The Astonishing True Story of a 19-Year-Old American,
His Capture by the Motilone Indians and His Adventures in Christianizing the Stone Age Tribe.
Synopsis
Bruce Olson felt called by God to leave behind the soft comforts of 1960’s America to spread the good news of the gospel of Jesus to a highly dangerous, confrontational, stone-age tribe the Motilones. Despite being shot with poison arrows, loneliness, language deficiencies, Bruce plodded forward, eventually learning 15 native languages.
Bruce helped to set up schools, medical clinics and co-ops, where the people raised cocoa plants to sell.
Ultimately, through education, dialogue, and visits to Bogota and beyond, Bruce helped them prepare for the challenges posed by the rapidly encroaching outside world, all while preserving their customs and cultural identity.
But first and foremost, Bruce brought them the love of Jesus Christ.
The screenplay will make you laugh and cry and will have you on your feet cheering for this odd hero, Bruce. Or Bruchko, as the natives fondly call him.
There is a good and solid ending to the script, not the type of happy that leaves you giddy, but rather a more mature joy that leaves you better for having read it.
The film will be an unapologetically Christian movie, but instead of hammering one over the head with Jesus Love You songs, it will weave an exciting, fascinating tale of a young man with a mission and the grit to see it through.
Bruce’s Story - CLICK HERE (PLEASE make the next section on a new page for those who want to read more in depth, but won't bore people who just want to skim..)
BRUCE'S STORY:
A visiting missionary speaks at young Bruce’s church and he is instantly repelled by the man. Bruce opines that missionaries are weird, dress funny, prone to exaggeration, needy and probably just can’t make it in “the real world.” Yet Bruce stays after the service to pepper the missionary with questions - and ultimately takes the missionary’s no-holds barred challenge personally. Will you, Bruce, stop being a lazy Christian and follow Jesus to the ends of the world? Would you, Bruce, live your faith instead of sitting on your hands hoping someone else will spread the “good news?” Wrestling with God is not a sport to be taken lightly and God wins. Bruce's heart is moved. God has also been preparing Bruce for this, as he’s been an introverted bookworm. Bruce taught himself Latin and Greek and had read the bible multiple times.
Bruce applies at various missions’ organizations, only to be told he needs more schooling. Bruce’s family urges him to reconsider, but his mind is set. No one wants him to go, and no one welcomes him upon his arrival.
After learning Spanish in Venezuela, he heads into the jungle and encounters the Yuko tribe who surround him and shoot him full of arrows. He survives, learns the Yuko language, only to find out they’re not the Motilones he's been searching for. The Yuko he's befriended refuse to take Bruce to the Motilone territory out of fear of the much fiercer Motilone warriors. So Bruce walks through the jungle from one Yuko tribe to the next, until a small group of terrified Yuko agree to take him.
Bruce nearly dies many times from jungle diseases, snakes, and arrows. Trial after trial, Bruce’s faith takes him deeper into the jungles of Colombia than any white man had ever ventured, and eventually lands him in the log houses and hearts of the Bari. Bruce brought them medicine, education, a voice in Colombian congress, and most important, Jesus.
He is now 83 years old, speaks 15 languages, and still lives in the jungles of Colombia. The Bari now have healthcare, food coops, have sent two generations to college while maintaining all of their tribal heritage, customs and culture. He has befriended five Colombian presidents and in 2024 was “knighted” by the Colombian government.
PUBLISHED WORLDWIDE
Sold more than 300,000 copies worldwide
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“BRUCHKO,” is an unforgettable 90 minutes of an adventurous coming of age story, which pushes one's faith to the limit, an edge-of-your seat bible movie? Is that even possible? We say an emphatic YES! And it’s a true story.
People love an underdog story. A boy becomes a man through the hero’s journey through hell. Young Bruce went through hell to follow Jesus’s command to tell “all the world” about him. His hell was a rain of arrows, loneliness, disease, starvation, kidnapping and more. A family-friendly thrill ride that pauses long enough to really get to know the characters and their flaws, quirks, humor, wisdom, and surprising love for Jesus.
An adventure story of a boy who comes of age by following God’s call to go beyond the very edge of the known world to evangelize a dangerous stone-age tribe.
PAUL - I think we shorten this next section or put it on a different page? I dont' know what purpose this next section(of text) serves.
MK
The book “BRUCHKO,” by Bruce Olson, is an inspiration of faith and an example of intense zeal to many and has sold over 300,000 copies and still sells about 5,000 copies a year. It is used in some mission’s organizations as required reading for young missionaries in training. Tim Dudley, president of New Leaf Publishing group says, “He literally wandered into the jungle because he was so desperate to find these unreached tribes.”
Beginning in a small town in Minnesota, and ending in the jungles of Colombia in 1960, we look into the heart of man and God’s strange plans, exploring themes of extreme evangelism, deep brotherly love and friendship. STAND BY ME and Martin Scorsese’s SILENCE wonderfully explore themes of friendship under duress and the ever present question of “where is God when I need him?”
Bruce, when alone, injured, surrounded by natural threats like pythons, jaguars, and man; man being the worst enemy, is faced with questions like, “is God actually calling me to these dangerous and unlikeable people?” Bruce’s “calling” and sense of purpose trumps all dangers and loneliness and disease.
A Note from Producer Matt Kuiper - maybe CLICK TO A DIFFERENT PAGE FOR THIS? I THINK THE Casual observer doesn't give a shoot what the producer has to say
This is a movie for those who have and have not read the book. It’s a movie for this and future generations. It’s a Call To Action for the young and an exciting story for the old. This generation is lost for lack of direction. This movie says there is a real God. And God has amazing plans for your life. It says, don’t stop because of religion. Don’t stop following Jesus because of fear. Don’t stop even if there’s an actual poison arrow in your thigh. God is for you when the whole world is against you. God loves you.
We know what it's like to have a best friend, or want one. And we know what it's like to be lonely. Aside from battling the dangers of bows and arrows, snakes and scorpions, Bruce battled loneliness. First, Bruce found Jesus and later, he found Bobby. Bobby, a Colombian Native, was like family; he became closer than a brother to Bruce. He had a great sense of humor, honor, and commitment. Amongst his people, the Bari, each person has a secret name and a public name. Everyone can know your public name, and some Bari never tell anyone their secret name. It's one of the most precious things a Bari can own. Bobby told Bruce his secret name, which was akin to being blood brothers. This is a an amazing story of friendship and faith, Jesus' love, brotherly love, and even romantic love. A story chock full of fear and danger, thrills and adventure, and we can't wait for you to see it on the big screen!
We know what it's like to have a best friend, or want one. And we know what it's like to be lonely. Aside from battling the dangers of bows and arrows, snakes and scorpions, Bruce battled loneliness. First, Bruce found Jesus and later, he found Bobby. Bobby, a Colombian Native, was like family; he became closer than a brother to Bruce. He had a great sense of humor, honor, and commitment. Amongst his people, the Bari, each person has a secret name and a public name. Everyone can know your public name, and some Bari never tell anyone their secret name. It's one of the most precious things a Bari can own. Bobby told Bruce his secret name, which was akin to being blood brothers. This is a an amazing story of friendship and faith, Jesus' love, brotherly love, and even romantic love. A story chock full of fear and danger, thrills and adventure, and we can't wait for you to see it on the big screen!
THE CAST
{to be announced}
We would love to hear from you.
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