The murder of a controversial gossip columnist to be adapted for film
by Vitor Pinto
- In Lisbon, director Rui Filipe Torres is shooting a feature about the murder of journalist Carlos Castro, which took place in New York in 2011
In January 2011, the Portuguese journalist and gossip columnist Carlos Castro was murdered, aged 65, in a New York hotel by his supposed lover, the 22-year-old wannabe model Renato Seabra. Given all the scandalous elements and sadistic details of the crime, the incident triggered a torrent of articles in the national and US press. Now, three years later, the moment has arrived for a big-screen adaptation of the story, which is being handled by filmmaker Rui Filipe Torres, also the director of the as-yet-unreleased documentary Macau, Um Longe Tão Perto.
With an extremely limited budget, the majority of the as-yet-untitled film’s shoot will take place in the D. Pedro Palace Hotel in Lisbon, which is sponsoring the project.
The screenplay is based on the play Crime in New York, written by actor João d’Ávila (Operação Outono [+see also:
trailer
film profile]), which in turn was based on the real-life case, and dramatises the relationship between the controversial journalist and his murderer. D’Ávila will play the big-screen version of Carlos Castro, while young actor Ruben Garcia will play Renato Seabra. In reality, Seabra has already been tried and is currently serving his sentence in a US prison.
With no further details available for the time being, it is, however, known that the director is aiming to finish the film in time to premiere it at the next QueerLisboa festival (19-27 September).
(Translated from Spanish)
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