Raw Nerve, the production horror house affiliated with New York's GreeneStreet Films, has signed AntoniaBird to direct Abraham's Daughter, which is out to casting and scheduled to begin filming thissummer.

Written by Raw Nerve principal Boaz Yakin and Edward Ricourt, Abraham'sDaughter centres on a recently widowedwoman whose recurring visions of murdered children lead her to a ghastly secret.

Before he made a name as a director of such films as Fresh, A Price Above Rubies, Remember The Titans and Uptown Girls, Yakin was a Hollywood screenwriter behindsuch films as The Rookie.

Lauren Moews will produce with Raw Nerve principals Yakin,Eli Roth and Scott Spiegel, while GreeneStreet Films International's CedricJeanson and Ariel Veneziano will handle international sales at Cannes.

"The story of Abraham's Daughter developed in my mind after I read aseries of articles about a rash of cases of satanic ritual abuse that werebeing reported around the country," Yakin said in a statement.

"In many cases the participants, both the purported victims andvictimisers, were left doubting their own sanity for the rest of their lives.

"This seemed to me fertile ground for a 70s-style horror film, onewhere the protagonists and antagonists are not so clearly defined and theaudience's sympathies shift like sand under their feet."

UK film-maker Bird, whose latest work has been for television, achieved international recognition as a film-maker with Priest in 1994. Her other feature directorial credits include Mad Love, Face and the western horror Ravenous, about cannibals.

Bird is also partnered with UK author Irvine Welsh, who has been writing the follow-up book to his bestseller Trainspotting, actor Robert Carlyle and journalist Mark Cousins in the talent-led production company Four Way Pictures.

Speaking about Abraham's Daugher, GreeneStreet's Jeanson commented: "Coming on the heels of 2001 Maniacs, this suspenseful psychological thrillerwill show Raw Nerve's incredible range."

"We are getting great feedback on the disturbing and rivetingscreenplay and obviously great interest in the talented film-makers involved," he added

Raw Nerve was founded in 2003 by GreeneStreet Films and a team ofwriters and directors headed by Yakin, Roth and Spiegel.

The company aims to produce three to five mid-budget horrorpictures a year and is in post production on its first feature 2001 Maniacs, a remake of Herschell Gordon Lewis'slasher classic 2000 Maniacs.

GreeneStreet's Cannes sales slate includes: Sally Potter's Yes, starring Joan Allen, Simon Abkarian andSam Neill; Slow Burn,which stars Ray Liotta and LL Cool J; and 2001 Maniacs.

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