04/10/2024 - The British-US-Dutch-Belgian co-production stars Fionn Whitehead and Luis Gnecco in the leading roles, alongside Alan Cumming, Peter Mullan and Harriet Sansom Harris

l-r: Actors Fionn Whitehead (© BBC) and Luis Gnecco (© Big Beach)

Marc Turtletaub (Puzzle, Jules) is now filming his new effort in Scotland, a drama titled Borges and Me. The picture is based on the titular memoir penned by bestselling New York Times author Jay Parini.

Parini’s memoir tells of the author’s 1970 trip through the Scottish Highlands with famed Argentinian writer Jorge Luis Borges. Parini’s earlier historical novel The Last Station was adapted into an Academy Award-nominated film. The script was penned by Oren Moverman (The Quiet Ones [+see also:
trailer
film profile], The Messenger, Love & Mercy).

In Borges and Me, Parini finds himself stuck in a Morris Minor chauffeuring the brilliant, blind Borges through Scotland. Quiet and conservative, Parini – a 23-year-old student dreaming of becoming a writer – is at a loss to make sense of the wild, irrepressible Borges, then 70. As the journey takes a surreal turn, their differences magnify until, in the tradition of a classic road movie, the two ultimately find common ground.

The cast is led by Fionn Whitehead (Dunkirk [+see also:
trailer
film profile], Great Expectations [+see also:
trailer
film profile]) and Luis Gnecco (Neruda [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile], No [+see also:
trailer
film profile], A Fantastic Woman [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile]), with other prominent roles played by award-winning thespians Alan Cumming (The Traitors, The Good Wife), Peter Mullan (Ozark) and Harriet Sansom Harris (Hacks).

Borges and Me is being produced by Alex Polunin from Ossian International (UK) and Michael B Clark, Turtletaub himself and Tim Foley for Big Beach (USA), and co-produced by Leontine Petit and Erik Glijnis from Lemming Film (Netherlands) as well as Dries Phlypo from A Private View (Belgium), with financing provided by Big Beach. Stephen Burt is attached as the executive producer.

The release date is yet to be disclosed.