Storyville orders Daisy Asquith doc

After the Dance will chart Asquith’s investigation into her own complicated family history on the west coast of Ireland.

The feature-length film will trace the fallout experienced by Asquith’s family after her mother was conceived to unmarried parents and adopted, unpicking a past dominated by secrets and shame and involving a new family in County Clare.

Asquith said: “My grandmother suffered an appalling injustice at the hands of the Catholic church, being forced to give up her baby after a secret pregnancy she dared tell no-one in her family about.

“The shame at these stories still exists, which makes this a tough film to make. But I make it with love and pride in my Irish family.”

After the Dance will be exec produced by Storyville commissioners Nick Fraser and Kate Townsend, Rory Gilmartin for the IFB and Danielle Ryan. The production is aiming for a spring 2014 delivery.

Roads Entertainment

The film is the first production from Roads Entertainment, the Irish indie owned by Ryanair heiress Danielle Ryan.

Roads’ production arm is spearheaded by former IFB executive Alan Maher, who will produce After the Dance with Doireann de Buitléar and Asquith’s Dandy Films.

Prior to joining Roads, Maher oversaw the IFB’s production slate, including Alex Gibney’s Emmy-winning Mea Maxima Culpa: Silence in the House of God, Carol Morley’s Dreams of a Life and bare-knuckle fighting documentary Knuckle.

Bafta-nominated director Asquith most recently made Channel 4 documentaries Crazy About One Direction and Britain: My New Home.

This article first appeared on Screen’s sister publication Broadcast.