James Marsh gears up to direct new animated documentary
Jun 22, 2022
Washington [US], June 22 : British film and documentary director James Marsh is all geared up to direct the latest hybrid animated documentary feature having the working title 'Oasis, Saving the Baghdad Zoo'.
According to Variety, the new documentary is somewhat based on the book 'Babylon's Ark', written by authors Graham Spence and Lawrence Anthony which follows the narrative of two characters, namely, Saddam Hussein and his son Uday who undertake a rescue operation for one year in order to save abandoned animals across the territory of Baghdad.
Described as the new version of the Noah's Ark story, the film is will portray how a group of Iraqi zookeepers, American soldiers, and international volunteers, risked their own lives to save and look after a wide variety of animal species, from lions, bears, camels, monkeys, exotic birds, and others amid a brutal battle.
The production company, Submarine, which hosts a dedicated animation studio will work in collaboration with Sandpaper Films, who first developed the story of the 'Oasis', reported Variety. The animated-hybrid-documentary would include 2D, and 3D, including real-life interviews and archive footage as well.
Bruno Felix and Femke Wolting will be the executive producers of the film. As per the director, Marsh this animated documentary feature will bring the 'story to life'.
"It's going to be an exciting formal challenge to bring this poignant and uplifting story to life. I see the film as... a documentary, rooted in the eyewitness testimony of the people who helped rescue the animals and save the zoo. The choice of animation allows us a lot of creative freedom to visualize the story and... give the animals a point of view on the human world where they witness both the best and worst of humanity," said Marsh.
According to the story 'Babylon's Ark', a zoo in Baghdad was abandoned in the year 2003 after the Battle of Baghdad, when the troops of Hussein battled against the U.S. military. However, during the chaos, a team of volunteers decided to venture out in the quest for the missing animal of the zoo which comprised a pride of lions moving forward toward Hussein's palace and a herd of Arabian horses nearing the war zone.
Marsh has bagged both the Oscars and the Bafta awards for his notable works, reported Variety. He won the Oscars for his documentary 'Man on the Wire' as well as for his film 'The Theory of Everything', a biopic, based on the life of renowned scientist Stephen Hawking.
