Kate Ashfield, David Morrissey and Peter Mullan are to star in Entering Blue Zone, a UK film jointly commissioned from BBC Films and the Film Council's New Cinema Fund for BBC TWO.

Directed by Sarah Gavron and produced by Stuart Mackinnon, Entering Blue Zone is the story of a premature baby's fragile existence, and of a mother's supreme trust and tragic betrayal.

Rosemary Kay's screenplay - based on her novel Between Two Eternities - was awarded the BBC's Dennis Potter Screenwriting Award. It is a fictional memoir based on the author's own experiences with her son's premature birth.

Paul Trijbits, Head of the New Cinema Fund at the Film Council commented: "Finding and fostering new talent in the UK is fundamental to the New Cinema Fund. Sarah Gavron, as a first time director, illustrates the mutual joint aims of our partnership with the BBC."

Sarah Gavron won the RTS Best New Director Award for her short film Losing Touch in 2001. Entering Blue Zone is a Common Features Production financed by the BBC, the Film Council, Yorkshire Media Production Agency and the Northern Production Fund.

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