The Playlist

September 21, 2010

 

Like father, like son.

Jim Loach, the son of legendary director Ken Loach, is readying his first feature film "Oranges And Sunshine" for the Rome International Film Festival next month. Jim, aged 41, has spent the last decade directing Brit TV, but this project marks his debut gig as a film director.

Starring Hugo Weaving and Emily Watson, the film touches upon similar social consciousness territory as his father's oeuvre, telling the story "of the former Nottinghamshire social worker [Margaret Humphreys, played by Emily Watson] who, in the 1980s, discovered the scandal of 130,000 children in care deported to Australia and other Commonwealth countries" where they faced physical and sexual abuse.

The film was penned by Rona Munro (who wrote Ken Loach's "Ladybird Ladybird") and is based off Margaret Humphreys' book "Empty Cradles." Humphreys, who acted as an unofficial adviser to the film said, "It's a very faithful interpretation. It is strong in its understatement."

The film will premiere at the Rome Film Festival which runs from October 26th to November 5th and will hit theaters in the UK next spring. No word yet on North American distribution.