Richard Curtis interview for Mary and Martha "At first I just wanted to raise money," he continues. But I'm a great believer in protest and the difference it can make. I think it's all our jobs to make our governments look at the bigger issues as well as the immediate ones. Filmed in North Carolina, South Africa and the UK by seasoned director Phillip Noyce (Rabbit-Proof Fence, The Quiet American), Mary and Martha tells of two very different women - one, Mary, a privileged American (played by the Oscar-winning Hilary Swank), the other, Martha, a working-class Brit (played by the Bafta-winning Brenda Blethyn). They set about trying to raise awareness of malaria after they are brought together in Mozambique when both of their lives are affected by the disease. The theme of parenthood runs strong in the film, and is again influenced by Curtis's own experiences. The idea that less value seems to be placed on the life of a child in Africa or its parents was based on an incident involving his own son, who had an anaphylactic fit while the Curtis family were abroad. We thought he was in real trouble and I remember carrying him, just like Mary carries an ill African boy in the film, into a hospital and there were no doctors there. We were rich so we could fly him out of the country and he was fine. A lot of the film is based on that fear [I had then]. But in Africa I see those parents with no way out. Curtis says he turned to tackling a serious issue through a sense of obligation and instinct. "I find it interesting and emotional," he says. In true Curtis style, the drama is sentimental, especially in the first half. There are some laughs, though, mainly provided by the impeccable comic timing of Blethyn. But this is a film obsessed with grief and salvation. Noyce brings his cinematic vision to proceedings, juxtaposing grief with the vibrant African landscape in the blink of an eye, but was apparently forthright about Curtis's original script, which was jam-packed with statistics. "I thought it was important that everyone should know every statistic that I knew from my research," says Curtis. But Phillip took it all out and said that I should put the argument in the hearts of the people. It was good advice. The relationship between Mary and Martha benefits from their shared empathy, though it is notable that the crusading element of the story falls to the American, rather than the Brit. "I probably thought that the Americans could make more of a difference because the UK government is doing so well," says Curtis. This year the UK will become the first country in the G20 to honour its commitment to spend 0.7 per cent of Gross National Income on international development. There are people who believe that by 2020 we could get down to no deaths, but it's a complicated time politically. I'm very optimistic that it can be achieved and very worried that it won't be. Mary and Martha is on BBC One on Friday 1 March at 8.30pm (BBC Two, 9.00pm in Wales); Red Nose Day is Friday 15 March