MY SALINGER YEAR

Joanna dreams of being an author. But in 1990s New York, that is a difficult path to take. So, when she gets a job as assistant to literary agent Margaret, she is only too aware that she must seize this opportunity with both hands. She stays calm when the phones don’t stop ringing and deals confidently with her old-fashioned and stubborn boss. Everything in the agency seems to revolve around just one person - the ageing cult author J. D. Salinger, whose fan mail Joanna answers.

FILIP FALARDO / Philippe Falardeau

Philippe Falardeau (1968, Quebec) is a French-Canadian film director and screenwriter. His first feature film, The Left-Hand Side of the Fridge (2000) won Best Canadian First Feature at the 2000 Toronto International Film Festival. After his second film, Congorama (2006), Falardeau received much press attention following the release of his 2011 film Monsieur Lazhar. The film premiered at the Locarno International Film Festival, where it won the Audience Award. In 2014, he directed the film The Good Lie, then My Internship in Canada (2015), and Chuck (2016). My Salinger Year (2020) opened the 70th Berlin International Film Festival.

 

Film based on Joanna Rakoff's memoir of working for a New York literary agency is no Devil Wears Prada, pitched more to teens who dream of writing than to young professionals familiar with the publishing world.

Peter Debruge, Variety