LOS ANGELES: The rap mogul Jay Z is partnering with the Weinstein Company to produce a feature film and documentary series about the killing of Trayvon Martin, the teen whose death in 2012 set off nationwide protests.
They will make the film and six-part docu-series after winning a bidding war for the rights to two books about the killing of the unarmed black teenager by George Zimmerman, a neighborhood watch volunteer, the trade magazine Variety reported on Thursday. The case ignited civil unrest across the country and a debate about racial profiling. It also gave birth to the Black Lives Matter movement.
Zimmerman, who claimed he shot Martin in self-defense, was acquitted of a charge of second degree murder in 2013 by a jury in Florida.
The film and series projects will be based on the books “Suspicion Nation: The Inside Story of the Trayvon Martin Injustice and Why We Continue to Repeat It” and “Rest in Power: The Enduring Life of Trayvon Martin,” Variety said.
“Suspicion Nation” recounts the experience of a reporter who covered the trial for NBC. “Rest in Power” is by Martin’s parents.
Another docu-series produced by Jay Z and Weinstein Television that touches on race relations — “Time: The Kalief Browder Story” — was aired last month.
The six-part series follows the story of a teen arrested in 2010 while walking home for allegedly stealing a backpack. He spent three years in prison — two of them in solitary confinement — without a conviction.
After the charges were dropped, he was released from New York’s Rikers Island prison and took his own life.
Jay Z to make movie, documentary on Florida racial victim
Jay Z to make movie, documentary on Florida racial victim
Trunk snapped off famed Bernini statue in Rome square
ROME, Feb 18 (Reuters) - A marble elephant designed by Baroque master Gian Lorenzo Bernini has been damaged, with its left tusk found snapped off and lying at the base of the monument in the heart of Rome, authorities said.
The damage was uncovered on Monday night and police said they would review video footage from Piazza della Minerva to determine whether the tusk was vandalised or simply fell off following weeks of unusually heavy rains.
Italy's Culture Minister Alessandro Giuli made clear he thought it was deliberate, saying the 17th statue, which supports an ancient Egyptian obelisk, was victim of an "absurd act of barbarity".
"It is unacceptable that once again the nation's artistic and cultural heritage must suffer such serious damage," he said in a statement.
It is not the first time the sculpture, popularly known as the Elefantino (little elephant), has been damaged.
In November 2016, the tip of the same tusk was similarly found broken off. The piece was reattached during restoration work.
The sculpture, created in 1667 by Ercole Ferrata based on a design by Bernini, stands a short distance from the Pantheon, one of most visited tourist sites in Rome. (Reporting by Francesca Piscioneri, editing by Crispian Balmer)
