Martin Scorsese to shoot period drama in Japan

Martin Scorsese announced that he wants to make a Japan-set period drama called SILENCE as his next project. He declared this on Sunday at the 5th Marrakech Film Festival in Morocco, where he received a lifetime achievement award.

An adaptation of a Japanese novel by Shusaku Endo, SILENCE is the martyrdom-themed tale of two 17th century Portuguese missionaries who return to Japan to minister to Christians, who've been outlawed. "I hope it comes together. I've been trying to make the movie for 10 years," Scorsese said at a press conference.

His latest film, the docu NO DIRECTION HOME: BOB DYLAN recently aired on PBS's American Masters and is available on DVD. He is currently in post on THE DEPARTED, a remake of the HK crime caper INFERNAL AFFAIRS.