, the new film of István Szabó announced, the Academy Award winner Helen Mirren will play the main role in the film.

Szabó will begin shooting in second half of 2010 (most probably in September). The film is an adaptation the novel of the recently deceased Hungarian writer Magda Szabó. The book was translated in 36 languange. Mirren is cast in the role of Emerenc, a cleaning lady, one of two lead roles. The remainder of the cast has not been announced.

The film is produced by FilmArt Studio Kft. (www.filmart.hu) and Intuit Pictures (www.intuitpictures.com). Producers are Jenő Hábermann and Sándor Sőth; executive producers are Marco Mehlitz of Lago Film and Phil Hunt of Bankside Films. Bankside Films (www.bankside-films.com) is handling world sales.

The production is supported by the Motion Picture Public Foundation of Hungary (MMKA), Hungarian Cultural Foundation (NKA), the Ministry of Education and Culture (OKM), the Hungarian Television (MTV), Eurimages (with EUR 500,000), Media Plus, Foundation of the Hungarian Historic Films (MTFA), Concorde, Filmstiftung NRW, NRW Bank and Mitteldeutsche Medienforderung.