Lena Dunham to adapt Syrian refugee survival story

Oct. 30 (UPI) -- Lena Dunham will adapt the story of a real-life Syrian refugee.

Deadline confirmed the 32-year-old actress, screenwriter and producer will adapt the Melissa Fleming Book A Hope More Powerful Than the Sea: One Refugee's Incredible Story of Love, Loss and Survival as a new film from Steven Spielberg and J.J. Abrams.

Spielberg's Amblin Partners and Abrams' Bad Robot are co-producing the movie, which will be distributed by Amblin and Paramount Pictures, according to Variety. Arif Hussein will serve as executive producer.

A Hope More Powerful Than the Sea tells the story of Doaa Al Zamel, a mother of two who fled Egypt for Sweden by boat. Al Zamel and her two small children survived for days in open water after the boat was shipwrecked.

Dunham confirmed her involvement in a tweet Monday.

"Very lucky to have this job, to tell this story, to support this truth with these people," she wrote, adding a heart emoji.

Dunham is known for creating and starring in the HBO series Girls. She announced on Monday's episode of Dax Shepard's Armchair Expert podcast that she's six months sober after "misusing" prescription drugs for years.