Holocaust Memoir ‘Man’s Search for Meaning’ to be Directed by Kimberly Peirce

Kimberly Peirce, best known for directing Hilary Swank in the her Oscar winning role in Boys Don’t Cry, will be directing the adaptation of Man’s Search for Meaning, the story of psychiatrist Viktor Frankl’s experience in a Holocaust concentration camp.

The book, which was written by Viktor Frankl in nine days and published in 1946, had sold more than 10 million copies in 24 languages at the time of Frankl’s death in 1997. His theory, known as ‘logotherapy’, from the Greek word logos (meaning ‘reason’ or ‘meaning’) believes that our primary drive in life is not pleasure, but the identifying and visualizing of what we each find personally meaningful.  In the memoir, Frankl says, “What was really needed was a fundamental change in our attitude toward life. We had to learn ourselves and, furthermore, we had to teach the despairing men, that it did not really matter what we expected from life, but rather what life expected from us.”

Peirce is also known for directing the 2013 Carrie remake starring Julianne Moore and Chloë Grace Moretz, and the 2008 war drama Stop-Loss with Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Ryan Phillippe.

Straight Up Films founders/producers Marisa Polvino and Kate Cohen will produce this new film, with Kevin Hall from the Frankl estate. Polvinio and Cohen have said in regards of the film,

This is a memoir that has actually changed lives, including ours, and has impacted generations in the way we look at the world and how we navigate its sometimes treacherous pathways.