The Education of Jane Cumming

A dream comes true for Jane Pirie (Flora Nicholson) and Marianne Woods (Clare Dunne) when they open their girls’ boarding school. The school gets off to a modest start but gains prestige when Lady Cumming Gordon (Fiona Shaw) enrols her granddaughters there, including Jane Cumming (Mia Tharia). The fifteen-year-old pupil is half-Indian and was born out of wedlock, which prompts her peers to bully her. With her teachers, Jane finds the understanding and sense of home she has been missing since the early death of her parents. Their bond grows stronger during a summer spent together, but soon begins to fray when boundaries are set. The true story of Pirie and Woods has already been adapted several times, but German filmmaker Sophie Heldman sheds new light on it by focusing on the love between Pirie and Woods and their struggle to lead a free and independent life.