Sartaj Singh
A tale of falconry, grief, and rediscovery will soon head to the United Kingdom. The filming of ‘H Is For Hawk’ will start in Wales and London, England, in October 2024. Philippa Lowthorpe is directing the film with a screenplay by Emma Donoghue, based on Helen Macdonald’s memoir of the same name. Claire Foy and Brendan Gleeson headline the movie, which is produced by Plan B and Film4.
The film will chronicle the true story of Helen Macdonald (Foy), who loses her well-regarded photojournalist father (Gleeson) to a heart attack. With her world plunged into deep sorrow, Helen finds unexpected comfort in the feathery company of a stubborn northern goshawk named Mabel. She has practiced falconry for many years and takes on the challenge of training a young goshawk, which turns out to be her guiding light through the grieving process. Her journey and unique bond with Mabel reintroduce her to the beauty of life and the natural world.
Foy is an English actress who first stepped into the limelight with BBC’s ‘Being Human.’ Over the following years, she prospered in both television and film, taking on the roles of Janet Armstrong in ‘First Man,’ Diana Cavendish in ‘Breathe,’ and Lisbeth Salander in ‘The Girl in the Spider’s Web.’ She most recently appeared in ‘The Crown’ as Queen Elizabeth II, ‘All of Us Strangers’ as Mum, and ‘Women Talking’ as Salome. She also leads Peter Glanz’s period drama ‘Savage House,’ as Lady Savage, which centers on an aristocratic couple in England during the pox outbreak and Jacobite uprising.
Gleeson is a veteran Irish actor known for humorously portraying Gerry Boyle in ‘The Guard.’ He played Ken in ‘In Bruges’ and Colm Doherty in ‘The Banshees of Inisherin’ alongside Colin Farrell. His latest works include ‘A Greyhound of a Girl,’ ‘State of the Union,’ and ‘The Tragedy of Macbeth.’ The actor is also set to play supporting roles in upcoming productions like Nicolas Cage’s ‘Spider-Noir’ and Todd Phillips’ ‘Joker: Folie à Deux.’
Lowthorpe is a three-time BAFTA Award-winning English director whose recent credits include Disney+’s ‘Willow,’ HBO’s ‘The Third Day,’ and ‘Misbehaviour.’ Macdonald is a non-binary English writer who wrote ‘Prophet,’ ‘Vesper Flights,’ and ‘Falcon.’
“When I was writing, I didn’t think the book had any therapeutic value,” said Macdonald about ‘H Is For Hawk’ to The Guardian. “But when I’d finished, there was a great sense that something was done, and it was a goodbye to my father and to that time. The book traces a time from that shock of the early loss to a point when I realised that the grief had turned into love. There’s that lovely line – ‘Grief is just love with nowhere to go’ – and the book traces that course of loss to acceptance,” the author added.
Some biographical works shot in Wales include ‘The Crown,’ ‘Pride,’ and ‘Wolf Hall.’ Similar projects lensed in London are ‘Baby Reindeer,’ ‘Napoleon,’ and ‘Back to Black.’
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