When the discussion of African-American film makers who deserve to be bigger names comes up, which is often out here in the Nation's Capital, it isn't long before Kasi Lemmons's name gets mentioned. The occasional actress(she's done one movie in six years) made a big splash with her directorial debut, Eve's Bayou, and most recently directed the brilliant Petey Greene biopic, Talk to Me.
Five years later and we're finally starting to hear about what's next on her plate, and it looks to be an adaptation of Zadie Smith's 2005 novel, On Beauty. Smith has said the book was influenced by Howards Ends, written by E.M. Forster in 1910. The Boston set story follows the liberal Belsey family and their rivals, the conservative Kipps clan. Despite their many differences, the two affluent families are continually drawn into proximity by the continuing relationships of their children. The book deals with many issues Lemmons has touched upon before, such as ethnicity and the clashing of ideological values.
This sounds like a perfect fit for Lemmons, and I'm curious to see where the casting goes. Howard Belsey is a British ex-patriate, while Monty Kipps hails from Trinidad. A start date is unclear at this stage but we'll be keeping a very close watch on this one. [Deadline]
