‘Oranges and Sunshine,’ starring Emily Watson: Exclusive clip
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Oscar-nominee Emily Watson (‘Breaking the Waves,’ ‘Hilary and Jackie’) stars in the new historical drama ‘Oranges and Sunshine,’ which opens Oct. 21, about an English social worker who uncovers a major scandal: the forced migration of some 150,000 children -- wards of the state -- from England to Australia in the 1940s, ‘50s and ‘60s.
Watson plays Margaret Humphreys, who started to unravel the mystery in the 1980s after hearing about the migrations from adults who were sent Down Under with the promise that life would be all oranges and sunshine. Many of the children were told that their parents had died, though in many cases that was untrue. Instead of getting a new families, they were put into orphanages and endured conditions akin to indentured servitude. Humphreys founded the Child Migrants Trust to help those relocated children find their identities and families, and wrote a book, ‘Empty Cradles.’
During the production of the film in late 2009, then-Australian Prime Minster Kevin Rudd issued a formal apology to the ‘Home Children’; Britain’s prime minister followed suit in February 2010.
Below is an exclusive clip from the film, which was directed by Jim Loach and also stars Hugo Weaving and David Wenham (‘300’):
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--Susan King