Diplomatic Immunity

Diplomatic Immunity (1992)

A female Canadian diplomat goes on a mission to El Salvador to try smooth relations between their government and the people of a small town who risk the loss of their home.

Date of release
1992-01-01
TMDB
6.3 / 10 (3)
Runtime
1h 34m
Director
Sturla Gunnarsson

Casting

Interesting facts

Diplomatic Immunity is a Canadian political thriller film, released in 1991. It marked the narrative feature film debut of Sturla Gunnarsson.

Production

Sturla Gunnarsson and Steve Lucas met each other in 1978, and created After the Axe. In 1980, Gunnarsson met a refugee who fled Augusto Pinochet's Chile after being tortured. Gunnarsson met other Latin American refugees torture victims, including a Salvadoran woman, which inspired him to make a documentary entitled Torture. Elements of the Salvadoran woman's story were included in the final product.

The film was in development hell for nine years. Gunnarsson and Lucas received a $3,000 grant from the National Film Board of Canada's Ontario region in 1981, to determine if they could make the film. They submitted a 90 page report in June 1981, but the NFB's Ontario region declined to invest in the film. They turned to the NFB's Studio B and received support from Peter Katadotis, the head of English-language production, and Robert Verrall.

Gunnarsson and Lucas travelled to Mexico City, where they spent four months, in February 1983. They learned Spanish and met leaders of the Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front. The setting of the film changed from South America, to Central America, and then to a fictional country. The Department of External Affairs gave them access to the Canadian embassy in Mexico City.

After the Axe was nominated at the 55th Academy Awards. Paramount Pictures and Columbia Pictures offered Gunnarsson and Lucas development deals worth $20,000-25,000. They turned down the offer, but they regretted it, with Lucas stating it was "a bit stupid", as the film would have been made six year earlier and had distribution if they accepted according to Gunnarsson.

Gunnarsson and Lucas formed Metropolis Motion Pictures in February 1984, and Bob Linnell, of the Canadian Film Development Corporation, gave them $15,000 to write a first draft. Lucas wrote the draft over the course of six months and under the titles of Torture and Strictly Business. Linnell gave them $27,000 to write another draft, but Gunnarsson and Lucas did not like either draft.

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