Severn Screen signs film rights to Lewis’ English language début Drift

Severn Screen has landed the screen rights for Welsh writer Caryl Lewis’ English language début Drift (Doubleday).

Screen rights were sold by Anwen Hooson at Bird Literary Agency. Currently in post-production with “Havoc”, a Netflix film starring Tom Hardy and Forest Whitaker, Severn Screen’s other credits include “The Pembrokeshire Murders” for ITV and World Productions and “Gangs of London” for SKY/AMC. Andrew Eaton, producer of “The Crown” season one will join the project as an executive producer.

Lewis, a screenwriter as well as a novelist, children’s writer and playwright, will also executive produce and write the adaptation herself. The last time Lewis adapted her own work, for her 2004 breakthrough novel, Martha, Jac a Sianco (Y Lolfa), it went on to win six Welsh Baftas and the Spirit of the Festival Award at the Celtic Media Festival. 

Drift tells the story of a young woman living in a small cottage on the wild Welsh coast, and a Syrian mapmaker incarcerated in a military base a few miles away. It is described as “a love story with a difference, enriched with magic and mystery, about the meeting of two souls existing on the fringes, the erasure of personal and cultural identities, and the transcendent power of kindness”. 

Ed Talfan, creative director at Severn Screen, said: “The team at Severn fell in love with Drift immediately. Caryl’s ability to distil complex human emotions in a way that’s so familiar and so comforting has always been her great skill, and nowhere is that truer than with Drift. It’s an astounding piece of work, the cultural significance of which resonated with us profoundly. We’re delighted to be working with Caryl on bringing her remarkable novel to the screen.”

Lewis added: “It’s a dream come true to be working with Severn Screen and Andrew Eaton to bring Drift to the big screen. I have enjoyed a fantastic relationship with Severn over the past few years and I am a great admirer of how they produce such beautiful and culturally sensitive work which also travels globally. To have Andrew Eaton on board too is just incredible. I could not feel in safer hands to begin writing my first feature in the English language.”