New York-based First Star Pictures is in Cannes unveiling Siege Of O'Kiepe, a $37m epic set during the Boer War of 1901.

The project will shoot in 2008 in Australia and South Africa with producers Olivier French and Bruce Bisbey. Bisbey also wrote the screenplay.

The movie is set in the South African mining town when the Dutch settlers battled for independence from the British Empire. Bisbey got the idea for the project while working on Flight Of the Phoenix in Namibia.

'I was instantly intrigued by the historic significance of this story. The challenges of producing an epic also are compelling,' notes Producer Olivier French. 'Breaker Morant and Zulu have long been inspirations for me.'

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