Dakota Fanning helps refugees reunite with their loved ones in a new trailer for “Sweetness in the Belly.” An adaptation of Camilla Gibb’s 2005 novel of the same name,” the pic tells the story of Lilly (Fanning), an orphan who is abandoned by her parents at a Sufi seminary in Morocco, where the seven-year-old English girl is adopted and raised by a holy man (Estad Tewfik Yusuf Mohamed). Lilly grows up speaking fluent Arabic and studying the Koran. Eventually, she finds herself living with a family in Ethiopia. She flees the country for England when a civil war breaks out.
The trailer shows the refugee working as an auxiliary nurse in a local hospital and making a new friend in London, Amina (Wunmi Mosaku), another refugee from Ethiopia.
“In my heart we’re very old friends,” Lilly tells Amina. The pair team up to launch The Ethiopian Family Reunification Association, a voluntary support group dedicated to helping refugees find missing relatives in Africa.
“Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood” and “The Alienist” are among Fanning’s recent credits. She’s signed on to star in a sequel of the latter for TNT. Titled “The Angel of Darkness,” the series sees Sara Howard (Fanning) opening up her own private detective agency and seeking help from familiar faces to hunt down a killer.
Fanning will be joined by her sister, Elle Fanning, in Mélanie Laurent’s next pic, TriStar Pictures’ adaptation of “The Nightingale.” Based on Kristin Hannah’s best-selling 2015 novel of the same name, the coming-of-age story is set on the eve of WWII and centers on two sisters.
Penned by Laura Phillips (“Murdoch Mysteries”) and directed by Zeresenay Mehari (“Difret”), “Sweetness in the Belly” made its world premiere at the 2019 Toronto International Film Festival. The film will be released digitally in the U.S. May 8.
