Fiona Shaw! Enough said, you will likely say, and we hear you! But wait, there is more. Shaw (Killing Eve, Harry Potter franchise) stars alongside Flora Nicholson (Darkest Hour, Wonder Woman), Clare Dunne (Herself, Small Things Like These), and Mia Tharia (September Says) in the new period drama The Education of Jane Cumming, Sophie Heldman’s second feature. The topic: a scandal caused by allegations of a lesbian love affair between two teachers.
Heldman (Colors in the Dark) and Nicholson co-wrote the screenplay for the director’s English-language debut, which will world premiere in the Panorama section of the Berlin International Film Festival on Sunday, Feb. 15. Sadie Shimmin and Stephen McCole round out the cast.
Set in Edinburgh in 1810, the drama follows two female teachers who defy convention and open a progressive all-girls’ school. “Their ambitions unravel when a pupil’s accusation of a forbidden love affair sparks a public scandal, forcing them to fight for their livelihoods,” reads a synopsis of the movie that was adapted from the non-fiction account “Scotch Verdict: Miss Pirie and Miss Woods v. Dame Cumming Gordon” by activist and writer Lillian Faderman.
If some of this sounds familiar, here is why. The case also inspired Lilian Hellman’s 1934 play The Children’s Hour, which was adapted for the big screen in William Wyler’s 1961 eponymous film starring Audrey Hepburn, Shirley MacLaine, and James Garner.
The Education of Jane Cumming was produced by Heimatfilms’ Bettina Brokemper (The Devil’s Bath, The Blood Countess), in co-production with Karin Koch’s Dschoint Ventschr Filmproduktion (Chris the Swiss), and Nadira Murray of Sylph Productions (Winners), in co-production with WDR/ARTE and SRF/SRG.
THR can now exclusively debut a clip from the film. Check out Fiona Shaw and more in the teaser from The Education of Jane Cumming here.