American filmmaker Julian Schnabel, known for tackling provocative subjects in his work, is now prepared to take on the world's most controversial topic: the Israel-Palestine dispute.

And he's recruiting Indian actress Freida Pinto [ Images ] to help him do it.

Harvey Weinstein's The Weinstein Co will distribute Schnabel's upcoming film Miral, which stars Pinto as the title character.

The story begins with the founding of a Palestinian orphanage for refugees in 1948, during the first intifada, and then jumps ahead a few decades to tell the story of Miral, a young girl raised in the same orphanage.

The screenplay was written by Rula Jebreal, and was based on her 2004 novel The Road Flower Miral.

Photograph: Pascal Rossignol/ Reuters