Shekhar Kapur to helm Haffkine biopic at Cannes
SkimNews Take
The film's focus on a historical figure who combatted widespread disease reflects a contemporary global resonance with public health crises, connecting past scientific endeavors to present-day concerns.
Get the Culture newsletter
Daily culture — film, music, books, the trends and ideas worth your attention. Free.
- Shekhar Kapur is set to direct "Foreign Bodies", a historical drama biopic about vaccine pioneer Waldemar Haffkine, at the Cannes market.
- Waldemar Haffkine was a Ukrainian‑Jewish bacteriologist who developed cholera and plague vaccines in the late 19th and early 20th centuries and was appointed State Bacteriologist in India by the British Raj.
- Haffkine was falsely accused of causing 19 tetanus deaths, an episode dubbed the “Second Dreyfus Affair,” which the film will portray.
- The film will follow Haffkine across Odesa, Paris, London, Mumbai and Kolkata, showing his persecution, exile, personal loss, and willingness to risk his own body for scientific truth.
- Helen Hadfield is producing the project with Alexandra Stone, Egor Olesov, and J.D. Zacharias through Snapper Films, Streetcar Productions, United Heroes, and Curiosity Rights.
- Casting discussions are underway at Cannes market, with producers seeking partners for the biopic.
Why it matters: The Cannes‑market production gives the film immediate access to international financiers and distributors, meaning the producers stand to secure funding and the story of Haffkine will reach a wider audience, potentially reshaping public awareness of early vaccine work and may inspire renewed interest in historical scientific figures.
