By Cara Nash
Charlotte Wood’s The Natural Way of Things topped many a local critic’s list when it came to the best books of 2015. With its topical exploration of contemporary misogyny and the growing demand to see more female stories on screen, it seemed only a matter of time before the book was optioned for the adaptation treatment.
The novel, which will be published internationally this year, has been optioned by independent producers Katia Nizic and Emma Dockery. “We knew instantly this was a story that needed to be told,” the pair said in a join statement. “It feels personal and specific, but also speaks to women the world over. It is incredible to be given this opportunity to feature so many women in prominent, meaningful roles, in front of and behind the camera.”
The almost dystopian tale follows two women who awake from a drugged sleep to find themselves imprisoned in the middle of a desert with eight other girls. With no idea how they landed there, the women are forced to wear strange uniforms, their heads shaved and guarded by vicious jailers. Soon it emerges that the girls all have something in common: each girl’s past contains a sexual scandal with a powerful man…
Emma Dockery comes from a casting background having worked on The Beautiful Lie, Gallipoli and Downriver while Katia Nizic was Producer’s Assistant on The Dressmaker and her company Twice Shy Productions has had considerable success with their short films. The pair have stated they aim to make a big social splash with the film, and will be adopting an innovative approach to the entire life of the film from production through to distribution.
Of Dockery and Nizic acquiring the rights, Charlotte Wood said: “Katia and Emma’s proposal – passionate, alive, ambitious and original – made it impossible for us to choose anyone else for this project. Their astonishingly detailed pitch showed me that in a deep, urgent way they had already taken real ownership of my story, and had an equally desperate desire to make something powerful and fresh with it on film.”
