Saroo Brierley biopic locks in director.
‘Top of the Lake’ co-director Garth Davis has signed up to take the director’s chair for ‘A Long Way Home,’ a drama based on the extraordinary story of Indian–born Australian-raised businessman Saroo Brierley.
In 1986, Brierley was accidentally separated from his Indian birth mother. Finding himself 1,500km from home, having fallen asleep aboard a train bound for Calcutta, the five-year-old boy was forced to live a life on the streets. Saved from an orphanage by an Australian couple, he was brought up in Tasmania. For 25 years he always wondered if he would see his Indian family again. Using the fractured childhood memories of his hometown and Google Earth, he was finally able to track down his family.
“As a filmmaker, Saroo’s life story is irresistible,” See-Saw production principals Emile Sherman and Iain Canning said in a statement. “The moment we heard it, we knew it had all the elements that make for great cinema. There is perhaps no greater human drive than the desire to find out who we are and to know our mothers. “This, along with the incredible contrast between our hi-tech world and the streets of Calcutta, make for an unforgettable story.”
“I’m a little humbled that my story is being made into a movie and I know it is in great hands with Sunstar and See-Saw. I’m looking forward to working closely with the production team in my capacity as a consultant on the project,” Brierley added.