“In order to hate imperialism you have got to be part of it.” – George Orwell
What a better way to celebrate the 110th birthday of George Orwell than to kick off a campaign to fund a film version of Orwell’s seminal essay, Shooting an Elephant. With the permission of the Orwell Estate in hand Juan Pablo Rothie wants to bring the essay to the screen and has started a Kickstarter campaign to make it happen.
First published in 1936 the essay recounts his time as a colonial policeman in Burma when he was faced with a situation where he literally shot an errant elephant. “Ordered by his superiors, egged on by the distrusting natives, he suddenly found himself public executioner — a violent role that stripped him of his humanity and dignity. This was 1927.” The moral struggle that ensued would help shape Orwell and play a part in his classic works, “1984” and “Animal Farm.”
Orwell in Burma Provincial Police Training School
Hope it happens.