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PRODUCTION Northern Ireland

Attenborough shoots in Belfast

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Sir Richard Attenborough’s new feature film, Closing the Ring – starring Shirley MacLaine, Christopher Plummer, Mischa Barton (from the TV series The O.C.), Brenda Fricker (My Left Foot) and Pete Postlethwaite – started shooting yesterday in Northern Ireland.

Produced in the UK by Attenborough and Jo Gilbert in co-production with Canada’s Martin Katz (Hotel Rwanda [+see also:
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), the film was supported by the UK Film Council, Scion Films, the Northern Ireland Film and Television Commission and Content Film International, which is handling international sales.

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The love story will be filmed over five weeks across the province and at Belfast’s new Titanic Studios, and will then continue in Canada until June 8, 2006.

"This landmark co-production with Canada marks an incredible opportunity for the film industry of Northern Ireland," said Gilbert who, along with his sister Judy, is co-owner of Titanic Studios Ltd. "To have a British film icon like Richard Attenborough and actors and filmmakers the calibre of Shirley MacLaine and Roger Pratt filming this movie here in Belfast with local crew and actors is a phenomenal achievement for this community. In addition to forging a new and strong link with Canada, it will show the rest of the world that Northern Ireland has a vibrant film industry and that we are indeed open for business."

Based on a script by Peter Woodward, the twelfth feature film by the Oscar-winning director is set in Belfast and North Carolina during two periods. In 1943, a US B-17 crashes near Belfast and a dying gunner asks a local to return his ring to his girlfriend. 50 years later, in America, a young man finds the ring, learns its history and tracks down the girlfriend.

Part of the crew are Attenborough’s long-time collaborators, DoP Roger Pratt and editor Lesley Walker (Shadowlands), as well as production designer Tom McCullagh and costume designer Hazel Webb-Crozier, who both worked on Mickybo & Me.

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