Papa: Hemingway in Cuba — Trailer

source:   ew.com

added: Fri, Mar 18th '16

Touted as "the first American film shot in Cuba in over fifty years," here's the trailer for the 1959-set biopic "Papa: Hemingway in Cuba," starring Giovanni Ribisi as a newspaper reporter who, after sending a fan letter, is invited to spend some time with his idol, the legendary novelist Ernest Hemingway (played by stage actor Adrian Sparks), who is living in Havana, just as Fidel Castro is coming to power.

Based on the true story of the late journalist Denne Bart Petitclerc and his friendship with Hemingway, which sprung from a fan letter, the film also stars Minka Kelly, James Remar, and Joely Richardson as Hemingway's fourth and last wife, Mary Welsh Hemingway.

Interesting note: Sharon Stone was originally cast as Hemingway's wife, Mary, but ended up leaving the project over issues involving the legitimacy of shooting in Cuba. Stone claimed the film's producer and director Bob Yari had encouraged her to falsify documents, which would have jeopardized her passport privileges if detected. Stone has since filed a lawsuit.

Though credited as one of the producers of the Oscar-winning film "Crash," Bob Yari is known as a controversial figure in Hollywood. His now defunct distribution label "Yari Film Group" was forced into "involuntary" bankruptcy because of heavy debts. A former real estate mogul, Yari also unsuccessfully tried to sue the Producers Guild and the film Academy because he was denied his name on the Oscar ballot, therefore, didn't receive an Oscar statuette when "Crash" won Best Picture. Years later, "Crash" director Paul Haggis, writer Bobby Moresco, and actors Brendan Fraser and Matt Dillon also wound up filing a lawsuit against Yari, in which he was found guilty of falsifying the film's accounting numbers.

"Papa: Hemingway in Cuba" will be released on April 29.