Oscar-winner Anthony Hopkins and Johnny Flynn are to star in TIFF sales title One Life, a drama about British humanitarian Nicholas Winton, who saved hundreds of children from the Nazis.
The feature will be produced by See-Saw Films, whose credits include Lion and The King’s Speech, and will be introduced to buyers this week.
FilmNation Entertainment will manage international sales alongside See-Saw’s in-house sales arm, Cross City Films.
Directed by Irish filmmaker Aisling Walsh (Maudie, Elizabeth Is Missing), One Life will tell the story of Winton, who championed the rescue of 669 refugee children out of Czechoslovakia, under threat from Hitler’s death camps, to the safety of British foster families.
Half a century later, a surprise reunion was organised between Winton and those he saved, which was captured live on BBC TV show That’s Life.
Hopkins and Flynn will both play the role of Winton at different stages of his life. The screenplay was co-written by Lucinda Coxon (The Danish Girl) and Nick Drake (Romulus, My Father).
Producers are Iain Canning, Emile Sherman and Joanna Laurie. Executive producers are Rose Garnett for BBC Films, and See-Saw’s COO for film, Simon Gillis. BBC Films developed the film with See-Saw.
UTA Independent Film Group will co-represent the US alongside FilmNation Entertainment and Cross City Films.
Hopkins, who won an Oscar for his performance in The Silence Of The Lambs, stars in Florian Zeller’s The Father opposite Olivia Colman, which has been selected for TIFF following its debut at Sundance. He is set to receive the TIFF Tribute Actor Award at this year’s festival.
Flynn was most recently seen in Autumn de Wilde’s adaptation of Jane Austen’s Emma. His upcoming projects include Stardust, in which he plays a young David Bowie; See-Saw Films’ war drama Operation Mincemeat; and heist musical The Score, featuring songs written by Flynn.
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