Apple Original Films has reportedly secured the rights to produce The Pigeon Tunnel, a documentary that delves into the intriguing life of former MI6 British spy David Cornwell, better known by his pen name John le Carré.
The project is a collaboration between Oscar-winning filmmaker Errol Morris and The Ink Factory, the production company behind The Night Manager (2016) series. In 2003, Morris’ documentary The Fog of War won the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature and the success of his work triggered a rebirth of non-fiction film in the '80s. The Pigeon Tunnel’s global debut is expected on October 20, 2023, exclusively on Apple TV+.
The documentary is said to span six decades, starting in the Cold War era. Cornwell worked for the Army's intelligence corps in Austria in 1950 which evolved into work for British spy agencies MI5 and MI6. The documentary will feature an exclusive and candid interview with le Carré, complemented by rare archival footage.
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Apple Original Films has reportedly secured the rights to produce The Pigeon Tunnel, a documentary that delves into the intriguing life of former MI6 British spy David Cornwell, better known by his pen name John le Carré.
The project is a collaboration between Oscar-winning filmmaker Errol Morris and The Ink Factory, the production company behind The Night Manager (2016) series. In 2003, Morris’ documentary The Fog of War won the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature and the success of his work triggered a rebirth of non-fiction film in the '80s. The Pigeon Tunnel’s global debut is expected on October 20, 2023, exclusively on Apple TV+.
The documentary is said to span six decades, starting in the Cold War era. Cornwell worked for the Army's intelligence corps in Austria in 1950 which evolved into work for British spy agencies MI5 and MI6. The documentary will feature an exclusive and candid interview with le Carré, complemented by rare archival footage.
Drawing inspiration from le Carré's memoir, The Pigeon Tunnel: Stories from My Life, the film is to delve into the lesser-known aspects of the iconic author's experiences and promises an intimate journey into le Carré's world, set against an original score composed by the talented Philip Glass in collaboration with BAFTA-winning and composer Paul Leonard-Morgan.
Simon and Stephen Cornwell, the author’s sons and co-CEOs of The Ink Factory, described the project as a profound exploration of two minds - a filmmaker and a novelist - engaging in a tête-à-tête about the creative process, the power of fiction, and the quest for truth. The film also promises to be a thought-provoking exploration of the Cold War's historical events and le Carré's life.
“Full of deep insight, and surprising, amusing and often profoundly moving anecdotes, The Pigeon Tunnel charts a conversation between two great minds, both consummate storytellers; one who wove extraordinary fiction from the events he experienced; the other whose interrogation of those events has led so often to a greater truth,” they said in a statement. “Together, they explore the events of the Cold War, and of le Carré’s life, testing the boundaries of truth, memory and imagination.”
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