Last year after partnering with Apple Inc to produce several dramas, Pakistan’s youngest Nobel Prize Laureate Malala Yousafzai now signed a deal for three films, reported Variety.
Her production company Extracurricular has partnered with the indie studio A24 for a still-untitled feature documentary on the legendary “haenyeo” society of fisherwomen, who live on South Korea’s Jeju Island.
The Apple Original Films title is directed by Peabody Award nominee Sue Kim (The Speed Cubers) and is the first project to go into production from Extracurricular’s partnership with Apple TV+, which was struck in March 2021.
The publication revealed that the first project in the upcoming slate is a feature film adaptation of Elaine Hsieh Chou’s acclaimed book Disorientation – a satire published earlier this year about a college student’s revealing dissertation on a young poet. The outlet further revealed that the project will be produced by Don’t Look Up helmer Adam McKay’s Hyperobject Industries, with Stephanie Mercado and Todd Schulman overseeing. A director has not been named.
The second project which was announced by Malala’s production house was a scripted series based on Asha Lemmie’s coming-of-age novel Fifty Words for Rain, about a woman’s search for acceptance in post-World War II Japan. Overall, the Apple pact will cover dramas, comedies, documentaries, animation and children’s series.
“What I hope to bring to the table are the voices of women of color, and debut writers and Muslim directors and writers,” Malala told the publication. “I hope we can have a wide range of perspectives and that we challenge some of the stereotypes we hold in our societies. And I also hope that the content is entertaining and that people fall in love with the characters and have the best time together.”
