Steve Coogan, Stephen Dorff, K'naan join Nick Broomfield's next film, The Catastrophist

Gonzo documentarian Nick Broomfield has been whipping people into a frenzy for years, causing no end of controversy with films like Kurt and Courtney, Biggie & Tupac, and his latest Sarah Palin-You Betcha! But he is a legit, award winning filmmaker, despite his propensity to push buttons, and while his Palin doc is making it's rounds in the festival circuit, he's already lined up some big names for his next film.

Steve Coogan, Stephen Dorff, and Canadian rapper K'naan have signed on to star in The Catastrophist, an adaptation of Ronan Bennett's 1998 romance novel set against the 1960s decolonization of the Belgian Congo. The film will shoot in the neighboring Tanzania in a town called Mwanza, because if they were to film in the Congo it's likely some of the crew would turn up a head shorter.  No film has shot in Tanzania in fifty years, with the last one being Hatari! starring John Wayne.

In the meantime, is it too much to hope that Sarah Palin-You Betcha! makes the rounds here in DC? Although the clip we saw earlier this month looked like Broomfield was perhaps going a tad too far, I'd be lying if I didn't say it lookd intriguing as well. [Variety]