Tim Roth directing film adaptation of Marc Parent's TURNING STONES

Movie Sam Rockwell about 13 years agoby

Tim Roth announced his next directing project at the Off Plus Camera International Festival of Independent Cinema in Krakow, Poland, where Roth was given the Against the Current achievement award. It will be an adaptation of Marc Parent's 1996 non-fiction book Turning Stones: My Days and Nights with Children at Risk, a collection of accounts of children in various situations of child abuse. The film hit's close to home for Roth, who was abused as a child. He directed The War Zone in 1999, which covered similar material.

According to THR, "Parent was a twentysomething from the Midwest who went to New York city to try to make it as an actor. He was unsuccessful in this endeavor, but joined an experimental social work unit at Emergency Children's Services. What followed was a series of situations in which Parent was called upon to protect children from abusive parents, up to and including breaking households apart and having parents arrested."

Here is what Roth had to say about the Parent's story:

“He was an incredible social worker – he saved tons of children from horrible situations. “It's a really interesting story, and I couldn't get this film made [before], but it's the companion to The War Zone.”

Roth does not have a producer attached to the project yet, but has Sam Rockwell in mind for the lead, although the actor is twice Parent's age when he started the job. Roth revealed he plans to shoot the film in digital and had this to say:

“It will give me real control of the atmosphere surrounding the children. I can do take after take, I don't have to worry about money or how much [film] stock I've got, or about the guy who takes the film to the lab in the middle of the night having a crash because he's out of beer.”

I like Roth as an actor, but have not seen any of his work as a director. Whenever a director/actor takes on a project that they have experience with first hand, it usually turns out to be very powerful and moving. Sam Rockwell has a great screen presence and would be a good fit for this type of role, despite being older.

What are your thoughts?