'The Quiet Girl' hopes to make noise with Oscar voters

"The Quiet Girl" is a new film out of Ireland. The people behind the movie hope it finds its way to becoming a nominee for Oscar's Best International Feature Film. It's about a quiet, neglected girl who has a summer that changes her life.

In the film, a child from a dysfunctional family is sent to live with distant relatives for the summer. It's in this unfamiliar new home that she discovers herself, thanks to kindness, love and compassion.

It's based on the novel, "Foster," and it's one of those movies that will likely prompt discussion when it's over.

"I like to quote Claire Keegan herself, the author of this work we adopted in this film, and that she likes to think about her work, as she says, that whenever she publishes something, it's in her mind, it's still unfinished. And she's a big believer in this idea that the reader finishes the work and finishes the piece," said director Colm Bairead.

Bairead chose newcomer Catherine Clinch to play his young leading lady. She's someone with virtually no professional acting experience.

"She sent in a self tape one day where she was basically performing some scenes from the film, and we just knew straight away before we even met her that we had found someone really special," Bairead said. "She just had this remarkable ability to allow the camera just to witness her and to observe her in these very private kind of moments."

Bairead said it was essential to cast the right child.

"The entirety of the project essentially rests on the shoulders of this young woman. So, to us, Catherine is a miracle," he said.

"The Quiet Girl" is the highest-grossing Irish film of all time. It's playing now for an exclusive one-week run at the AMC Sunset 5.