15 February 2017 12:26 PM, PST | Variety - Film News | See recent Variety - Film News news »
Veteran director Martha Coolidge is embroiled in an ugly battle with a Polish-Canadian producer for control over an independent feature about a love story set amid the Holocaust.
The producer, businessman Zbigniew Raczynski, fired Coolidge last month, alleging that she caused the production to spiral out of control, nearly doubling its $8.4 million budget. Coolidge — who was the first female president of the Directors Guild of America — enlisted the DGA to help her fight back, and won an arbitration ruling on Tuesday granting her control of the film.
Also on Tuesday, Raczynski filed a lawsuit in L.A. Superior Court, alleging that Coolidge physically attacked him on set and wore a Nazi SS officer’s outfit — including a Nazi hat — while filming scenes depicting the Auschwitz concentration camp.
The film — titled “Music, War and Love” — is nearly completed, but is stuck in limbo between Raczynski, who financed it and has barred Coolidge from the editing room, »
- Gene Maddaus
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