The Berlin Film Festival will return to the German capital in less than a month, and they’ve finally chosen the next opening film. Cillian Murphy’s Small Things Like These, inspired by Claire Keegan’s novel of the same name, will open the upcoming edition of Berlinale.
Small Things Like These will take us back to 1985 when coal merchant and devoted father Bill Furlong (Murphy) must face the shocking truths about his small Irish town. After coming across a startling secret kept by the local convent, he must confront both his past and the complicit silence of his small town. Ciarán Hinds, Emily Watson, and Clare Dunne also star alongside Murphy.
The adaptation of Claire Keegan’s novel Foster, titled The Quiet Girl, also had its world premiere in Berlin. The festival’s artistic director Carlo Chatrian, is excited to welcome her back, along with Murphy, director Tim Mielants, and screenwriter Enda Walsh.
“In The Quiet Girl we already had sense of Claire Keegan’s skill in portraying small, apparently simple characters and making them unforgettable; here her delicate, rich and yet down-to-earth writing finds a great interpreter in Cillian Murphy,” said Chatrian.
The 74th Berlin International Film Festival will return to Germany from February 15-25, with Lupita Nyong’o presiding over the jury.
