Former U.S. president Jimmy Carter smiles as he holds a Spanish classical guitar in a factory in Esquivias, central Madrid, August 13, 2007. Carter is coming to movie theaters in a documentary centered on his controversial book about the Middle East. REUTERS/Sergio Perez

NEW YORK (Hollywood Reporter) - Jimmy Carter is coming to movie theaters in a documentary centered on his controversial book about the Middle East.

“Jimmy Carter Man From Plains” follows the former president on a recent promotional tour for “Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid,” which was viewed by some Jewish groups as an attack on Israel. He was dogged by protests on the tour.

Sony Pictures Classics picked up North American rights from Participant Prods., the socially-conscious production company that backed Al Gore’s Oscar-winning documentary “An Inconvenient Truth.”

“Jimmy Carter Man From Plains” will be shown at the Venice International Film Festival later this month, and is rumored to be among the films on the slate at Toronto next month.

It was directed by Oscar-winning filmmaker Jonathan Demme, whose documentary credits include “Neil Young: Heart of Gold” and the Talking Heads concert movie “Stop Making Sense.” He won an Academy Award for directing “The Silence of the Lambs.”

Reuters/Hollywood Reporter