It’s shaping up to be a vibrant year for independent cinema, a welcome omen for enthusiasts. For those who adore both print and celluloid, the late–season festival circuit—encompassing Venice, NYFF, and TIFF—promises a rich harvest.
From adaptations to biopics to documentary portraits, these are some of the literary offerings to keep an eye on during this festival run. Here’s hoping for solid distribution chatter where it makes sense.
Clarissa lands at the New York Film Festival next week. A flawless Sophie Okonedo anchors this much-anticipated adaptation of Virginia Woolf’s Mrs. Dalloway.
This take on the canonical work relocates the drama to Nigeria, where the seasoned Septimus is haunted not by trenches but by the scars of Boko Haram warfare. Ayo Edibiri co-stars, and word on the street is that her performance is outstanding.
Andrew Haigh’s A Long Winter (TIFF) reimagines Colm Tóibín’s short story of the same name. Set on the eve of the Korean War, the narrative follows a Midwestern family whose bonds fracture following a mother’s sudden disappearance.
Ebon Moss-Bachrach inhabits the reticent coal-miner patriarch. Which, in truth, feels like an almost perfect fit for the role.
The prolific Romanian satirist Radu Jude returns to NYFF with a new volley of social critique. The Diary of a Chambermaid is (loosely!) adapted from Octave Mirbeau’s 1900 novel—a work that previously surfaced on screen in 1946 under Jean Renoir’s direction.
This outing, like much of Jude’s oeuvre, probes Europe’s current class dynamics through a sharp, critical lens.
And while it isn’t strictly an adaptation, Paweł Pawlikowski’s Fatherland also earns a mention among the literary-cinema connoisseur’s picks. The historical speculative fiction follows novelist Thomas Mann (Hanns Zischler) and his daughter Erika Mann (Sandra Hüller) on a “fictional 1949 road trip across a torn Germany.”
I’d scale a Magic Mountain to see Hüller in just about anything, so count me in for this one.
Once Upon a Time in Harlem.
This year’s NYFF also showcases a range of literary documentaries. The rediscovered William Greaves masterpiece, Once Upon a Time in Harlem, surveys the luminaries of the Harlem Renaissance. Other screenings present fresh documentaries about Edward Said and Jorge Luis Borges, reconstructing the lives of those eminent thinkers.
And for collectors chasing a very specific Bingo card, Pradip Krishen’s restored debut—part of NYFF’s lineup—features a screenplay by a writer you likely know best for her novels: Arundhati Roy.
Across the pond, Nanni Moretti’s Succederà questa notte (It Will Happen Tonight) screened in competition at this year’s Biennale and is now making its international premiere in Toronto as we speak.
The time-bending romance, powered by the amiable Louis Garrel, adapts Hungry Heart, a collection of short tales by Eshkol Nevo. (And yes, it ultimately nods to a Bruce Springsteen song—the meta-layering is indeed delicious.)
On the biopic front, Polish filmmaker Małgorzata Szumowska, with DP Michał Englert, delivers The Idiot(s).
The film—having just had its Canadian premiere at TIFF—casts a fictional honeymoon for the Dostoevsky family, tracing the more brooding spouse as he battles writer’s block and, in a twist, rediscovers a spark of inspiration by the journey’s end (perhaps foreshadowing a revival of The Idiot).
Meanwhile in Toronto, Anton Corbijn’s A Talent for Murder plays a similar game, reimagining the late Patricia Highsmith as a calculating host portrayed by Helen Mirren. (You can catch the trailer here.)
Craving more cross-franchise IP and not tied to a big-city setting? Don’t worry—we’ve got options for you.
