Leonardo DiCaprio: He works with Barry Jenkins on a Netflix feature film

In 2015 the documentary "Virunga" was nominated for an Oscar. For Netflix, Leonardo DiCaprio and Barry Jenkins turn them into a feature film.

Leonardo DiCaprio (45, "Once Upon a Time … in Hollywood") cares about the environment. Years ago he founded a foundation that supports eco-projects. With documentaries such as "11th Hour – 5 before 12" and "Before the Flood", he also clarifies the issue of climate change as a United Nations peace ambassador. His latest project is a feature film about the endangered mountain gorillas in the Congo. As a producer, he works with Netflix and "Moonlight" director and screenwriter Barry Jenkins (40).

Fight for species protection in Central Africa

According to "Deadline", the film is based on the Oscar-nominated documentary "Virunga", in which DiCaprio was involved in 2014 as an executive producer. With his production company Appian Way Productions and Violet Films, he now wants to tell the story of journalist Mélanie Gouby in the form of an entertaining blockbuster. The French woman works tirelessly with several park rangers to protect the endangered gorilla species in Virunga National Park. Their survival is threatened by increasing oil production and armed conflict in the Republic of the Congo.

As the executive producer, Orlando von Einsiedel (39) is on board during the production. In his documentary, the director of "Virunga" emphasized the biological diversity of the Congolese national park bordering Rwanda and Uganda. Netflix was also able to hire Barry Jenkins as the author of the screenplay. The 40-year-old was awarded an Oscar in the category "Best Adapted Screenplay" for the film "Moonlight" in 2017. In 2019 he received another Oscar nomination for his screenplay for the film "If Beale Street Could Talk".

DiCaprio is also successful behind the camera

Oscar winner Leonardo DiCaprio has been working as an actor and producer for a long time. In recent years, he has helped film "Robin Hood" (2018) starring Taron Egerton (30) and Jamie Foxx (52) and "The Fall Richard Jewell" (2019) by director Clint Eastwood (90 ). In 2016 the "Titanic" star also produced the documentary "Ivory: The White Gold" about the exploitation of elephants in Africa.

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