by Dov Kornits
“I’m thrilled to be able to be part of Peter’s Greste’s story,” said director Peter Duncan (Rake, Operation Buffalo, Children of the Revolution). “The true events he writes about as an innocent prisoner of the Egyptian judicial system are intense in their personal drama, their cinematic potential and their political consequences. The myriad threats to journalists and journalism around the world have clearly hit a crisis point and stories such as Peter’s are needed to buttress in the public’s mind the essential role journalists play in the promotion and maintenance of freedom. Truth and liberty are meant to be indivisible.”
In December 2013, Australian born Greste was arrested in Cairo on terrorism charges, along with two of his colleagues. Sentenced for up to 10 years, Greste was released after more than 400 days in jail following pressure from the international community.
“As someone who has consumed Peter Duncan’s work, I am incredibly excited that he’s now a part of the project to translate The First Casualty for the screen,” said Greste. “Peter’s work on series like Rake and Operation Buffalo shows he knows how to bring human drama and contemporary issues together in a way that is perfect for this project. I’m also delighted – and relieved – that the issue of media freedom is making it to the screen.
“When I wrote my book about how journalism had become a casualty in the War on Terror, I was worried that it would get out of date fairly quickly. The book was about how journalists were being criminalised, imprisoned and murdered at shocking rates, simply for witnessing the truth. But it turns out that politics has a way of keeping those problems both current and urgent. I’m excited to see Peter work his magic on the universal issues of truth, politics and power, that I both covered and experienced as a reporter.”
Production company Pop Family Entertainment, which, as the name implies, established itself with more family friendly entertainment such as Alien TV for Netflix, is looking to expand their range of productions, which The First Casulty feature film will certainly achieve.
“It has long been our intention to develop projects across the breadth of film and television production, and we are very pleased that The First Casualty can be brought to the screen,” said Pop Family Entertainment’s Carmel Travers. “It is a joy and privilege to be working with two great storytellers – Peter Greste, whose passion for truth-telling knows no bounds, and Peter Duncan, who writes with flair, imagination and wit.”
