The Diary of a Teenage Girl Graphic Novel Heads to Sundance
Phoebe Gloeckner is a professor at the University of Michigan Stamps School of Art and Design where she teaches graphic storytelling. In 2002 she released her graphic novel, The Diary of a Teenage Girl: An Account in Words and Pictures, which is now being released as a movie, The Diary of a Teenage Girl. The graphic novel, based on Gloeckner’s teenage diaries, detailed a young girl’s initiation into sex and drugs, beginning with an affair with her mother’s boyfriend. Now, that graphic novel is heading to the Sundance Film Festival and will premiere on January 25, 2015.
The film stars Alexander Skarsgard and Kristen Wiig and is directed by Marielle Heller. Heller previously adapted the book for the stage.
Gloeckner had previously been approached to adapt her graphic novel to film, but was hesitant due to the vision presented versus what she envisioned. It wasn’t until she developed a friendship with Heller through adapting it on stage that she felt comfortable enough to go through with it.
Gloeckner’s art is even incorporated into the movie, playing the role of illustrating the main character’s mind as an artist as the film blends live action and animation.
A general release date has not been set.
