Waves star Taylor Russell is flexing her directing muscle with the documentary The Heart Still Hums. As co-director with her friend Savanah Leaf, the film will mark Russell’s directorial debut, according to Variety.

The film, Russell told Variety, follows women living in Sacramento “who are pregnant or young mothers who don’t have a lot of resources or who are on the street and addicted to drugs and need help.” Six women will be at the center of the film, who are receiving help from two non-profits, Chicks in Crisis and Her Health First. The non-profits, Russell said, are helping the women with the resources needed to raise their children or help them find foster or adoptive families.

Russell, who said she has always wanted to direct, also talked about how she and Leaf’s experiences with the adoption process propelled them to direct this film. As Variety writes, Leaf has an adoptive sister who came to her family via one of the non-profits, and Russell has two foster brothers.

“It meant a lot to both of us to go back and help in the way that we could, which is to make a piece of art for them,” she said.

Photo: Getty

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