IFC Films will release Mad As Birds Films’ 1930s thriller Six Minutes to Midnight in the US

Directed by Andy Goddard (Downton Abbey, Set Fire to the Stars) and written by Celyn Jones (Keepers, Set Fire to the Stars), Izzard and Goddard, Six Minutes to Midnight also stars Academy Award® winner Jim Broadbent (Paddington, The Sense of an Ending, Iris), Carla Juri (Blade Runner 2049, Someone Like Me), James D’Arcy (Dunkirk, Cloud Atlas) and Jones (Submergence, Set Fire to the Stars), with additional cast members Maria Dragus (Graduation, the upcoming Mary Queen of Scots), Tijan Marei (Ellas Baby, 4 Blocks) and Franziska Brandmeier (Am Tag die Sterne, the forthcoming Das Parfüm). The film will be released in the Fall of 2020.

Based on true events from 1939, the film follows teacher Thomas Miller (Izzard) who has taken a last minute and controversial role teaching English to the daughters of high-ranking Nazis at the Augusta-Victoria College, Bexhill-on-Sea – a finishing school on the south coast of England. Under the watchful eye of their headmistress Miss Rocholl (Dench), and her devout assistant Ilse Keller (Juri), the girls practice their English and learn how to represent the ideal of German womanhood.

When the body of a former teacher is discovered, it triggers a sequence of deadly events and leaves Thomas running from the police with the threat of being hanged for murder.

Financed by Motion Picture Capital, the Welsh Government, Ffilm Cymru Wales and West Madison Entertainment, Six Minutes to Midnight is produced by Sean Marley, Andy Evans and Ade Shannon of Mad as Birds, with Sarah Townsend producing for Ella Communications and Laure Vaysse for REP6. Eddie Izzard, Celyn Jones and Trevor Beattie serve as Executive Producers alongside Deepak Nayar and Emil Elmér of Motion Picture Capital, Pauline Burt and Adam Partridge from Ffilm Cymru Wales, Zygi Kamasa and Emma Berkofsky from Lionsgate UK and Christina Papagjika and Matt Salloway of West Madison Entertainment.

Arianna Bocco EVP of Acquisitions and Productions of IFC Films said, “Six Minutes to Midnight is an astonishing real-life tale with a legendary cast that truly brings this story to life, and we’re thrilled to bring this film to audiences across the country.”

The deal for the film was negotiated by IFC Films with CAA and Lionsgate International on behalf of the filmmaker.