Back in 2014, we put together the feature 10 Female Directors Who Deserve More Attention From Hollywood, inspired by the data collected at the time that showed women had dismal representation behind the camera. Not much has changed since, and perhaps it’s not a big shock that it’s taken another three years for Debra Granik to finally line up her first narrative feature since 2010’s “Winter’s Bone” — you know, the movie that launched Jennifer Lawrence‘s career, landing the actress her first Oscar nomination. The only project she’s completed since is the documentary “Stray Dog,” but it’s not for lack of trying to get the HBO pilot “American High Life” going, mounting a Pippi Longstocking movie, and attempting to get an adaptation of Russell Banks’ “Rule Of The Bone” off the ground. Well, it looks like something has finally clicked.
READ MORE: 10 Female Directors Who Deserve More Attention From Hollywood
THR reports that Granik will helm “My Abandonment,” and has scored Ben Foster, fresh off “Hell Or High Water,” to star alongside Thomasin McKenzie. Based on the novel by Peter Rock, the story follows a 13-year-old girl and her father whose peaceful existence living in the Oregon rain forest comes to an end. Here’s the book synopsis:
A thirteen-year-old girl and her father live in Forest Park, an enormous nature preserve in Portland, Oregon. They inhabit an elaborate cave shelter, wash in a nearby creek, store perishables at the water’s edge, use a makeshift septic system, tend a garden, even keep a library of sorts. Once a week they go to the city to buy groceries and otherwise merge with the civilized world. But one small mistake allows a backcountry jogger to discover them, which derails their entire existence, ultimately provoking a deeper flight.
No word yet on when filming will start, but let’s hope nothing holds this up. We shouldn’t have to wait this long for a new movie from Debra Granik.