The film will premiere later this year
Sir Anthony Hopkins is set to star in an upcoming film about the life of a man dubbed the ‘British Schindler,’ after saved hundreds of Jewish children from the Nazis.
One Life will see Hopkins play the role of Sir Nicholas Winton, a London stockbroker who helped 669 Jewish children escape Nazi-occupied Czechoslovakia in the late 1930s.
The film will also feature Johnny Flynn as a younger version of Winton, and Helena Bonham Carter as Winton’s mother.
After hearing about the Kindertransport (Children’s Transport) – a rescue programme of children from Nazi Germany and Austria set up by Great Britain – Winton campaigned for the a similar scheme for children in Czechoslovakia.
In March 1939, the first transport organised by Winton left Prague for London, With the help of a few volunteers, Winton organised everything the children needed to come to the UK, including finding them families to stay with and raising money to cover their travel expenses.
Over the following months, seven more transports were organised, with children travelling by rail from Prague to the Atlantic Coast, and then by ship to Britain.
It wasn’t until half a century later though that his incredible efforts got national recognition, with Winton having largely kept them to himself.
In 1989, he appeared on an an episode of popular Sunday night consumer affairs programme That’s Life! Unbeknownst to him, he was sat in the audience alongside dozens of those he had helped escape Czechoslovakia all those years earlier.
When presenter Esther Rantzen asked the studio audience if ‘anyone here tonight owes their life to Nicholas Winton?’, they all stood up, leaving Winton stunned.
The emotional clip has since been viewed millions of times on social media.
Winton was knighted for his humanitarian accomplishments in 2003, and passed away in July 2015 at the age of 106.
One Life was adapted from a 2014 book written by Sir Nicholas’s daughter Barbara, entitled ‘If It’s Not Impossible… The Life of Sir Nicholas Winton.’ the BBC reports.
It is set to have its world premiere next month at the Toronto International Film Festival.
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