Acclaimed filmmaker Michael Winterbottom has returned to feature filmmaking with his latest movie, Shoshana. Inspired by true events, the film centres around a left-leaning newspaper journalist living in Tel Aviv in the 1930s who becomes romantically involved with an assistant superintendent with the British Palestine Police. It stars Russian actress Irina Starshenbaum and Douglas Booth.
Winterbottom, who set up Revolution Films with producer Andrew Eaton 30 years ago, is often called the British equivalent of the prolific American director Steven Soderbergh. He has worked consistently and frequently in television and film since the late 1980s covering documentaries, TV mini-series and sitcoms. In addition, his 20-plus features span sci-fi, satire, period dramas and political films.
Winterbottom’s productivity is remarkable in an industry where so much has changed since he started out. In his latest work, Shoshana, the recent horrifying events in the Middle East have added relevance to the politically-charged content of the film. In light of this, the ethically-charged message of the film is now more pertinent than ever, according to the director.
Meanwhile, Winterbottom is currently working on an adaptation of Ernest Hemingway’s A Farewell To Arms. This will follow shortly after his completion of Shoshana, and will star Tom Blyth, the English actor who recently appeared in The Hunger Games prequel, The Ballad Of Songbirds & Snakes. The plan is to shoot in Italy later in the year, and Winterbottom wants to keep the process as fresh, direct and simple as possible, allowing the story to drive the filmmaking approach
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