By: Alex Mlynek

When Margaret Atwood’s non-fiction book Payback: Debt and the Shadow Side of Wealth was published last fall, the timely contribution to the Massey Lectures really struck a chord with readers all over the world thanks to its prescient subject matter: debt. Now, the National Film Board of Canada has announced it has optioned the film rights to the book, and will make a documentary based on Payback. I’m quite curious how producer Ravida Din and director Jennifer Baichwal, whose last feature was the Genie Award-winning Manufactured Landscapes, the documentary on Canadian photographer Edward Burtynsky, will tackle Atwood’s exploration of debt and sin, debt as plot, balance and payback. Perhaps Scrooge Nouveau will make an appearance. Not sure when the NFB doc will be released. In the meantime, Canadian Business published an interview I conducted with Atwood not long after Payback’s release, which you can read here.

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