Bankside Films will introduce Walsh’s film Ethel to buyers at the Berlinale. Sarah Paulson has joined the film’s cast.
Bankside Films has picked up international sales rights to Aisling Walsh’s Ethel, starring Shira Haas (Unorthodox), and the recently announced Sarah Paulson (12 Years A Slave). The upcoming musical biopic is set to shoot next year. The film is directed by Walsh (Maudie), written by Celeste Parr (Gurov and Anna), and produced by Marie-Claude Poulin (Brooklyn) and Martina Niland (Grabbers).
Ethel tells the true story of Ethel Stark and how she founded the Montreal Women's Symphonic Orchestra in the 1940s, becoming the first woman to conduct in Carnegie Hall.
Haas is set to portray Ethel Stark, and Paulson will play Madge Bowen, who is described as “a corseted socialite who desires more than tea parties and country clubs". Bankside Films will be introducing the film to buyers at the Berlin Film Festival and are handling worldwide sales.
“I am so excited to be working with Shira Haas and Sarah Paulson on the story of Ethel Stark and the Montreal Women’s Symphony Orchestra,” said director Walsh. “It is a story of women from all classes and walks of life coming together to play music. Ordinary women who achieved something extraordinary together. Nothing mattered more to them than playing music. From the moment I first read Céleste’s screenplay there was no doubt that we had to make this film together and share these women’s passion with the world.”
