Philomena, a drama by an ex-BBC journalist

Formerly of the BBC journalist Martin Sixsmith, who recently lost his job with the Labor government, is considering how to get his career back on its feet. At a party, a waitress tells him about hers to mother Philomena, to which Catholic nuns fifty years ago as "fallen women" took the child and gave him for adoption. Sixsmith initially shows little interest in it on the surface a trivial tabloid story, but with nothing else left for him, the cynical journalist decides to meet Philomena. When a charming old lady who likes to read Readers Digest and watch TV series asks him for help in finding her son, Sixsmith just can't turn her down.

The film was shot after research book by a BBC correspondent Martin Sixsmith The Lost Child of Philomena Lee. The book, published in 2009, inspired many adopted Irish children and their mothers to reveal their stories. Many of them are still searching lost family. This warm and witty version of The Magdalen Sisters, starring Judi Dench and Steve Coogan, took away from the Venice Film Festival award for best screenplay.