Producer Ralph Winter On How the Movie "The Promise" Allows Us to See Persecution in a New Light

Faith-based movie THE PROMISE which stars Academy-Award winner Christian Bale, Oscar Isaac (Star Wars: The Force Awakens, The Nativity Story) and Charlotte Le Bon, is an epic and poignant film set during the last days of The Ottoman Empire. Golden-Globe winning actor Oscar Isaac stars as Michael Boghosian, a medical student who has come to the vibrant city of Constantinople in 1914, determined to bring modern medicine back his ancestral village.  

While in Constantinople, Michael meets and befriends photo-journalist Chris Myers (played by Christian Bale) and Ana (Charlotte le Bon), a beautiful and intelligent Armenian artist from Paris.  Both men spark an attraction that explodes into a romantic rivalry. Their conflicting passions must be deferred when the Ottoman Empire turns violently against its own ethnic and religious minorities.  Michael, Chris, and Ana must join forces to survive the events that threaten to overwhelm them, and the injustice and persecution of Christians throughout the Empire. THE PROMISE is directed by Academy-Award winner Terry George (Hotel Rwanda, Hart's War). 

We are honored to be able to catch up with the movie's producer Ralph Winter for this exclusive interview.

Q:;  Thanks Ralph for doing this interview with us. What first attracted you to this script?

The story, the subject, and growing up in Glendale, my Armenian community friends.

Q: The movie is set in the last days of the Ottoman Empire. For those of us rusty with our history, what is significant about this period of time for us who are Christians?

This love story is constructed against the backdrop of the beginnings of WWI. Armenian Christians were being persecuted and killed for their faith.

Q: What makes you excited about the making of this film?

An old fashioned film, big canvas, love story, and epic action pieces and all with an important story that needs to be told.

Q: What are some of the lessons you hope moviegoers would grasp after watching this film?

We would all hope viewers would tell others about this story; many do not know these atrocities and how this continues right up to this day in Syria. The story needs retelling so that we never forget why or how this happened, and that today's dictators are only emboldened by this history if we do not hold them accountable.

Q: What's next for you? Have you had your next project lined up yet?

Doing a movie for STX called ADRIFT; takes place in the south Pacific, based on a true story of a woman who survives a hurricane in a sailboat. Director from Everest, 2Guns, and starring Shailene Woodley and Miles Teller. 

 

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