FILM & TV
Compiled by Keiron Self, Hannah Raybould and Sam Pryce
DREAM HORSE
Based on the award-winning documentary Dark Horse by Louise Osmond, this tale of a Welsh community coming together to own a racehorse now gets a glamorous revamp. Toni Collette stars as Jan Vokes, the barmaid who was the driving force in turning her working-class neighbours into derby-goers, battling prejudice along the way. Damian Lewis co-stars as her wheeler-dealer helper Howard Davies with a strong Welsh cast rounding out the syndicate including Steffan Rhodri, Karl Johnson, Joanna Page, Sian Phillips and Owen Teale. Directed by Cardiff-based Euros Lyn, who has provided us with classic Black Mirror and Dr Who episodes (along with the excellent Sarah Lancashire drama Kiri), this should be a crowd pleaser with heart. Funded in part by Ffilm Cymru, it’s set to arrive in April 2020.
THE TOLL
Produced through Ffilm Cymru’s Cinematic scheme and filmed on location in Pembrokeshire, this darkly comic thriller has been dubbed a ‘west Walian Western’, concerning a man working solo shifts in the nation’s quietest toll booth. He’s hiding from a criminal past, in a place where nobody can find him – that is, until he’s rumbled. Directed by Ryan Andrew Hooper and written by Matt Redd, The Toll also boasts an impressive cast including Michael Smiley, Annes Elwy, Iwan Rheon, Paul Kaye, and Steve Oram. It’s currently in post-production, and we expect it to be released at some point next year.
KAYLEIGH LLEWELLYN
Kayleigh Llewellyn has marked herself out as a Welsh screenwriter to look out for in 2020. Her coming-of-age drama In My Skin – about her personal experiences as a schoolgirl in Cardiff coping with her parent’s mental illness – was awarded Best Drama by BAFTA Cymru in 2019. A full series is in production and set to arrive on our screens in Spring 2020. As for her other projects, she is writing a film for the BBC entitled Love & Glory, based on the real-life story of hockey players Kate and Helen Richardson-Walsh – the first same-sex couple to win a medal together at the Olympics. She’s also working on a project with renowned screenwriter Abi Morgan (The Iron Lady, Suffragette) called 355 Days.
RHIANNON BOYLE
Boyle was named the inaugural Wales Writer In Residence in 2019, a new prize supported by the BBC and National Theatre Wales. Keeping Faith writer Matthew Hall was among the judges who selected the winner, giving Boyle a £12,000 bursary and six-month residencies at BBC Cymru Wales, BBC Writersroom Wales and NTW. The bilingual Welsh writer, from Cardiff, told BBC Wales that she was “interested in portraying that side of Wales, sort of Wenglish, the mixed-up side.” Hopefully, this new award will help not just Boyle to break into the industry, but also other Welsh writers to come forward.
LOWRI ROBERTS
After winning BAFTA Cymru’s short film award in 2019 for Girl, young Welsh director Lowri Roberts is emerging as an exciting new director on the scene. Despite only being her graduate film effort from UWE Bristol, Girl – about a young migrant who gets her period while on the move – has garnered attention from BFI London Film Festival 2018 and the London Short Film Festival 2019. She is currently in pre-production of another short film being made through the BBC New Creatives scheme. However, we’re expecting that it won’t be too long before we see a feature-length effort from Roberts.