EXCLUSIVE: Global Constellation has boarded international sales on German filmmaker Sophie Heldman’s English-language period drama The Education Of Jane Cumming, ahead of its premiere in Berlinale’s Panorama section.
Fiona Shaw stars alongside Flora Nicholson, Clare Dunne, Mia Tharia, Sadie Shimmin and Stephen McCole. Nicholson also co-wrote the screenplay with Heldman.
Set in Edinburgh in 1810, the drama follows two teachers who defy convention to open a progressive all-girls’ school. The women’s ambitions unravel when a pupil’s accusation of a forbidden love affair sparks a public scandal, forcing them to fight for their livelihoods.
Producers are Heimatfilms’ Bettina Brokemper (Germany), in co-production with Karin Koch’s Dschoint Ventschr Filmproduktion (Switzerland) and Nadira Murray of Edinburgh-based Sylph Productions (UK).
The feature is adapted from the bestselling non-fiction account, Scotch Verdict: Miss Pirie And Miss Woods v. Dame Cumming Gordon by activist and writer Lillian Faderman. The case was also the inspiration for Lilian Hellman’s 1934 play The Children’s Hour, itself adapted for screen in William Wyler’s 1961 eponymous film starring Audrey Hepburn.
Funders are WDR/ARTE and SRF/SRG, with the support of Film-und Medienstiftung NRW, the German Federal Film Fund (DFFF) and German Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media (BKM), Zürcher Filmstiftung, Federal Office of Culture (FOC), Suissimage, Media Desk Suisse and Kanton Zug / Swisslos and the UK Global Screen Fund.
“The story takes place in the Scottish Enlightenment which set a foundation of values that still form the ground we are standing on as Western societies today,” said Heldman. “Many of the challenges that we are facing now were already present in that time. The film is an invitation for the audience to discover a period of change where simple answers to complex questions are nothing but an illusion.”
“Based on true events, our film sheds light on a legal dispute that hasn’t lost any relevance in the past centuries,” added Brokemper.
“Provocative and compelling in how it confronts the marginalisation of women through class, gender and sexuality, The Education Of Jane Cumming tells a gripping story of injustice, prejudice and resilience,” said Global Constellation’s Fabien Westerhoff.
Global Constellation, the Vuelta-owned sales agent formed in 2025 through the integration of UK-France Film Constellation and Munich’s Global Screen, has also boarded Panorama title Paradise, the feature debut of Jeremy Comte.
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