German star August Diehl (Inglourious Basterds, Hidden life) and Oscar-nominated actress Andrea Riseborough (Bird-man, To Leslie) have signed up to play The noise of timea modern drama about the life of the Russian composer Dmitri Shostakovich and his wife Nina, based on the book of the same title by Julian Barnes.
Two-time Oscar-winning screenwriter Christopher Hampton (Father, Hazardous compounds) adapts Barnes’ novel for the screen, with the participation of Polish director Jan Komasa (Oscar-nominated Body of Christ) attached to direct.
The film will follow Shostakovich’s life and career, starting in 1936, when the 30-year-old composer first faced Stalin’s wrath after one of his operas was condemned as counter-revolutionary. He manages to avoid execution, but Shostakovich is forced to be a cultural representative of the Soviet state for decades and struggles to maintain the integrity of his music.
Beta Cinema is handling global sales for the film and will present it to buyers at the Cannes Film Market this week.
Diehl will next be seen playing Nazi doctor Joseph Mengele in Kirill Serebrennikov’s film Vanishing and in the literary adaptation by Michael Lockshin Master and Margaret. Riseborough, nominated for an Oscar for her role in Michael Morris’s film To Lesliestarred alongside Domhnall Gleeson in the narrow series Alice and Jacek.
The producer is Thomas Kufus The noise of time for the film zero one with Leszek Bodzak and Aneta Hickinbotham from Aurum Film and Finola Dwyer and Amanda Posey at London’s Wildgaze Films. Production of the film is scheduled to begin in early 2025.
