Summaries

Set in 1980s Nottingham, social worker Margaret Humphreys holds the British government accountable for child migration schemes and reunites the children involved -- now adults living mostly in Australia -- with their parents in Britain.

Details

Keywords
  • based on true story
  • child abuse
  • directorial debut
  • deportation
  • child migration sccheme
Genres
  • Drama
  • History
  • Biography
Release date Mar 31, 2011
Motion Picture Rating (MPA) R
Countries of origin Australia United Kingdom
Language English
Filming locations Adelaide, South Australia, Australia
Production companies Screen Australia Fulcrum Media Finance Little Gaddesden Productions

Box office

Budget $4500000
Gross US & Canada $143480
Opening weekend US & Canada $18600
Gross worldwide $5017653

Tech specs

Runtime 1h 45m
Color Color
Sound mix Dolby Digital
Aspect ratio 2.35 : 1

Synopsis

Oranges and Sunshine tells the story of Nottingham social worker Margaret Humphreys, who uncovered one of the most significant social scandals in recent history: the forced migration of children from the United Kingdom. Almost singlehandedly, against overwhelming odds and with little regard for her own well-being, Humphreys reunited thousands of families, brought authorities to account, and turned worldwide attention to an extraordinary miscarriage of justice.

She discovered a secret that the British government had kept hidden for years: 130,000 children in care had been sent abroad to commonwealth countries, mainly Australia. Children as young as four had been told that their parents were dead, and been sent to group homes on the other side of the globe, where many were subjected to appalling abuse. They were promised "oranges and sunshine"; they got hard labour and life in institutions.

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