PORT TOWNSEND — A film that John Sayles hopes to film in Port Townsend next summer has recruited Robert Redford as executive producer, the director said.

The film, “To Save the Man,” would be set in 1890 at the Carlisle Indian Industrial School in Pennsylvania, Sayles said.

The school had the purpose of “culturally rehabilitating” young Native Americans, he added.

“I’m thrilled and humbled to have Robert Redford serve as executive producer,” Sayles said in the announcement due to be released today and acquired Tuesday by the Peninsula Daily News.

“The goodwill he has built up in the Native American community will be invaluable on this project.”

The budget for the movie is about $8.5 million, with its completion contingent on the ability to raise that amount.

Sayles’ partner, Maggie Renzi, said she expected fundraising to continue through the end of the year and that she was optimistic about meeting the goal.

Redford — an actor, director and producer — has been a long-time supporter of the independent film industry.

He founded the Sundance Institute, which puts on the Sundance Film Festival for emerging directors, in 1981.

Sayles has directed and produced a string of independent films since “The Return of the Secaucus Seven” in 1980, produced with Renzi.

Despite their parallel involvement in independent films, this would be the first time Redford and Sayles have worked together.

Redford’s role was not spelled out in the news release. Redford is not expected to visit Port Townsend during the filming, which is slated for July.

Additional locations would include Minnesota and North Carolina.

While Sayles and Renzi were the special guests at the 2014 Port Townsend Film Festival, they visited Fort Worden State Park and decided it was the perfect location for the film, which has percolated as an idea for some time.

“I’ve carried this story with me for many years,” Sayles said.

“I want to reveal a chapter in the history of the cultural genocide practiced against the Native American people and their heroic efforts to survive it.”

The film would tell the story of Captain Richard Pratt, the founder and superintendent of the Carlisle School, whose quote, “to save the man you need to kill the Indian,” gave the movie its title.

Actor Chris Cooper, who was a special guest at this year’s Port Townsend Film Festival, has agreed to play Pratt, which he announced at the film festival.

Renzi said the film’s “real stars” will be the 13 Native American youths who will portray the students who came from all over the nation to attend the school.

Prospective cast members will be able to submit their auditions online when a casting website launches later this year, she said.

Visiting Fort Worden and determining its suitability as a locale prompted Sayles to complete the screenplay in about three months, Renzi told the PDN in June.

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Jefferson County Editor Charlie Bermant can be reached at 360-385-2335 or cbermant@peninsuladailynews.com.