After directing six episodes of Six Feet Under during it's run, Alan Ball is to direct his first feature film. Ball's debut film directing gig is a drama, based on the novel Towelhead by Alicia Erian. The rough plot sounds like this:

The film tells the story of Jasira, who struggles with identity and sexual issues as the daughter of a Lebanese-American father and an American mother in Texas during the Gulf War.

Variety through Coming Soon also lists a few cast members who are confirmed. Toni Collette, Maria Bello and Aaron Eckhart are apparently already signed up. Relative newcomer Summer Bishil will play the lead role.

Ball already has a reputation as a great writer, having penned the film American Beauty and twelve episodes of TV show Six Feet Under. I was a big fan of Six Feet Under so it'll be interesting to see what he comes up with in his first stab at movie directing. Anyone else looking forward to this one?