View Trailer HERE
US PremiereJudi
Dench and Steve Coogan star in this poignant and bracingly funny tale of
friendship and a mother’s enduring love. In 1950s Ireland, teenaged Philomena
Lee was forced to give up her three-year-old son for adoption and further atone
for her sin of sex outside of marriage by spending her youth in a convent.
Fifty years later, Philomena (Dench) has never given up hope of a reunion, but
her search remains fruitless until she meets Martin Sixsmith (Coogan, who also
cowrote the screenplay), a political journalist who’s down on his luck.
Sixsmith reluctantly agrees to take on a human-interest story and the two
strangers set off on a journey that leads them to America and to a deep and
unexpected friendship as they unravel the mystery of what became of Philomena’s
boy. Adapted from Sixsmith’s account of this true story, Philomena is
the heartfelt new film from Academy Award–nominated director Stephen Frears (The
Queen, MVFF 2006).
—Pam
Grady