Barbra Streisand is getting back in the director's chair for the first time in nearly 20 years. Streisand’s next gig will be directing and overseeing the screenplay for an untitled film based on the real-life love story between photographer Margaret Bourke-White and author Erskine Caldwell, according to Deadline.com. Casting is currently underway and the film aims to begin shooting later in the year. No word yet on a release date.
The first female photographer for Life magazine, Bourke-White married Caldwell in 1939. Caldwell was an acclaimed author who often wrote about poverty and racism in the South. Together, the couple collaborated on the Depression-era book Have You Seen Their Faces. They divorced in 1942, and the film will follow their rocky and short relationship.
Streisand is an Emmy, Grammy, Golden Globe, Oscar and Tony Award winner. She is the first and only American woman credited to have directed, written, starred in and produced a major feature film (1983’s Yentl). She is also the first female film director to receive a Kennedy Center Honor. Her screen credits include Funny Girl, Hello, Dolly!, The Way We Were, A Star is Born, The Guilt Trip, The Mirror Has Two Faces, The Prince of Tides and What’s Up, Doc? On April 22, Streisand will receive the Film Society of Lincoln Center's 2013 Chaplin Award for her work in film.