Shekhar Kapur, who last directed Elizabeth: The Golden Age, will direct the last piece of the writings of the late filmmaker Anthony Minghella, New York, I Love You.

Minghella, the Oscar winning director of The English Patient, had asked Kapur to carry out his vision shortly before going in cancer surgery two weeks ago, Kapur was quoted as saying by Hollywood Reporter.

Minghella died in a London [Images] hospital last week. He had written the episodic film and was planning to start shooting in April in Manhattan.

'He told me his film was about the value of life and how people sometimes just throw away their lives, unable to look beyond into the real beauty of it,' Kapur wrote on his blog. 'I will direct the film now -- with Anthony in my heart and in the presence of his soul.'

The Reporter said that two of the film's producers, Marina Grasic and Emmanuel Benbihy, confirmed the Kapur attachment.

'Anthony chose Shekhar Kapur [Images] to direct the segment he wrote for our film knowing that Kapur would have the deepest respect for his vision. We look forward to working with Shekhar Kapur,' they were quoted as saying.

The film, which was to have starred Minghella's son Max before the young actor bowed out several weeks ago, will be set on New York's Upper East Side and can be described as a 'spiritual love story,' producers said.