Saoirse Ronan to Star in Immigrant Romance 'Sweetness in the Belly'

The actress will reunite with 'Brooklyn' producers on the drama, which will be shopped to buyers at Berlin.

Brooklyn star Saoirse Ronan is set to lead the immigrant romance Sweetness in the Belly.

Zeresenay "Zee" Berhane Mehari will direct the adaptation of Camilla Gibb's best-seller, from a screenplay by Laura Phillips. Brooklyn producers Alan Moloney and Susan Mullen of Parallel Films are producing with Jennifer Kawaja and Julia Sereny of Sienna Films, who optioned the novel and developed the screenplay. Mehret Mandefro and Adrian Sturges are executive producers. HanWay Films will shop the title to buyers at the upcoming Berlin Film Festival.

The two-time Oscar nominee will play Lilly, who was orphaned in Africa as a child and experiences her parents’ homeland of England for the first time as a refugee, escaping civil war. As lost in this cold new world as her fellow immigrants, Lilly becomes the heart of this disenfranchised community in London, attempting to reunite people with their scattered families. But as her friend Amina discovers, Lilly’s mission isn’t purely altruistic and a passionate lost love affair is revealed between Lilly and Aziz, an idealistic doctor.

Ronan's upcoming films also include Greta Gerwig's comedy Lady Bird, Michael Mayer's Chekhov adaptation The Seagull and Dominic Cooke's '60s drama On Chesil Beach. She is repped by CAA.