Ffilm Cymru Wales developing new Welsh feature films

From powerful true stories to funny animated fantasies, these films reflect the rich variety of voices and vibrant filmmaking talent that Wales has to offer. 

Ffilm Cymru’s support guides writers, directors and producers through the development process, from treatment to final draft and financing, with tailored advice and up to £25,000 of funding. Films backed by Ffilm Cymru’s Development fund have recently seen big screen success, including Prano Bailey-Bond’s hit horror Censor, and Claire Peate and Claire McCarthy’s Clarice Cliff biopic The Colour Room.

Introducing the new projects to Ffilm Cymru’s development slate, Gwenfair Hawkins, Development Executive, comments: “Once again we are delighted to see the wealth of Welsh talent on offer and are very excited about these new projects and relationships.”  

The 12 new films now in development with Ffilm Cymru are:

A Man with a Fork in a World of Soup
Director: Grzegorz Pacek 
Producers: Dave Evans, Monika Braid
Production Companies: Braidmade Films & bak
A poignant documentary portrait of a man living outside the bounds of modern civilisation; the last primitive, unplugged and alone, like a man with a fork in a world of soup.

Ash Under the Mountain
Writer: Lara Barbier 
Director: Ryan Andrew Hooper
Production Company: Stand-off
In this fantasy horror from the director of The Toll, a young girl living in early 20th century Wales discovers there may be more than industrial neglect present in the mountains. 

A Womanly Way: The Story of Olivia Records
Director: Hannah Berryman
Producer: Catryn Ramasut
Production Company: ie ie Productions
The makers of Rockfield: The Studio on the Farm follow up with this new music documentary about the 1970’s story of the trailblazing young American feminist lesbians launching the revolutionary all female label, Olivia Records, and how their music changed the lives of millions.

Edge of Extinction 
Director: Rich Bentley
Producer: Natasha Coleman
Production Company: Postcard Productions Ltd
Executive Producer: Sam Forsdike
The inspiring story of a Yemeni community surviving in the midst of the world's worst humanitarian disaster.

The Gigantic Beard that was Evil
Writer: Simon Roberts
Producers: Dan Dixon, Paul Schleicher
Associate Producer: Kathy Speirs
A family animation based on the award-winning graphic novel. Dave has his life turned upside down when a gigantic, untameable beard erupts from him, threatening to engulf the entire island of Here. Chaos ensues, standards slip, and the inhabitants’ lives are changed forever.

The Hard Road
Writer/ Director: Simon Ryninks 
Producers: Elwen Rowlands, Sam Costin
Production Company: Little Door Productions Ltd
In 1860s Wales, a drover and a recently bereaved woman in dire financial straits risk their lives transporting cattle on a perilous journey to London. United in grief, their livelihood under threat, they must learn to work together, overcoming odds both physical and emotional, if they are to survive.

Peloton 
Writer: Nick Saltrese
Director: Vaughan Sivell
Producers: Tom Wood, Vaughan Sivell, Franki Goodwin
Production Company: Western Edge Pictures
A group of friends cycling in the French countryside are hunted by a mysterious and deathly peloton of cyclists.

The Secret Realm
Producer: Jon Rennie 
Executive Producer & Lead Producer: Lindsay Watson
Executive Producer: Bob Thompson 
Production Company: CANUK Productions
An animated fantasy comedy about a tween girl struggling to find her place in the world; even more so when she finds herself at the centre of a battle between the ‘real’ world and an ancient fairy culture.

The Starry Sky Above
Writer-Director: Liam Gavin
Producer: Adam Partridge
Executive Producers: Cormac Fox, Eoin O'Faolain
A new tale of terror from the writer-director of A Dark Song; two young sisters race to tidy a lonely country house to stop them from being destroyed by the dark forces lurking within.

Untitled Gothic Horror
Writer: Walter Chaw
Producer: Catrin Cooper. 
Co-Producer: Adam Partridge
With plot details under wraps, the film will shoot in Wales, serviced by Delta Pictures, a Cardiff-based company.

White Hope: The Maurice Burton Story
Writer: Alkin Emirali 
Producer: Rob Alexander
Production Company: Perfectmotion ltd
In 1960’s Britain, life was against a withdrawn mixed-race boy, until he found his purpose. This family-friendly drama tells the tale of Maurice Burton, the first Black British cycling champion.

Woof
Writer: Elgan Rhys
Director: Jonny Reed
Producer: Roger Williams
A Welsh-language LGBTQ+ drama tracing the story of two young Welshmen as they try to maintain a relationship while experimenting with the boundaries of loyalty and desire.