Maggie Gyllenhaal, director of ‘The Lost Daughter,’ on corresponding with novelist Elena Ferrante

Actress Maggie Gyllenhaal makes her feature film directing debut with “The Lost Daughter,� based on the novel by Italian author Elena Ferrante. Gyllenhaal says she exchanged emails with the author, who writes under a pseudonym and whose real identity is not known. “In some ways not knowing who she is has meant that she’s been able to be whatever it is that I needed her to be,� says Gyllenhaal.