Why Paper Year director Rebecca Addelman loves In the Skin of a Lion by Michael Ondaatje
Rebecca Addelman's directorial debut, Paper Year, follows the fortunes of young, impulsive newlyweds, Franny and Dan. The film takes place over the first year of their marriage, as Franny and Dan pursue their show business ambitions in L.A.
Addelman wrote and directed the film, and has also written for television shows like New Girl and Love. She will be featured on CBC's The Filmmakers series, which puts the spotlight on Canadian directors. Her episode airs Saturday, Sept. 15 on CBC-TV and cbc.ca/watch.
CBC Books asked Addelman to share a book that's informed her life and work. She chose In the Skin of a Lion by Michael Ondaatje.
"I first read In the Skin of a Lion when I was 18 and had just moved to Toronto (from Ottawa). The book bowled me over — with its poetry and potency — and it acted as my literary introduction to my new home. I love Toronto, but somehow the city always finds a way of resisting anyone or anything that tries to make it sexy, mysterious or ancient. But this book cracks open the city's romantic core, and it gave me an appreciation for the history, the intrigue, the violence and the sex that helped build the streets I was walking and the people I was falling in love with.
"Ondaatje, and this book in particular, also showed me that language was ours to manipulate, and there was drama to be found in something as mundane as baking bread. I hope that someday someone makes the seismic, heartbreaking film adaption the book deserves."