The True Story Behind the Iraq War Reconciliation Drama ‘Atonement’

At the time, however, Van Dyk was at the beginning of his career and in no position to make that film. Six years later, he won an Oscar for Best Live Action Short Film for DeKalb Elementary, inspired by a school-shooting incident in Atlanta. That brought attention his way, allowing his feature-film ambitions to begin to materialize. “After that,” says Van Dyk, “I immediately reached for my copy of that New Yorker issue, which I still have, and started trying to make this film.”

His first challenge was turning a 12-page article into a two-hour film. “You have this wonderful reportage to work with, and all of the texture and specificity that comes with that,” says Van Dyk. “Then there are all the rooms that Dexter wasn’t in. That’s where my job comes in. There were three people that the story is centered around, two of whom come to life in Dexter’s article. He’s not much of a character in his own piece, so I had to flesh out this character that Branagh plays.”