Dakota Fanning Will Lead Immigrant Drama SWEETNESS IN THE BELLY

Dakota Fanning will lead immigrant drama "Sweetness in the Belly," which has begun shooting in Ireland and will continue in Ethiopia, according to Variety.

Zeresenay Berhane Mehari directs from Laura Phillips' script, adapted from Camilla Gibb's bestselling novel that explores an immigrant's life from the unique perspective of being orphaned in AFRICA as a child, escaping to England as a refugee, embracing the immigrant community in London, and attempting to reunite people with their scattered families - while dealing with a passionate lost love affair with a doctor.

The cast also includes Wunmi Mosaku and Kunal Nayyar ("The Big Bang Theory").

HanWay Films' Gabrielle Stewart said, "We have always loved this moving fish-out-water story which connects us to a young refugee's experience in London when escaping her war-torn home. The spin of this refugee originally being British and Caucasian, yet raised Muslim in Africa, makes this perspective incredibly fresh and timely. We are all thrilled to have caught Dakota Fanning at a really exciting point in her career."

Fanning recently appeared in "Ocean's 8" and in TNT's "The Alienist." She will play well known Charles Manson follower Squeaky Fromme in the Quentin Tarantino pic "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood."

Read the original story on Variety.