ORCADIAN author Amy Liptrot has adapted her 2016 Wainwright-winning memoir, The Outrun, for the big screen.
Director Nora Fingscheidt, who helmed Netflix hit The Unforgiveable, co-wrote the script with Liptrot – and four-time Oscar nominee Saoirse Ronan is set to take up the lead role, playing “Rona”, a re-imagining of Liptrot herself.
The Outrun, published by the Edinburgh-based Canongate, has been translated into more than a dozen languages, and made The Sunday Times’ top 10 bestsellers – selling over 110,000 copies in the United Kingdom.
The book documents Liptrot’s return to her childhood home on the island, after struggling through a decade of alcoholism and drug use whilst living in London.
In an effort to break the cycles of rehabilitation and relapse, she finds solace in ritual and routine – turning to the wild rhythms of the Orkney landscape.
In the film, Ronan, who has starred in Little Women and British film classics such as Atonement, returns to Orkney after a decade in London, and begins to piece together the memories that linger from her childhood.
“It was Amy’s voice that first drew me to The Outrun,” said Ronan in a statement.
“Her unusual way of seeing things in a way that perhaps you only can when you’ve been to the darkest place you can go within yourself. I have been waiting to play a part like this – the messiness, hopefulness, dreaminess, authenticity and humor we want to achieve – I’ve been scared of it, but with Nora I feel ready.”
Fingscheidt also commented on the project: “There are wonderful gifts already in place to make this a powerful and immersive film.
“One is the setting, the vast and cinematic landscapes of the Orkney islands; the other is our main actress, Saoirse Ronan, who brings magic to the screen with her unique mix of charisma and emotional depth.”
Sarah Brocklehurst’s Brock Media optioned The Outrun and will produce the feature alongside Ronan, Jack Lowden, and Dominic Norris, with Protagonist Pictures set to introduce the project to potential buyers at Berlin’s European Film Market later in February.
BBC Film and Screen Scotland, who supported the project’s development, will also co-produce.
The Outrun can be bought from Canongate, along with Liptrot's second novel, The Instant, which is available to pre-order now.
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