As Netflix prepares to distribute its first feature films, it is making sure to keep its upcoming schedule well-stocked. The streaming video platform has announced a film adaptation of Cambodian writer Loung Ung’s memoir First They Killed My Father, with Angelina Jolie set to direct.
First They Killed My Father chronicles Ung’s life during the brutal reign of the Khmer Rogue, when an estimated two million Cambodians are believed to have died. Ung details the many atrocities committed during this time and recalls her own experience in a camp for child soldiers.
It will be up to Jolie to adapt this upsetting source material for the screen. The veteran actress has recently added a number of directing credits to her filmography, including her 2014 film Unbroken. “I was deeply affected by Loung’s book,” she said in a press release. “It deeped forever my understanding of how children experience war and are affected by the emotional memory of it. And it helped me draw closer still to the people of Cambodia, my son’s homeland. It is a dream to be able to adapt this book for the screen, and I’m honored to work alongside Loung and filmmaker Rithy Panh.”
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Jolie joins other well-known Hollywood celebrities, such as Leonardo DiCaprio and Edward Norton, who have worked on projects with Netflix. Her husband, Brad Pitt, is also involved in a high-profile movie that will be distributed by the streaming platform. He will star in an upcoming picture based on the story of United States Army General Stanley McChrystal.
After first bringing it around the film festival circuit, Netflix plans to release Jolie’s film for its subscribers sometime in the fall of 2016.
