Los Angeles, U.S.A. — Production has begun in South Africa and North Carolina on the HBO Films presentation ‘Mary and Martha,’ starring Hilary Swank (Oscar winner for ‘Boys Don’t Cry’ and ‘Million Dollar Baby’) and Brenda Blethyn (Oscar nominee for ‘Secrets & Lies’ and ‘Little Voice’), it was announced July 16 by Len Amato, president, HBO Films.

Directed by Phillip Noyce (‘Salt,’ ‘The Quiet American’) from a screenplay written by Richard Curtis (Oscar nominee for ‘Four Weddings and a Funeral,’ Emmy winner for HBO’s ‘The Girl in the Café’), ‘Mary and Martha’ depicts the epic journey of two mothers who bond over the mutual loss of their sons to malaria. James Woods, Frank Grillo, Ian Redford and Stephanie Faracy also star.

“We were especially attracted to Richard Curtis’ approach to the story – bringing a human touch to this serious and often overlooked issue about a disease that is preventable and can be eradicated,” said Amato. “In the hands of Philip Noyce, directing these two gifted actresses, the difficult subject matter becomes upliftingly accessible, yet profoundly powerful.”

Hilary Swank stars as Mary and Brenda Blethyn stars as Martha, an American and an Englishwoman who have little in common apart from the one thing they wish they hadn’t – both have lost sons to malaria. Promising adventure and fun, Mary took her young son, George, to Africa, where he subsequently contracted the disease, while Martha’s son, Ben, died while working as a volunteer at an orphanage in Mozambique.

When the two immensely different women meet in Africa, they bond over their shared personal loss. Forging a deep friendship, they vow to dedicate themselves to the cause of malaria prevention, realizing that, as mothers, they have a responsibility to all the world’s children.

Says writer Richard Curtis, “I’ve always wanted to write a film about the fact that when you have children, there’s always the possibility of extreme joy and extreme sorrow. And over the years, working with Comic Relief, I have come across the tragedy of the startling number of lives taken by malaria every year. This film gives me achance to write about that too, as well as working with a team of people I hugely admire – Brenda Blethyn, Hilary Swank and the great Australian director, Phillip Noyce.”

‘Mary and Martha’ is an HBO Films Presentation of a WTTV Working Title Television Production, in association with BBC and NBC Universal; executive produced by Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner, Liza Chasin and Juliette Howell; produced by Genevieve Hofmeyr and Hilary Bevan Jones; director, Phillip Noyce; screenplay written by Richard Curtis.

Image Courtesy of  Featureflash / Shutterstock.com

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For many children, going to school is as simple as a trip around the block. For others, it means a long and dangerous journey through deserts and war zones. In the volatile Middle East, some students have found happy refuge at Bialik-Rogozin, a public school in the heart of Tel Aviv that welcomes Jews, Christians and Muslims from 48 countries.

Many arrive fleeing violent pasts, and others have limited, if any, prior education. For every child who attends Bialik-Rogozin, the school is like a home. Here, no child is a stranger. This year’s Oscar winner for Best Documentary Short, Strangers No More tells the inspiring story of this extraordinary school and the students who struggle to acclimate to life in a new land when it debuts Monday, Dec. 5, exclusively on HBO.

Produced & directed by Karen Goodman & Kirk Simon (HBO’s “Masterclass”), Strangers No More follows three Bialik-Rogozin students over the course of a school year as they try to fit in, and slowly open up to share their stories of hardship and tragedy. Mohammed, a 16-year-old refugee from Darfur, witnessed the killing of his grandmother and father before escaping alone through Egypt to Israel.

Though he’s never been in school before, his sharp mind and tremendous determination enable him to make up for years of missed study. Johannes arrived at Bialik-Rogozin after spending most of his life in refugee camps across the Middle East. As his father struggles to obtain a work visa, 12-year-old Johannes tries to adjust to attending school for the first time.

After a slow start, his teachers realize he is nearly blind in one eye and take him to an eye clinic. With his new glasses, Johannes is reading and writing before long, and helping other newcomers to adjust. Esther and her father fled South Africa with nothing after the murder of her mother. At Bialik-Rogozin, they are welcomed with clothing, food and counsel on how to begin a new life.  Esther’s teachers try to relieve the trauma of this nine-year-old girl, who is still dealing with the loss of her mother.

Strangers No More also spotlights the school’s compassionate and dedicated faculty, including: teacher Smadar Moers, who works closely with Johannes’s family and teaches 21 hours of Hebrew classes a week to new students; elementary principal Nehana Shapira, who helped a disoriented and hungry Esther through her first days at the school; and the school’s principal, Karen Tal, who recently received The Charles Bronfman Prize for her humanitarian work at the school.

As Karen Tal notes, Bialik-Rogozin differs from other schools in that students aren’t just taught the values of human rights and tolerance – they are able to live out those values every day. Upon graduation, Mohammed provides the finest evidence of the school’s ultimate success, declaring his dream to return to Darfur and build a school for the children of the village he once fled.

In addition to their Academy Award for Strangers No More, Kirk Simon and Karen Goodman’s films have garnered four other Oscar nominations, several Emmys and the DuPont-Columbia Award for Independent Programming.

Their documentaries have screened at festivals around the world, including the New York Film Festival, Sundance, New Directors/New Films, London, Berlin and Saint Petersburg. Their other HBO credits include:  “Masterclass” (2010), “Locks of Love:  The Kindest Cut” (2008), “Rehearsing a Dream” (2006), “Kindergarten” (2001), “27th & Prospect:  One Year in the Fight Against Drugs” (1997) and “Chimps: So Like Us” (1989).

Image Courtesy of   http://www.strangersnomoremovie.com/

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