Anaïs Nin’s “Little Birds” is the latest book to receive the TV treatment. Cineuropa confirms “Concussion” director Stacie Passon is helming a six-part series based on Nin’s 1979 collection of erotic short stories. Artist Sophia Al-Maria penned the project, set in 1955 Tangier in an “‘international zone,’ one of the last outposts of colonial decadence.” The miniseries will follow the interconnected lives of locals and expats in the international zone, at the center of which is Juno Temple’s conflicted American debutante Lucy Savage.
Raised in a world of privilege, Lucy yearns to live life on her own, non-traditional terms. Among “Little Birds'” other characters are “Hugo Cavendish-Smyth (Hugh Skinner), an aristocratic English Lord who is set to marry Lucy but whose heart is torn between his fiancée and his dashing Anglo-Egyptian lover Adham Abaza (Raphael Acloque); Cherifa Lamour (Yumna Marwan), a Moroccan dominatrix who services the diplomats and foreigners of this colorful, bohemian world; secretary Pierre Vaney (Jean-Marc Barr), who is desperately in love with her; Contessa Mandrax (Rossy de Palma), described as ‘the beating social heart of the colony’; and Lili Von X (Nina Sosanya), who encourages Lucy to live her life her own way.”
Filming on “Little Birds” kicked off in Tarifa, Spain last week. Production will move to Manchester next month. Warp Films’ Ruth McCance, Kara Manley, Peter Carlton, and Mark Herbert are producing. Commissioned for UK network Sky, the miniseries will air on Sky Atlantic, Sky Spain, and streamer NOW TV in 2020. ITV Studios Global Entertainment is handling international distribution.
Passon won the Berlinale’s Teddy Jury Award, a GLAAD Media Award, and a Gotham Award for “Concussion,” her directorial debut. Since making the film about a lesbian housewife who enters into the world of sex work, Passon has helmed episodes of “Transparent,” “Halt and Catch Fire,” “Billions,” and more. Her next feature, an adaptation of Shirley Jackson’s “We Have Always Lived in the Castle,” will be released in theaters and on VOD May 17. Passon also directed two episodes of Netflix’s upcoming “Tales of the City” revival.
Published two years after her death, Nin wrote “Little Birds” in the 1940s. One of the most celebrated writers of women’s erotica, Nin’s other works include “Delta of Venus,” “House of Incest,” and “Under a Glass Bell.”
Temple was last seen in true crime series “Dirty John.” “Unsane,” “Vinyl,” and “The Most Hated Woman in America” are among her other recent credits. You can catch the BAFTA-winning actress next in “Maleficent” sequel “Mistress of Evil,” out October 18.
