The Orchard has acquired all North American rights to Julia Hart’s (screenwriter, “The Keeping Room”) directorial debut, “Miss Stevens,” Variety has reported.
The film stars Lily Rabe (“American Horror Story”) as a teacher who chaperones three of her students to a drama competition while dealing with personal drama of her own. The film premiered at the 2016 SXSW festival where Rabe won the Best Actress Special Jury Prize.
Hart, who used to be a teacher herself, told Women and Hollywood, “I feel very strongly that most of the portrayals of teachers on film and television are not all that accurate. I wanted to tell an honest and authentic portrayal of what it means to be a young woman in charge of people who aren’t that much younger.”
Her advice to female filmmakers was to “[t]ell female stories.” She added, “I don’t know, maybe I’m not supposed to say that, but if we don’t, who will? Some of my favorite female characters were written by men. I’m not saying men can’t [write women]. I’m just saying, they’ve got men covered. They’ve got them covered in spades. So let’s tell a few stories about women while we’re here.”
The Orchard plans a fall release for “Miss Stevens.”
