David Farnor | On 13, Oct 2020

Charlie Kaufman and Reed Morano are teaming up for an adaptation of The Memory Police for Amazon Studios.

The film will be based on Yōko Ogawa’s novel, which was shortlisted for the International Booker Prize 2020 after being translated into English – 25 years after its debut in Japan. The book is set on an island where things go missing, to the point where disappeared objects no longer have any meaning. They can be burned in the garden, thrown in the river or handed over to the Memory Police. Soon enough, the island forgets it ever existed. When a young novelist discovers that her editor is in danger of being taken away by the Memory Police, she desperately wants to save him. For some reason, he doesn’t forget, and it’s becoming increasingly difficult for him to hide his memories. Who knows what will vanish next?

Kaufman will write the script, marking his second project at a streamer, following his adaptation of I’m Thinking of Ending Things for Netflix. Morano, who was the first woman to win the Best Director Emmy and DGA Award in the same year, has enjoyed huge acclaim from her work on The Handmaid’s Tale. She is also no stranger to Amazon: she is attached to direct its 10-part thriller based on Naomi Alderman’s The Power.

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