By Dallas King

To celebrate the release of PRECIOUS on Friday 5 February at The Belmont Picturehouse, we’ve got three copies of the book on which the film was based to give away. Read on for details…

Adapted from the bestselling novel Push by Sapphire, PRECIOUS tells the inspirational story of a girl whose struggle embodies America’s downtrodden youth. Pregnant by her father with her second child and taunted over her obesity and illiteracy by her peers, Clareece ‘Precious’ Jones’s life is one of unimaginable trauma and heartache…

Growing up in New York’s unforgiving Harlem district, Precious is plagued by her drug-addicted father and deranged mother, who are not so much unwilling parents as outright unfit. Her home is the epitome of broken, but when she’s invited to an alternative school by a social worker (Carey), she discovers hope in the support around her. Encouraged not tormented, she becomes determined to turn her life around.

With Oprah Winfrey and Tyler Perry onboard as executive producers and Mariah Carey and Lenny Kravitz supporting, PRECIOUS seems destined for big-screen success,  bold direction and a brave central performance from newcomer Gabourey Sidibe have been stirring expectation since the film premiered at Sundance 2009. It won’t be to everyone’s taste, but anyone who writes off PRECIOUS does so at their own peril. This is set to be one of the year’s big cinematic surprises and a serious awards contender.