Lynne Ramsay hasn’t made a feature film since 2017’s “You Were Never Really Here,” but the “We Need to Talk About Kevin” director is hard at work on a wide range of films. She’s currently in post-production on “Polaris,” a mysterious original film that reunites her with Phoenix (who stars alongside Rooney Mara). While appearing at the Sarajevo Film Festival over the weekend, Ramsay offered some hints about future projects she hopes to direct (via Variety).
After “Polaris” — which may hit theaters under the title “Dark Slides” — Ramsay said she is developing an adaptation of Ariana Harwicz’s novel “Die, My Love” as a starring vehicle for Jennifer Lawrence. The novel tells the story of a woman who deals with extreme mental health problems after giving birth in a secluded French village.
“It’s quite simple,” Ramsay said of the project. “It’s not set in the Arctic. It’s not in a boat. It’s just them in a house, it’s just them in a village, so it’s easy to make… [Lawrence] just really responded to the material, which is hardcore in some ways, because it’s about postnatal depression and bipolar [disorder]. But it’s funny as well. Well, I’ve made it funny. I think I’ve made it funny. I hope I’ve made it funny.”
Ramsay attributed her ability to attract major talent like Lawrence to her lifelong love of working with actors.
“I absolutely love actors. I’m friends with all the actors I’ve worked with. Tilda Swinton is the godmother of my child. Samantha Morton is a really close friend,” she said. “And then John C. Reilly, he’s the godfather of my daughter. Joaquin, I speak to every day in my life. And his wife, Rooney Mara, she’s fantastic as well. So I just like actors. But I think you have to have an honest and authentic relationship with them.”
While any future projects would likely be delayed by the Writers Guild of America and Screen Actors Guild strikes (barring waivers for independent productions), Ramsay made it clear that she supports the strikes for the long-term good of the film industry.
“I absolutely support this. I’m totally behind this,” she said. “All this AI stuff. They’ll be smashing my film with somebody else’s film [using AI]. We don’t get any residuals. You sign a contract with these streamers and you’ve basically signed away your life for infinity and beyond. And I think it’s really greedy. And I think people should get paid for their work.”
