Ffilm Cymru's year on screen

Dream Horse

The second film from Welsh director Euros Lyn (Y Llyfrgell / The Library Suicides), Dream Horse tells the incredible true story of Jan Vokes, a cleaner and bartender, who decides on a whim to breed and rear a race horse in her Welsh village. She persuades her neighbours to invest in her crazy scheme, and together they name the new foal ‘Dream Alliance’. With little experience but a lot of heart, the collective of villagers follow “Dream” as against the odds he rises through the ranks, ultimately pitting them against the racing elite in the nail-biting national championship.

The heart-warming and hopeful Dream Horse, starring Toni Collette, Damian Lewis, Owen Teale and Joanna Page, galloped into UK cinemas this summer through Warner Bros UK.

Censor

When film censor Enid (Niamh Algar) discovers an eerie horror that speaks directly to her sister’s mysterious disappearance, she resolves to unravel the puzzle behind the film and its enigmatic director – a quest that will blur the lines between fiction and reality in terrifying ways.

Steeped in glorious 1980s aesthetics, Prano Bailey-Bond’s debut feature is a bloody love letter to the VHS ‘video nasty’ horror classics of the past, and was unleashed in UK cinemas in August by Vertigo Releasing.

Six Minutes to Midnight

August 1939, World War II is imminent. The Nazi high command have sent their daughters to an English seaside town to learn the language and be ambassadors for the future. School teacher Thomas Fisher sees what’s coming, but will anyone listen?

Starring Eddie Izzard and Judi Dench, Mad as Birds Films’ wartime thriller premiered on Sky Cinema in March, before heading out to UK cinemas.

Rare Beasts

Mandy is a mother, a writer, a nihilist. Mandy is a modern woman in a crisis. Raising a son, Larch in the midst of a female revolution, mining the pain of her parents’ separation and professionally writing about a love that no longer exists, she falls upon a troubled man, Pete, who is searching for a sense of worth, belonging and ‘restored’ male identity.

Billie Piper’s brave and bold directorial debut, produced by Western Edge Pictures, was released in May by Republic Film Distribution.

The Toll

Welcome to the Wild West of Wales! On the Pembrokeshire border, a man working solo shifts in the quietest toll booth in Wales, hides from a criminal past where nobody would ever look. As his past actions catch up with him and his peace is shattered, he enlists the help of local ne’er-do-wells and oddballs (including a female Elvis impersonator, rampaging triplets and disgruntled sheep farmers) when village police officer Catrin grows increasingly suspicious…

The debut feature from writer Matt Redd and director Ryan Andrew Hooper, The Toll is a hugely entertaining, irresistibly clever and darkly-comic crime caper starring Michael Smiley (Kill List, Luther, Censor), Annes Elwy (Little Women, Gwledd / The Feast), Iwan Rheon (Game Of Thrones) and Paul Kaye (The Ghoul).

Men Who Sing

The Male Voice Choir is a Welsh institution, and one of the most indelible symbols of the country all over the world. But as an institution it is also one in crisis, with rapidly decreasing numbers and an ageing membership.

Dylan Williams' poignant documentary is the story of one choir that refuses to go gently into that good night.

And coming soon from Ffilm Cymru…

Save the Cinema

Set in the 90’s, Save The Cinema is inspired by the life of Liz Evans, (Samantha Morton), a hairdresser and linchpin to the local community in the small town of Carmarthen in Wales. Her mission is to stop The Lyric Theatre being demolished by bulldozers and turned into a shopping centre. With the threat of demolition becoming ever more likely, Liz and friends barricade themselves in the cinema and with the help of postman turned local councillor Richard (Tom Felton), they come up with a grand plan.  

To revitalise the cinema and stop the council taking the heart of the community away, a desperate Liz persuades Richard to write to Hollywood to ask for a helping hand. A phone call later and an influential filmmaker agrees to offer a very special treat for Carmarthen, but does this help save the future of The Lyric?

Sara Sugarman’s comedy-drama will be released in cinemas and on Sky Cinema from 14th January 2022.

Gwledd / The Feast

Contemporary Welsh language horror Gwledd (The Feast) unfolds over the course of one evening as a wealthy family gathers for a sumptuous dinner in their ostentatious house in the Welsh mountains. The guests are a local businessman and a neighbouring farmer and the intent is to secure a business deal to mine in the surrounding countryside. When a mysterious young woman arrives to be their waitress for the evening, the family’s beliefs and values are challenged as her quiet yet disturbing presence begins to unravel their lives. Slowly, deliberately and with the most terrifying consequences.

The debut feature of writer Roger Williams and director Lee Haven Jones, the film stars Annes Elwy (Little Women), Nia Roberts (Under Milk Wood) and Julian Lewis Jones (Justice League) alongside Steffan Cennydd (Last Summer) and Sion Alun Davies (The Left Behind).

Gwledd / The Feast will be released in the UK by Picturehouse Entertainment in Spring 2022.