By James White | Posted 30 Apr 2017

Recently back on our cinema screens with World War II drama Their Finest, Gemma Arterton will be sticking with the wartime setting for a future film. She's leading the cast of playwright Jessica Swale's directorial debut Summerland.

Swale also wrote the script for the new drama, which follows Arterton's character, Alice. She's a woman who is less than pleased when an evacuee boy arrives from London and is put in her care, resolving to see him handed off to someone else as soon as possible. But as they slowly start to bond, the growing friendship unlocks some secrets from Alice's own background.

It's not the first time that Swale and Arterton have worked together – the actress starred for Swale in Nell Gwynn, which won the Best New Comedy Olivier in 2016. "Jessica gave me a wonderful gift in the character of Nell Gwynn, and she’s done it again with Alice in Summerland," Arterton tells Screen International. "Jessica is an exciting new voice in film and I’m very privileged to be able to work with her as a director. She has impeccable instincts, a clear vision and inspires confidence in everyone around her."

Guy Heeley's Shoebox Films is backing the new film, which will star shooting late summer this year. Arterton has The Escape (also from Shoebox) due later this year and she's attached to biopic Vita And Virginia.

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