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From Executive Producer Hisao Kurosawa, (Dreams, Ran), comes the untold story of one of the world's greatest women artists and why her name was nearly lost to history. Many Beautiful Things plunges viewers into the complex age of Victorian England to meet Lilias Trotter, a daring young woman who defied all norms by winning the favor of England's top art critic, John Ruskin. In an era when women were thought incapable of producing high art, Ruskin promised that her work could be "immortal." But with her legacy on the line, Lilias made a stunning decision that bids us to question the limits of sacrifice. As Lilias journeys to French Algeria in the late 1800's to pioneer missionary work with women and children viewers are left to wonder "Could you abandon a dream to pursue your true calling?" Featuring the voices of Michelle Dockery (Downton Abbey) and John Rhys-Davies (Lord of the Rings, Indiana Jones). Directed by award-winning filmmaker Laura Waters Hinson (As We Forgive) with original music by Sleeping at Last. Executive Producers: Brian and Sally Oxley.
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This film is a miniature masterpiece. Sumptuously and sometimes breathtakingly beautiful and always superbly directed, Laura Waters Hinson has created an artistic tribute whose excellence matches that of the artist it celebrates, and an artist whose rediscovery is an exciting event in itself. A triumph on many fronts.
Os Guinness, author 'The Call'
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Her zest and fervor for life...it takes your breath away. And from start to finish I was so moved by it. The whole world should see this movie.
Michelle Dockery, Downton Abbey
Recent News
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January 22, 2016 World Relief joins MBT Theatrical Release
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December 3, 2015 Art Director Austin Blasingame shares his experience bringing Lilias' art to life on the big screen.
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October 15, 2015 US Premiere of Many Beautiful Things will take place October 17 in Indianapolis, IN. Join us!
Who Was Lilias Trotter?

Known best for her artistic talents that brought renowned art critic and prominent social thinker John Ruskin to question his understanding of what female artists were capable of, Lilias Trotter was a British artist, writer, and missionary during England’s Victorian era.
Citing the influence of Lilias’ painting on his changed opinion of women artists, Ruskin professes in an 1883 Oxford lecture Born in 1853 to a wealthy London family, Lilias was a largely self-taught painter whose talent and sensitive eye to her surroundings was noted at an early age by her mother, who in turn sent several of Lilias’ paintings to Ruskin when the three were in Venice in 1876.…
Keep ReadingBehind the Scenes with Michelle Dockery
Watch
- John Rhys Davies
- The Voice of John Ruskin
- Jerry Eisley
- as John Ruskin
- Michelle Dockery
- The Voice of Lilias Trotter
- Ashley Adams Beach
- as Lilias Trotter
- Laura Waters Hinson
- Director and Producer
- Hisao Kurosawa
Brian & Sally Oxley - Executive Producers
- Kasey Kirby
Patrick Meade Jones - Cinematography
- Laura Waters Hinson
- Writer
- Sleeping at Last
- Original Score
- Austin Blasingame
- Art Director & Animator
- Jeremy Guyre
- Sound Design
- Barbara Ballow
Laura Waters Hinson - Editors


