SPC lays ‘Brick Lane’ to 08′ foundation

At the beginning of the year, Sony Pictures Classics dipped into the U.K production scene and picked up the rights to Sleuth, now they’ve come back to the same well picking up North and South American rights to Brick Lane – a Ruby Films Production produced by Alison Owen and Christopher Collins and presented by Film4 Four, Ingenious and the UK Film Council’s New Cinema Fund.  

Based on the 2003 epic novel by Monica Ali Based, “Brick Lane” is the story of a beautiful young Bangladeshi woman, Nazneen (Chatterjee), who arrives in 1980s London, leaving behind her beloved sister and home, for an arranged marriage and a new life. Trapped within the four walls of her flat in East London, and in a loveless marriage with the middle aged Chanu (Kaushik), she fears her soul is quietly dying. Her sister Hasina (Zafreen), meanwhile, continues to live a carefree life back in Bangladesh, stumbling from one adventure to the next. Nazneen struggles to accept her lifestyle, and keeps her head down in spite of life's blows, but she soon discovers that life cannot be avoided – and is forced to confront it the day that the hotheaded young Karim (Simpson) comes knocking at her door. Set against the changing backdrop of multicultural Britain. 

Bend It Like Beckham touched upon this familiar reality, but I’m under the impression that this new film that will (to be readied for a 2008 release) might be a feather-ruffling, female-empowering film much in the same vein as another upcoming SPC release, Persepolis.
 

Sarah Gavron is directing the project –  her first film, television’s “This Little Life,” (2003) won numerous awards including the BAFTA TV Award for Best New Director (Sarah Gavron), Best New Writer (Rosemary Kay) and was nominated for the Best Single Drama Award. Gavron was also selected as one of Variety’s “Ten Directors to Watch” at the 2004 Sundance International Film Festival.