After reading books on the construction of the Panama Canal, I  was initially inspired by the dramatic images of sweeping jungle panoramas and steam shovels belching out black smoke, with the added tragedies of the biggest bankruptcy in world history and the deaths of many thousands of men. 

I was, of course, aware of the scarcely believable role played by Philippe Bunau-Varilla, but it wasn’t until some years later that it dawned on me what had truly transpired, which isn’t to be found in any history book.The events described in this screenplay are my piecing together the actions of both the protagonist and the dastardly antagonist, after having serendipitously had a flash of inspiration which allowed me to discover the true cause of Philippe’s driving force.

As Theodore Roosevelt said, the Panama Canal would never have been built without Philippe Bunau-Varilla, but that simple statement belies the incredible achievements of a French engineer hoodwinking the US Senate and persuading the President of the United States to contravene international law and support the revolution for independence that Philippe had himself financed and organised! Added to which, there is a monstrous antagonist that history has largely forgotten; Senator J.T. Morgan, an ex-Confederate cavalry general and KKK member who advocated lynchings and the deportation of black citizens to foreign countries.

It is the tale of immense characters battling to leave their marks on the world in an age of grand design, and the story of the most important infrastructure in the history of the world.