Fifty Shades of Grey star Jamie Dornan has paid tribute to Czech heroism during WWII at the world premiere of his new film Anthropoid at the Karlovy Vary Film Festival in the Czech Republic.
Directed by Metro Manila filmmaker Sean Ellis and co-starring Cillian Murphy, Anthropoid tells the true story of Operation Anthropoid - the mission to kill SS head Reinhard Heydrich, known as "The Butcher of Prague", and right-hand man to Heinrich Himmler and Adolf Hitler. Dornan and Murphy play the real life Jan Kubis and Josef Gabcík, the soldiers from Czechoslovakia's army-in-exile who were sent to assassinate the Nazi general.
US film industry publication Variety reports that at the film's world premiere, a visibly moved Dornan said: "We realised what an important story this is to the Czech Republic and we felt a great deal of pressure to tell it in an appropriate way and honour the men and women involved. I really hope that we've done that. We're very proud of the movie and I hope that we've done the country proud as well."
Jamie Dornan as Jan Kubis in Anthropoid
Director Ellis, who spent almost 15 years bringing the story to the screen, said it was a great honour to attend the premiere. "I dedicate this film to the men and women of the former Czechoslovakia who stood up against tyranny with indomitable spirit and sacrificed everything for what they believed," he added.
Cillian Murphy as Josef Gabcík in Anthropoid
Anthropoid also stars Toby Jones, Harry Lloyd, Alena Mihulov, Bill Milner and another Irish actor, Sam Keeley. It is one of two upcoming films about the plot to assassinate Heydrich; the other, HHhH, stars Wicklow actor Jack Reynor as Gabcík and Money Monster's Jack O'Connell as Kubis. Release dates for both films have yet to be announced.
A release date for Anthropoid has yet to be announced
Dornan also stars in a story of Irish heroism, The Siege of Jadotville, which will receive its world premiere at the Galway Film Fleadh next week. Directed by Dubliner Richie Smyth, it tells the true story of the 150 Irish UN troops under the command of Commandant Pat Quinlan (Dornan) who were attacked by forces loyal to Katangese Prime Minister Moise Tshombe in the Congo in September 1961.
The film is based on Declan Power's book The Siege at Jadotville: The Irish Army's Forgotten Battle and also stars Emmanuelle Seigner, Jason O'Mara and Mark Strong.
Jamie Dornan in The Siege of Jadotville
The Siege of Jadotville will be made available to Netflix's 81m subscribers around the world later this year after the streaming giant bought the rights to the film.
The Siege of Jadotville - Coming to global audience on Netflix
