Antonio Banderas and Mark Strong star in director Jean-Jacques Annaud’s Black Gold which arrives in UK cinemas this Friday 24th February.
After a fierce battle which leaves the desert littered with the bodies of their warriors, two warring leaders come face to face to negotiate peace.
The victorious Nesib, Emir of Hobeika (Banderas), lays down his peace terms to his rival Amar, Sultan of Salmaah (Strong).
The pair agree that neither may lay claim to the area of no man’s land between them called The Yellow Belt.
In return and according to the tribal customs of the time, Nesib will “adopt” – or take hostage – Amar’s two boys Saleeh and Auda as a guarantee that neither man can invade the other.
Years later, Saleeh and Auda have grown into young men.
Saleeh, the warrior, itches to escape his gilded cage and return to his father’s land. Auda cares only for books and the pursuit of knowledge.
One day, their adopted father Nesib is visited by an American oil man from Texas (Corey Johnson) who tells the Emir that his land is blessed with oil and promises him riches beyond his imagination…
