After Oppenheimer, the father of the atomic bomb for which he was nominated for an Oscar, Irish actor Cillian Murphy plays the role of Bill Furlong, a coal trader and very religious man who discovers some terrible secrets kept in his city's convent.
That is, the scandal of the Magdalene Laundries: horrible asylums run by Catholic institutions from 1820 until 1996, apparently to "reform young women".
This is the opening of the 74th Berlin Film Festival (15-25 February) with the world premiere of Small Things Like These, an Irish-Belgian production directed by Tim Mielants from a screenplay by Enda Walsh and based on the book of the same name by Irish writer Claire Keegan ( Einaudi).
"Everyone in Ireland knows this story - Murphy tells Berlin -. I think what happened to the Church at the time is still being processed. And art can be a balm for these things, it can help. This - and not red carpets - he added - it's the reason why I decided to become an actor."
And Murphy again: "That affair remains a collective trauma and a great shame, particularly for people of a certain age who experienced those things. And then there are still many questions about the complicity, the silence that acted as a shield to this sad story".
The film which takes place at Christmas 1985 has in the cast, in addition to Murphy, Eileen Walsh, Michelle Fairley and the great Emily Watson in the role of Sister Mary and was then produced by Murphy himself and Alan Moloney through their production company Big Things Films together with Catherine Magee.
"For me this film - underlines the Belgian director - is a story about pain and its processing. This is its real driving force. So I went through these different phases of pain together with Cillian and I tried to get to the bottom of it even if I'm not Irish. Yes, for me it was like a personal journey where everyone helped me."
Instead, Matt Damon explains at the Berlinale as producer: "It was all so easy and spontaneous given that there was no contrary wind, it seemed like we were all rowing in the same direction. Then I'm really grateful to be able to bring a film like this to the cinema this. We'll see what happens, but ultimately I think cinema is constantly in motion and not dead at all. So we'll continue to try to make great films just like this."
Finally, Emily Watson, or Sister Mary in the film, says: "We all felt a great responsibility regarding the topic. I knew it would be a great moment for me to act with Cillian. I also think that people of all religions can understand the damage that can be done with faith and the value of awareness and protest".
It must be said that several denunciation films have been made on the real story of violence in convents for young women.
One above all: in 2002 Magdalene (The Magdalene Sisters) written and directed by Peter Mullan and world-premiered in Venice.
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