HOLLYWOOD – Higher Ground Productions, President Barack Obama and Michelle Obama’s production company, has announced a new slate of upcoming projects for Netflix, including a film based on British-Pakistani author Mohis Hamid’s critically-acclaimed novel Exit West.
A statement issued by the Netflix said that Exit West is the story of two people as they seek a better life together, all the while yearning for a home to which they may never return.
The New York Times named the novel one of the 10 Best Books of 2017, it was selected for the Booker Prize longlist, and former U.S. President Barack Obama named it one of the best books he read in 2017.
The film stars Riz Ahmed (Sound of Metal) who will also executive produce via his Left Handed Films banner, and it will be directed by Yann Demange (White Boy Rick) and co-produced with Joe Russo, Anthony Russo and Mike Larocca for the Russos’ AGBO.
The other projects include three films – Satellite, Tenzing and The Young Wife – and two drama series named Firekeeper’s Daughter and Great National Parks.
“We created Higher Ground to tell great stories,” said President Barack Obama and Michelle Obama.
Projects currently in different stages of development, to be released over the next several years (all titles are working titles), said Netflix.
