West Walian Western selected for Glasgow premiere

Produced through Ffilm Cymru Wales’ Cinematic scheme, The Toll is described by GFF as “mixing the dark comedy of the Coen Brothers with the antihero of Sergio Leone's spaghetti westerns… a madcap chain of events that lead to a showdown of epic proportions”.

Michael Smiley (Kill List) stars as the toll booth operator with a criminal past opposite Annes Elwy (Gwledd / The Feast) as the local traffic cop whose path inevitably leads to the toll booth. The film also stars Iwan Rheon (Game of Thrones), Paul Kaye (The Stranger), Gwyneth Keyworth (Black Mirror), Steve Oram (Sightseers), and Julian Glover (Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade).

Produced by Mark Hopkins for Western Edge Pictures, the script was written by Matt Redd, who also wrote Hooper’s BFI NETWORK Wales Beacons short film Ambition, which starred Simon Russell Beale and premiered at Dinard Film Festival in 2019. The filmmakers are currently developing black comedy feature The Life and Death of Daniel Dee with the support of Ffilm Cymru.

Due to lockdown restrictions, GFF have moved their entire programme online to a virtual festival platform. The Toll will screen between 25th and 28th February, with tickets on sale from Monday 18th January.

The Cinematic scheme is financed by Ffilm Cymru Wales and the BFI, with National Lottery funding, S4C, Great Point Media, and Fields Park Media Partners.