Joan Didion's nephew working on documentary of her extraordinary life

Date
23 October 2014

Some writers create page-turners; masters of narrative and plot that compel you to keep on reading. In some ways Joan Didion is the opposite, although her writing is no less compelling. When reading her work, its brilliance stops me dead over and over again, such is her ability to analyse a person, a place or a concept and then articulate her thoughts.

So when word reached us yesterday that Joan’s nephew Griffin Dunne is working on a film about her life, it’s fair to say I was excited. “We’re making it because incredibly no-one else has made a documentary about Joan Didion,” Griffin explains in the Kickstarter video. “People don’t know what Joan sounds like when she talks; I think people should know that a woman so tiny in frame is actually a lion.”

The film will explore her life and work, from her role alongside journalistic superstars like Tom Wolfe and Hunter S Thompson as “the moral voice of the times” to the devastating deaths in quick succession of her husband and daughter.

Griffin, who is working with Susanne Rostock on the film, admits it’s “an enormous responsibility” but will be able to combine his personal relationship with Joan with reflections on her place in the literary cannon. “They were my aunt and uncle but also probably the hippest people on earth,” he admits.

We Tell Ourselves Stories In Order To Live made $71,000 of its initial $80,000 goal in just a couple of days so thrillingly it’s almost certain this is a film we are going to see. Head over to the Kickstarter to push it over the line.

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Brigitte Lacombe: Joan Didion (2011)

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Julian Wasser: Joan Didion (1970)

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Joan Didion, from her personal collection

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About the Author

Rob Alderson

Rob joined It’s Nice That as Online Editor in July 2011 before becoming Editor-in-Chief and working across all editorial projects including itsnicethat.com, Printed Pages, Here and Nicer Tuesdays. Rob left It’s Nice That in June 2015.

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