An Irish historical drama starring Cillian Murphy is to open the Berlin Film Festival next month, organisers have confirmed.
The drama, Small Things Like These tells the story of the Magdalene Laundries, and is set in 1985.
It stars Cillian Murphy as a coal merchant, who learns about the Magdalene laundries for “fallen young women” in his town.
These laundries subjected 10,000 women and girls as young as nine, to uncompromising hardship from the foundation of the Irish Free State in 1922, until 1996.
They have also been accused of treating these inmates as slaves. Girls were often put in their care for falling pregnant outside of marriage.
Murphy To Star In Film About A Man With “wide open eyes”
Small Things Like These, will also see Murphy reunited with director Tim Mielants, after the pair had previously worked together on Peaky Blinders.
The cast will also feature Emily Watson, Michelle Fairley, and Eileen Walsh.
Walsh had previously starred in the award winning film The Magdalene Sisters, which also depicted the laundries.
According to festival director Carlo Chatrian, “With ‘Small Things Like These,’ Tim Mielants tells the story of a man of few words, with wide open eyes, as clear as the skies of Ireland”.
Cillian Murphy will also produce this film, alongside Matt Damon and Ben Affleck, with the festival also confirming All Things Like These will compete for the Berlinale top prize at the festival.
The Berlin Film Festival will run from February 15-25.
This news comes after Cillian Murphy received a Lead Actor nomination at this year’s BAFTA Awards for his performance in the Christopher Nolan directed Oppenheimer, with fellow Irish actors Barry Keoghan and Paul Mescal also receiving nods.
More on this from Nova here.
