Shooting starts later this month on Belle, producer Damian Jones” next feature film.

With the awards still gleaming from his much garlanded The Iron Lady, the film will focus on another strong female character.

Dido Elizabeth Belle, the illegitimate daughter of Admiral Sir John Lindsay and an African slave, became the first mixed race woman to appear in the higher echelons of  late 18th century London society, having been sent to live with her great-uncle, the Earl of Mansfield.

The film is written by Amma Asante and filming runs until mid November.

Full information on Belle can be found on Production Intelligence, the online database of advance productions from The Knowledge: