Following on from his IFTA Best Film-winning drama Michael Inside in 2018, Irish director Frank Berry will next turn his sights to addressing the Irish asylum system in his upcoming feature, Provision.
BAFTA-winning Black Panther star Letitia Wright, most recently seen in Steve McQueen’s Small Axe film Mangrove, and Golden Globe-nominated actor Josh O’Connor, who portrayed Prince Charles in The Crown, will feature in the leading roles of Berry’s new drama.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Provision tells the story of Ishtar Deresse (Wright), a young African woman fleeing persecution from criminals in her home country of Nigeria who ends up spending over two years in Ireland’s asylum system. After watching the family she shared a room with be deported, Ishtar is approached by a new security guard Conor Healy (O'Connor) who, feeling guilty about his involvement in the deportation, offers her the use of the kitchen at night to cook her own food. Having spent time in prison, Conor empathises with the residents, and in particular with Ishtar’s traumatic past.
Berry’s upcoming film follow in the same informative vein as Michael Inside, which exposed the harsh reality of the penal system in Ireland. Provision is written and directed by Frank Berry with Subotica Entertainment’s Donna Eperson, Aoife O’Sullivan, and Tristan Orpen producing.
Filming on the project is expected to get underway in Ireland this April.