Canadian director takes on Kapuscinski's The Soccer War

photo - glowimages

“I was very taken with it [the book],” Falardeau told Polish cinema news source kinoradio.pl of his plans to film the account of the 1969 war between Honduras and El Salvador.

“Particularly with the perspective with which the Polish journalist describes the whole history,” he said.

Known also as “the 100-hour War”, the conflict broke out after a qualifying match between Honduras and El Salvador for the 1970 FIFA World Cup.

Simmering tensions over immigration were brought to the fore, and El Salvador's military launched an attack.

All in all about 3000 people, including civilians, were killed in the conflict, before the Organization of American States negotiated a ceasefire.

Kapuscinski was the Polish Press Agency's foreign correspondent for some fifty countries, and while his 1978 book broaches several subjects, Falardeau will be focusing on the conflict between Honduras and El Salvador.

The director was nominated for the Oscar for Best Foreign Language film at 2012 Academy Awards for his movie Monsieur Lazahr. (nh)