa wrote to a spiritual director over the years. PHOTO: FILE
Catholic nun and missionary Mother Teresa of Albanian descent, who devoted decades of her life to helping the needy, blind, aged and disabled, left millions in tears when she passed away in Kolkata in 1997 due to health problems. A biopic on this humble woman titled The Letters, is currently under production and will hit screens across the globe on March 5 next year.
Written and directed by William C Riead, The Letters — which depicts 50 years of Mother Teresa’s life — is based on the real-life treasure trove of letters she wrote to a spiritual director over the years. The content of these letters revealed that she often suffered a feeling of isolation and abandonment during the years she was working for the poor in India, said a publicity release, according to shootonline.com.
The Nobel Peace Prize winner (1979) used to slip out of her cloister to help the poor against the rules. The film is said to be a work of love and passion for Riead, who sold his house to make this project real, according to the Times of India.
Actor Juliet Stevenson, known for her role in Bend It Like Beckham, will play the pivotal role of Mother Teresa and two-time Academy Award nominated actor Max von Sydow, will play the spiritual director. Golden Globe award winner Rutger Hauer will also star in the movie and the film’s DOP is Jack Green, who has been director-producer Clint Eastwood’s longtime cinematographer.
Indian actors who will be seen in the movie, which was shot mainly in India and London, include Mahabanoo Mody Kotwal, Kaizaad Kotwal of Inkaar fame and Tilottama Shome. “Working with William Riead and Jack Green was an unbelievable experience and, of course, working with the hugely-talented Juliet Stevenson, was just such an honour,” Mahabanoo told the Times of India.
“I play this woman who is antagonistic towards this strange, foreign lady and how a very human, intimate contact leads to a change of heart,” says Tilottama. “What really made me think in this movie, is how we live in our respective groups, suspicious and antagonistic towards the ‘other’.”
Correction: An earlier version of the story said Mother Teresa devoted 17 years of her life instead of decades.
Published in The Express Tribune, August 29th, 2013.