Hollywood director Martin Scorsese has joined the film team of Venice and Toronto based drama Pieces of a Woman as an executive producer.
The story of Pieces of a woman surrounds a Boston couple on the verge of parenthood whose lives change completely during a home birth at the hands of a confused midwife, who faces charges of criminal negligence.
The movie is the first English-language film from Hungarian filmmaker Kornél Mundruczó and written by Kata Wéber based on a shared personal experience with Mundruczó. This feature film starring Vanessa Kirby stars in the lead role along with Shia LaBeouf, Molly Parker, Sarah Snook, Iliza Shlesinger, Benny Safdie, Jimmy Fails and Ellen Burstyn will have its world premiere in competition at the Venice Film Festival in September followed by a Gala Screening at the Toronto International Film Festival.
Scorsese commented on signing the film as a producer: “It’s lucky to see a movie that takes you by surprise. It’s a privilege to help it find the wide audience it deserves. Pieces Of A Woman for me was a deep and uniquely moving experience. I was emotionally invested in it from the first scene, and the experience only intensified as I watched, spellbound by the filmmaking and the work of a splendid cast that includes my old colleague Ellen Burstyn. You feel as if you’ve been dropped into the vortex of a family crisis and moral conflict with all its nuances, drawn-out with care and compassion but without judgment. Kornél Mundruczó has a fluid, immersive style with the camera that makes it hard to look away, and impossible not to care.”
The director of the film Mundruczó added: “When I first was contacted by Martin Scorsese after he saw Pieces Of A Woman, time stopped for a second. It is an utter privilege that someone, who has seen and experienced filmmaking inside and out appreciates what we’ve created. One always feels more vulnerable with intimate and “close to your heart” materials, but Martin Scorsese joining Pieces Of A Woman, on top of an already fantastic cast and crew, is a deeply appreciated validation of the risks one takes when going forward to make something truly personal.”
