‘Women Talking’ Director Sarah Polley Describes the ‘Power of Community’ in Her Ensemble Cast
thewrap.comA version of this story about the “Women Talking” first appeared in the Guilds & Critics Awards / Documentaries issue of TheWrap’s awards magazine. “Women Talking,” author Miriam Toews’s 2018 novel, was inspired by a serial sexual assault case in Bolivia, where more than a hundred Mennonite women were tranquilized and raped by men in their secluded community.
Hearing the gruesome real-life details, it’s easy to imagine the kind of true-crime sensation that the story might have made in lurid docuseries form.
But that was not what motivated actor-turned-director Sarah Polley (Away From Her) to helm this movie adaptation. “It’s not a film that’s detailing graphic sexual assault,” Polley said. “It’s about the impact on the women who have survived and how they want to move forward.
It felt to me more like an epic story of hope, almost like a fable. The conversation in the film goes a step further (beyond the crime), as it does in the novel, which excited me about telling it.” The movie is set primarily in the hayloft of a barn, where several women serve as democratic representatives for all the community’s women, debating the question of whether they should stay or leave.
Read more on thewrap.com