Noble Cause on Film

Filming is under way in Liverpool to tell the true story of a woman who overcame her horrific childhood in the slums to help others.

The movie is based on the life of Irish philanthropist Christina Noble who set up a foundation for underprivileged children in Vietnam and Mongolia.

Filmmakers have transformed the city into 1950s Dublin and 1960s Birmingham for the big screen.

Cast and crew spent January on set in Vietnam with producer and director Stephen Bradley at the helm.

Shooting will continue next week in Up Holland and Christina herself will join the team for the wrap.

The ECHO was given an exclusive behind-the-scenes look as filming for the feature – entitled Noble – continued in the city centre yesterday.

Producer Melanie Gore-Grimes, was among crew at The Magnet in Hardman Street, which was turned into a Birmingham dance bar.

Melanie told how Liverpool’s fantastic locations, facilities and striking architecture made it a dream for filmmakers.

She said: “What is amazing about Liverpool is it offers Dublin in the 50s and Birmingham in the 1960s.

“Liverpool has an amazing art department and all the extras we used were from Liverpool. The people are so welcoming and the locations are unspoilt, we’ve had to do very little with the locations.”

She said the story originated three years ago when Stephen Bradley and his wife Deirdre O’Kane, who plays the lead role, wanted to develop a project together.

She said: “Christina Noble is the most inspirational woman.

“Deirdre had been working on a few fundraising balls for the Christina Noble Children’s Foundation in Ireland so when she and Stephen decided to do a project she said Christina’s was the only story she wanted to tell.

“Stephen had to read the stories to see if he could be as passionate about telling Christina’s story and he was.

“Christina Noble has become a great friend of all of us and she will be here next week, which is amazing for the crew.

“It has been quite a tricky project and a tough story but Christina’s presence has helped us to tell it so we can open up the eyes of the world to her plight to help these children.”

Producers described Noble as “the inspirational true story of a woman who believes that it only takes one person to make a difference. And of how she is proved right”.

Irish actress Deirdre will appear opposite Downton Abbey star Brendan Coyle, Game of Thrones actor Liam Cunningham and Ruth Negga, who starred opposite Samuel L Jackson in the thriller The Samaritan.

It also features up-and-coming actress Sarah Greene as a teenage Christina.

Christina, now 68, has voiced her hopes the movie about her work will inspire a younger generation to become involved in humanitarian aid.

*More on this: Liverpool five-year-old Camille Byrne lands first film role (VIDEO)
Read more: Liverpool Echo http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/2013/03/02/echo-goes-on-set-as-christina-noble-movie-filmed-in-liverpool-100252-32909026/#ixzz2MZWQeU00