THE SERPENT QUEEN SERIES
MAKES RAZA JAFFREY A DUKE
It is definitely our most anticipated of the new historical shows: Starz' THE SERPENT QUEEN series, which will have Samantha Morton playing famous Catherine de Medici, has cast Raza Jaffrey as Duke Francois Guise,
the leader of Catholics. Series follows Catherine de Medici who went from commoner to the center of power when she married into the 16th century French court as an orphaned teenager expected to bring a fortune in dowry and produce many heirs. It’s a rough start, as she discovers her husband is in love with an older woman, her dowry is unpaid and she’s unable to conceive. Yet, only with her intelligence and determination, she manages to keep her marriage alive and masters the blood sport that is the monarchy better than anyone else, ruling France for 50 years. Charles Dance and Colm Meaney, as King Francis, also star among others.
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| Raza will lead Catholics as Duke Guise |
FRONTIER MISTRESS
WHEN FORBIDDEN LOVE THREATENS A WHOLE EMPIRE
Here's a period set movie currently in development and is seeking potential production partners. FRONTIER MISTRESS is coming from
South Africa from director Charlie Vundla who describes it, over at Variety, as a Western set in 18th century South Africa, about a Huguenot refugee and her struggle against an abusive husband and an oppressive, racist regime. Maria Mouton is a 16 year old Huguenot refugee sold off like livestock by her father into a foreign world on the South African frontier. She finds herself living in such an oppressive situation kept down by both an abusive husband and a colonial system that defines a woman’s role very narrowly. But this young woman refuses the status quo and attempts to live her truth, with a slave that she falls in love with.
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| The film is based on a story from Nigel Penn |
