Sally Hawkins to star in 'Sex'
Project focuses on 1968 strike, women's rights
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The Brit thesp, who won the actress prize at last year's Berlinale for her perf in Mike Leigh's "Happy Go Lucky," has boarded "We Want Sex."
Project is about the 1968 strike at the Ford Dagenham car plant when 850 female workers walked out in protest against sexual discrimination in their job performance evaluations.
Their actions gave a huge boost to the women's rights movement in the country and helped bring about equal pay for women in the workplace.
During the protest, the strike committee was invited to tea by Barbara Castle, employment secretary in then-prime minister Harold Wilson's Labour government. It was during that meeting that the strikers raised the issue of equal pay for the first time. Imelda Staunton is in negotiations to play Castle.
The title is a reference to a famous banner carried by the women during one march proclaiming "We Want Sex Equality." Itwas only later that they realized the last word had gone missing.
Project, which has been in development for three years, is being produced by Stephen Woolley and Liz Karlsen at Number 9 Films.
Billy Ivory has penned the script, while Simon Curtis is helming.
"It's very funny and easy to relate to," says Wooley. "It's very much in the vein of 'Billy Elliot' and 'Calendar Girls.'"
The £ 5 million ($7.2 million) project is slated to go into pre-production in March, with lensing to begin by June.
