“Uncut Gems” actor Hailey Gates has assembled an all-star cast for her directorial feature debut “Atropia,” which is produced by “Call Me By Your Name” director Luca Guadagnino.
“Masters of the Air” alum Callum Turner joins “Arrested Development’s” Alia Shawkat in the upcoming film, which shot last summer.
“Atropia” follows the story of an aspiring actress who is working on a U.S. military training base simulating an Iraqi war zone. (“Atropia” is the name of a fake country reportedly invented by the American military for interactive training exercises).
The feature is based on Gates’ 2019 short “Shako Mako” which she originally produced for fashion brand Miu Miu’s Women’s Tales series.
“Farah, a bread seller, walks the streets of a Middle Eastern town, while an American military vehicle, surrounded by soldiers, slowly passes by,” reads the logline for “Shako Mako.” “A moment’s silence. Then, a devastating explosion. Civilians are bloodied, wounded. The horrors of war. ‘Farah’ looks around aghast and wailing.”
“But nothing here is quite what it seems. In fact, ‘Farah’ is a character played by an aspiring actress called Laila. And this isn’t Iraq, but a replica village erected on the Fort Irwin army base in California, used to train American troops before being sent abroad. Laila believes her acting talents are being wasted away in this arid simulation, where female role-players are limited to mute, background roles. She takes things much more seriously. Laila plots her way out.”
Shawkat also starred as Laila in the short.
Turner can currently be seen in in Apple TV+’s World War II epic “Masters of the Air” alongside Austin Butler and also stars in George Clooney-directed feature “The Boys in the Boat.” Shawkat recently appeared in “Drift” with Cynthia Erivo and Disney+’s “The Old Man” opposite Jeff Bridges.
