News

BBC Studios has announced the titles coming to BritBox in February 2025, which include everything from new BritBox Originals to classic British fare. BritBox is a digital video subscription service offering the largest collection of British TV in the U.S. and Canada.

The February lineup includes the 2025 Ee BAFTA Film Awards, hosted by David Tennant, true crime miniseries A Cruel Love: The Ruth Ellis Story, starring Lucy Boynton, Death in Paradise Season 14, the final seasons of BAFTA-winning programs Peep Show and Shameless, and more. Keep reading to view the full schedule.

A Cruel Love: The Ruth Ellis Story

BritBox is the leading streaming destination for the best of British television and culture, offering the most comprehensive, must-see collection of British entertainment all in one place. The service provides a pipeline of exceptional storytelling and showcases the depth and breadth of British creativity from across the UK.

BritBox curates a quality...

Mark Lewis Jones and Nia Roberts have joined the cast of upcoming S4C/Sundance Now anthology series “Still Waters” (“Y Golau:Dŵr” in Welsh).

It is the second instalment of the Welsh psychological thriller, which starred Sian Reese-Williams, following “The Light In The Hall” (“Y Golau”).

Reese-Williams (“Wolf”) returns for the second chapter of the six-episode season, which will be filmed in both English and Welsh. She will also be joined by Robert Glenister (“Spooks”), Tom Rhys Harries (“White Lines”) and Maeve Courtier-Lilley (“The Red King”).

Written and created by Regina Moriarty (“Murdered By My Boyfriend”), the new season picks up two years after the first, with Caryl Huws (Reese-Williams) still living in Llanemlyn. But she’s decided to start a new life, retraining as a journalist.

Her first story is one that immediately leads her into a mystery. Fascinated with the newly announced expansion of the local reservoir, she stumbles across an old case,...

Stars: Dean Sharp, Richard Harrington, Nia Roberts, Gwyneth Keyworth, Sule Rimi, Mike Butler, Bizz Raggett, Evan Heneghan, Jennifer Riddle, Luis Delgado, Everett Lauster, Kayla Orben, Carole-Anne Fooks, Hayden Hancock, Drew Marvick, J.J. McGrath, Joe Nurse, Heather Marshall | Directed by Ryan Andrews, Tony Mardon, James Edward Newton, Jeph Porter, Ryan Kruger, Matt Shaw, Christian Fescine, Mark Felix Stewart, Justin Wiggins, Drew Marvick, Jonathan Zaurin

Dean of the Dead Presents Holiday Horrors! is a seasonal horror-themed anthology that features stories from ten different directors, all wrapped up with an introduction from Dean of the Dead – a host akin to the likes of Tales From the Crypt‘s Cryptkeeper; and with visuals that look like they’ve jumped straight from the pages of the EC Comics of old… think Creepshow but on a much lower budget!

So what terrifying tales are in this one?

First up is Little Munchkin, directed by Ryan Andrews,...

Steeltown Murders is coming soon to Acorn TV. The streaming service has announced the premiere date for the crime drama series with the release of a trailer.

Starring Scott Arthur, Sion Alun Davies, Philip Glenister, Steffan Rhodri, Aneurin Barnard, Richard Harrington, Keith Allen, Nia Roberts, and Karen Paullada, the Steeltown Murders limited series is set in two different periods, following two detectives investigating crimes from both 1973 and 2002.

Read More…...

The heart of London, small-town Wales, or beautiful Florence— the world is your oyster with BritBox! The best-of-British media streamer has announced its August 2023 slate with plenty of diverse titles to choose from— from the classic satirical comedy series “Rumpole of the Bailey,” the critically acclaimed Welsh drama “The Museum,” the beloved 1980s romantic drama “A Room with a View,” and more.

Here are the top five titles coming to the platform we are most excited about at The Streamable!

7-Day Free Trial $7.99 / month via Amazon Prime Video What Are the Best Shows and Movies Coming to BritBox in August 2023? “A Room with a View” | Aug. 17

New to BritBox this month, the beloved British drama “A Room with a View” stars Helena Bonham-Carter as Lucy Honeychurch, a young Englishwoman touring Italy with her older cousin (Maggie Smith). While at a hotel in Florence, Lucy meets the charming, free-spirited George Emerson...

Stars: Annes Elwy, Nia Roberts, Julian Lewis Jones, Steffan Cennydd, Siôn Alun Davies, Lisa Palfrey, Rhodri Meilir | Written by Roger Williams | Directed by Lee Haven Jones

A dinner party devolves into a bloodbath in this stylish, slow-burn Welsh language horror from debut director Lee Haven Jones. Fair warning: The Feast is not the kind of movie about a feast that will make you hungry afterwards. Indeed, eating beforehand might not be a good idea either.

Set in the present day, the film centres on a wealthy family preparing for a dinner party at their stylish, ultra-modern home in the Welsh countryside. As the film begins, mother Glenda (Nia Roberts) is relaxing in her purpose-built meditation chamber, her corrupt politician husband Gwyn (Julian Lewis Jones) is out trying to shoot rabbits, while her sons Guto (Steffan Cennydd) and Gweirydd (Siôn Alun Davies) are getting high and obsessively training for a triathalon,...

Exclusive: Philip Glenister and Steffan Rhodri are to front a factual-based drama for the BBC.

Filming on Steeltown Murders (working title) has begun in and around South Wales, with Life on Mars and State Play actor Glenister and Gavin and Stacey and In My Skin‘s Rhodri in the lead roles as Dci Paul Bathell and Phil ‘Bach’ Rees. Ed Whitmore (Manhunt) is the writer.

Severn Screen, one of the co-producers on ITV’s high rating 2021 series The Pembrokeshire Murders, is producing in association with All3Media International.

The four part-drama is set in both 1973 and the early 2000s, contrasting the policing methods of the 1970s with the forensic breakthroughs of the early Noughties. It centers on the hunt to catch the killer of three young women in Port Talbot, Wales, and the how the mystery — the first case of its kind — was solved 30 years after the crimes thanks to pioneering DNA evidence.

Cannibalism, torture, gory sex and meaty subtexts are all on the menu at a dinner party held by an arrogant local MP

Set and shot in Wales, with dialogue in Welsh (apart from a few loan words from English and the occasional Anglo-Saxon cuss), this is a striking, reasonably original wodge of folk horror. It also represents an auspicious first feature for director Lee Haven Jones (he’s shot a few Doctor Who episodes and the like), working from a script by writer-producer Roger Williams. Said screenplay adroitly incorporates meaty subtexts about class and generational tension, the evils of contemporary land management, and sexual abuse, while still ensuring there’s plenty of screen time devoted to cannibalism, torture and very gory forms of sex.

The feast of the title is a dinner party that arrogant local MP Gwyn (Julian Lewis Jones) and his preening, social-climbing wife Glenda (Nia Roberts) are...

"Everything looks so delicious." Picturehouses in the UK has revealed another new official UK for a freaky horror film titled The Feast, filmed in Welsh and directed by Welsh filmmaker Lee Haven Jones. This first premiered at the 2021 SXSW Film Festival last year, and it already opened in the US last fall - we already posted the IFC trailer back then. This horror feature follows a young woman serving privileged guests at a dinner party in a remote house in rural Wales. However, the assembled guests do not realize they are about to eat their last supper. Something is coming for them. Annes Elwy stars as the very creepy Cadi, she's joined by Lisa Palfrey, Caroline Berry, Nia Roberts, Julian Lewis Jones, Steffan Cennydd, Sion Alun Davies, and Chris Gordon. This trailer and the new UK poster give away just a bit more than the US marketing, but there's still...

Picturehouse Entertainment has debuted a new trailer and poster for the forthcoming haunting slow-burning horror ‘The Feast’, and we’ve got the exclusive just for you.

Filmed in the Welsh language, the story 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.

Written and directed by Lee Haven Jones (Doctor Who) – who makes his directorial debut with the feature – the film stars Annes Elwy (Little Women), Nia Roberts (Under Milk Wood...

Lee Haven Jones’ slow-burn eco-horror The Feast may feature extended conversations around the dinner table about wealth inequality and the ecological damage of mining environmental resources. But behind a polished aesthetic and explicit metaphor about mother nature’s revenge lies an assured gross-out flick—featuring more than one scene in which vomit becomes a central ingredient of a farm-to-table dish—that announces the first-time feature director as one to watch. Subdued and formalistic for the first two-thirds of the film before, very literally, taking the camera off the tripod for a particularly gory finale, The Feast may test one’s patience but, for those willing to embrace these Welsh-film’s eccentricities, Jones has crafted one of the more horrifying dinner parties this side of The Invitation.

Over the course of a single day, wealthy Glenda (Nia Roberts) and Gwyn (Julian Lewis Jones) prepare for a dinner party with the help of a newly hired,...

Whether films are set or filmed in Wales, the country and its ability to naturally bring eeriness to the screen thanks to its downcast weather have helped bring to life horror staples like The Old Dark House, The Wolf Man, and An American Werewolf in London. More often than not, you can find these titles on lists of the best horror films, and director Lee Haven Jones and writer Roger Williams throw their hat in the ring with a Welsh horror film of their own. The Feast is a parable of greed that acts as a warning of what could come if we don’t end the exploitation of the land. Themes centering on the environment and the climate crisis are ever-increasing in film, and it hits differently through the lens of horror, as it can more freely convey terrifying truths and present the consequences of actions in a violent,...

Taking “eat the rich” to literal extremes that Luis Buñuel only dreamed of (and famously lamented omitting from “The Exterminating Angel”), Lee Haven Jones’ “The Feast” is a severe Welsh-language horror romp so unsubtle about its class allegory that it might as well pre-chew the human flesh it eventually mama-birds into your mouth. Anyone grossed out by that visual should probably steer clear of the film itself, as . Of course, the rest of you sickos have stomached enough slop over the years to know that a degree of obviousness can be a good thing when it comes to certain fare, just as it can when it comes to certain meals; after all, is the joy of eating a cheeseburger not that every bite reminds you that you’re eating a cheeseburger? That it frees your mind to relish the ketchup?

If “The Feast” is a bit fancier and less satisfying...

The Feast Trailer — Lee Haven Jones‘ The Feast (2021) movie trailer has been released by IFC Films. The Feast trailer stars Anna Elwy, Nia Roberts, Julian Lewis Jones, Steffan Cennydd, Sion Alun Davies, Annes Elwy, Rhodri Meilir, and Lisa Palfrey. Crew Roger Williams wrote the screenplay for The Feast. Samuel Sim created [...]

Continue reading: The Feast (2021) Movie Trailer: A Dinner Party turns Deadly in Lee Haven Jones’ Horror-tinged Thriller...

"There's a feast waiting for us." IFC Midnight has unveiled an official trailer for a twisted new horror film titled The Feast, filmed in Welsh and directed by Welsh filmmaker Lee Haven Jones. This one originally premiered at the 2021 SXSW Film Festival, and has been playing at numerous other genre festivals through the year, including at Beyond Fest and the Telluride Horror Show most recently. This horror feature follows a young woman serving privileged guests at a dinner party in a remote house in rural Wales. The assembled guests do not realize they are about to eat their last supper. Annes Elwy stars as the very creepy Cadi, she's joined by Lisa Palfrey, Caroline Berry, Nia Roberts, Julian Lewis Jones, Steffan Cennydd, Sion Alun Davies, and Chris Gordon. Not sure what exactly is going on, but it looks unsettling in many ways. Here's the official trailer (+ poster) for Lee Haven Jones' The Feast,...

How about something different for Thanksgiving later this year? Perhaps something Welsh? The Welsh-language revenge horror film The Feast has been picked up by IFC Midnight for North American distribution. The company plans a Thanksgiving 2021 release. Our own J Hurtado saw the film during its world premiere at the recent SXSW and, er, feasted upon it, as evidenced by his review, whose opening words are worth repeating: "Set at an ostentatious estate nestled garishly upon the lush green landscapes of rural Wales, director Lee Haven Jones makes his feature directing debut with the astonishingly elegant eco/folk/revenge horror film, The Feast (Gwledd)." It just gets better from there, so be sure to give it a read. Annes Elwy, Nia Roberts and...

[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...

Following its world premiere at the virtual SXSW Film Festival, The Feast has been acquired for North American distribution by IFC Midnight, with a release planned for this Thanksgiving.

We have the official press release with additional details below, and in case you missed it, check out Heather Wixson's SXSW interview with director Lee Haven Jones and writer/producer Roger Williams.

Press Release: New York, NY - IFC Midnight announced today that they are acquiring North American rights to the Welsh-language supernatural revenge horror The Feast, directed by BAFTA-winning television director Lee Haven Jones in his feature debut. IFC Midnight will release the film Thanksgiving 2021.

Directed by Jones and written and produced by Roger Williams, The Feast stars Annes Elwy, Nia Roberts, and Julian Lewis Jones alongside Sion Alun Davies, Steffan Cennydd, Rhodri Meilir, and Lisa Palfrey. The Feast was produced through Ffilm Cymru Wales’ Cinematic scheme and was funded by S4C,...

Exclusive: IFC Midnight is acquiring North American rights to The Feast, the first feature from BAFTA-winning TV director Lee Haven Jones.

The company plans to release the supernatural revenge horror pic this fall.

Rooted in the potent mythical fables of Wales, and filmed in the Welsh language, Jones’s debut feature unfolds over the course of a single night, as an affluent family gathers at their lavish home in the Welsh mountains for a dinner party, hosting a local businessman and neighboring farmer to broker a business deal to mine the surrounding countryside.

When a mysterious young woman arrives to be the family’s waitress for the evening, they find their beliefs and values challenged, as her quiet yet disturbing presence begins to unravel their lives – slowly, deliberately, and with the most terrifying of consequences. A slow burn meditation on history and tradition, greed and responsibility, identity and difference, The...

The Feast Review — The Feast (2021) Film Review from the 28th Annual South By Southwest Film Festival, a movie directed by Lee Haven Jones, and starring Caroline Berry, Steffan Cennydd, Sion Alun Davies, Annes Elwy, Julian Lewis Jones, Rhodri Meilir, Lisa Palfrey, and Nia Roberts. Mother Nature and humanity exist in [...]

Continue reading: Film Review: The Feast: Palatable Environmentalist Folk Horror With a Delectable Dessert of a Finale [SXSW 2021]...

“The things of my mother’s that I kept don’t suit the place now,” says Glenda (Nia Roberts) absently as she preps dinner in her modernist sculpture of a house, set on a remote hillock. “They feel … primitive.” Lee Haven Jones’ sharp, striking Welsh-language SXSW midnight movie “The Feast” is designed as a critique of Glenda’s disdain, her casual snobbery toward the heritage and history of the farmland she grew up on. And yet this austere and engrossing little horror could almost be charged with a similar crime: “The Feast” laments our grasping era’s loss of respect for the ancient land, its flora and fauna and earthy folk culture, but it is itself as coolly, gleamingly modern as brushed steel.

Glenda is talking to Cadi (Annes Elwy), the last-minute replacement for her usual domestic help. Bedraggled and untidy, with a tendency to leave dirty marks on linens...

Set at an ostentatious estate nestled garishly upon the lush green landscapes of rural Wales, director Lee Haven Jones makes his feature directing debut with the astonishingly elegant eco/folk/revenge horror film, The Feast (Gwledd). The family of a politician are preparing an opulent meal for family and close friends, never once suspecting that it may be their last. When an odd-duck, last minute replacement for their usual help arrives to assist in the staging of the event, the family's quirks and foibles begin to amplify to the point of climax, and their perfect home just may become a monument to their iniquity. Matriarch, Glenda (Nia Roberts), has been tasked with preparing both the family home and the family itself for an important dinner with neighbors....

[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...

Written by Roger Williams and directed by Lee Haven Jones, The Feast takes place over the course of one evening when a wealthy family hires a young woman to help assist them during a dinner party. Things go awry in some truly disturbing ways once certain truths are revealed, resulting in a hauntingly memorable night where no one is safe.

Starring Anne Elwy, Nia Roberts, Julian Lewis Jones, Steffan Cennydd, Sion Alun Davies, Lisa Palfrey, and Rhodri Meilir, The Feast is set to premiere later today at 8 pm Cst as part of the 2021 SXSW Film Festival’s Midnighters slate of programming (you can find out more about the virtual screening Here).

Recently, Daily Dead had the opportunity to speak with both Jones and Williams about The Feast ahead of the SXSW premiere, and the duo discussed collaborating on the project together, their economical approach to the film, working with Elwy on her character,...

It’s hard to believe that it’s already time for the SXSW Film Festival once again, but here we are. For the 2021 iteration of the fest, SXSW is going virtual, which gives more people the opportunity to get to experience their brilliant lineup of films this year. As someone who is already well into my SXSW viewings for this year, I can confidently say that this might be SXSW’s best slate of Midnighters from top to bottom, and a few other genre and genre-adjacent films that are premiering in other sections are very much worth your time as well.

So, if you’re looking to check out some excellent horror and sci-fi cinema during this year’s SXSW from the comfort of your own home, here are 15 different projects you’ll definitely want to make time for. Oh, and because I included both How it Ends and Violation during my Sundance 2021 preview,...

The BFI London Film Festival (Oct 7-18) is launching a film, TV and immersive content works-in-progress strand as part of its industry program. Scroll down for lineup.

The seven film and immersive projects featured in this year’s lineup are currently in production, post-production or near completion, and will be presented to an invited audience of international buyers and festival programmers. They all come from emerging filmmakers.

The showcase is taking place on 9 October and will be fully online as part of 2020’s virtual and physical hybrid festival. Clips will be screened from each of the selected projects followed by a short Q&a with the director and or the producer. Access will be by invitation only via a secure platform with two repeat screenings to accommodate international time zones.

BFI London Film Festival Director, Tricia Tuttle said: “The Lff has always been a platform for supporting new and emerging...

The BFI London Film Festival has added a new, annual works-in-progress showcase as part of its industry program, and has invited seven projects to participate, including two featuring “Star Wars: Episode IX – The Rise of Skywalker” and “The End of the F***ing World” actor Naomie Ackie and “ZeroZeroZero” actor Andrea Riseborough.

The showcase features works made for cinema, television and immersive platforms by U.K. emerging talent and will be presented to an invited audience of international buyers and festival programmers.

The projects include psychological thriller “Here Before” by Stacey Gregg (“Little Birds”), produced by Sophie Vickers (“Surge”) and Julia Godzinskaya (“The Other Lamb”), starring Riseborough, Martin McCann (“Wildfire”) and Jonjo O’Neill (“Pennyworth”); and heist film “The Score,” directed by Malachi Smyth (“Nocturne”), produced by Matthew James Wilkinson (“Yesterday”), Ben Pullen (“Light of the World), alongside co-producer Isabelle Georgeaux (“Calibre”), starring Johnny Flynn (“Stardust”), Ackie and Will Poulter (“Midsommar”).

Experimental filmmaker Baff Akoto,...

Bankside Films has boarded sales on Welsh-language contemporary horror “The Feast” (Gwledd), the directorial debut of Lee Haven Jones. Bankside will be talking to buyers about the project and showing a promo during the Virtual Cannes week, which starts on June 22.

Best known for his directorial work in television, Haven Jones has helmed episodes of “Doctor Who,” “The Bay” and “Vera.”

“The Feast” was written by Roger Williams, who also produces through production outfit Joio. It 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”).

The film 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 neighboring farmer, and the intent is to secure a business deal to mine in the surrounding countryside.

Great Point Media has boarded sales on “Gwledd,” Lee Haven Jones’ Welsh horror movie.

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”). Filmed in Welsh, the picture follows a young woman serving privileged guests at a dinner party in a remote house in rural Wales. The assembled guests do not realize they are about to eat their last supper.

Jones has helmed episodes of numerous TV shows, including “Doctor Who,” “The Bay,” and “Vera.” “Gwledd,” which means “feast” in Welsh, is his feature directorial debut. It was written and produced by Roger Williams (“Bang”) and produced through Ffilm Cymru, Wales’ cinema initiative.

U.K.-based film and TV producer, financier, and sales outfit Great Point will be selling world rights to “Gwledd,” starting at Afm. Its market slate...

Lee Haven Jones’ feature debut stars Annes Elwy.

Lee Haven Jones’ directorial debut Gwledd is the sixth feature film to wrap through the Ffilm Cymru Wales Cinematic scheme, which is backed by the BFI.

The initiative is dedicated to supporting innovative and unique filmmaking talents in Wales.

Gwledd is a contemporary horror film written by Roger Williams, about a waitress at a dinner party who causes the host family to confront personal failures and environmental responsibilities. Annes Elwy stars with Nia Roberts, Julian Lewis, Steffan Cennydd and Sion Alun Davies.

It is produced by Haven Jones and Williams’ outfit Joio.

"The key is to be mysterious..." Take a look at the first trailer for the directorial debut of a young actor, Craig Roberts, who you may recognize from films like Submarine, Jane Eyre, Red Lights, Neighbors or 22 Jump Street. Craig Roberts wrote and directed and stars in this film, Just Jim, which also co-stars Emile Hirsch. This is the story of a loner. Jim, 16, has no friends and is a bit weird. He eventually makes friends with Dean, a tough kid on the run who moves in next door, played by Hirsch. The cast includes Aneirin Hughes, Nia Roberts, Richard Harrington, Matthew Aubrey, Ryan Owen & Charlotte Randall. Check it out. Here's the first official trailer for Craig Roberts' Just Jim, found on Vimeo (via The Film Stage): Synopsis: In a small Welsh town, a teenage outcast becomes the cool kid when an enigmatic American moves in next door...

Despite the lottery-esque sounding odds, the U.S Dramatic Competition section which produces the finest American indie specimens such as Frozen River, Winter’s Bone, Blue Valentine, Martha Marcy May Marlene, Beasts of the Southern Wild, Fruitvale Station and Whiplash is fairly consistent in terms of quality. Last year’s crop of sixteen have almost all had their theatrical releases with Kumiko, the Treasure Hunter being the last one out of the gates (pegged with an early 2015 release). Last week we individually looked at our top 80 Sundance Film Fest Predictions (you’ll find 30 other titles worth considering in our intro) and below, we’ve split the list into narrative and non-fiction film items and have both identified and color-coded our picks in an AtoZ cheat sheet. You’ll find 2015′s answer to Whiplash located somewhere in the stack below. Click on the individual titles below, for the film’s profile.

Park City became a special lieu for actor Craig Roberts back in 2011 with the world premiere launch of Richard Ayoade’s Submarine (see pic above). Over the course of this past summer, the just over the legal drinking aged thesp tag-teamed with indie vet Emile Hirsch on the shot in Wales. Titled Just Jim, it’s being described as a dark comedy, and this just happens to be Roberts directorial debut. Cast is comprised of Aneirin Hughes, Nia Roberts, Richard Harrington, Matthew Aubrey, Ryan Owen and Charlotte Randall star.

Gist: A Welsh teenager will become the cool kid of the town if a deal is made with his new American neighbour (Emile Hirsch).

Production Co./Producers: Vox Pictures’ Pip Broughton, Adrian Bate.

Prediction: World Dramatic Competition or Premieres.

U.S. Distributor: Rights Available. Tbd (domestic). Tbd (international)

More 2015 Sundance Film Festival Predictions 2015 Sundance Film Festival Predictions: Josh Mond’s James...

“Tracking Shot” is a monthly featurette here on Ioncinema.com that looks at a dozen or so projects that are moments away from lensing (or in a couple of titles below have been shooting since July). This August we’ve got a good number of projects that will start surfacing as early as next year’s Sundance, Rotterdam and Berlin Film Fests. With Dakota Johnson having been just announced, we’ve got Luca Guadagnino’s long awaited (remake) A Bigger Splash, getting ready for a poolside shoot. Gus Van Sant comes out of the woodworks to move into the woods for Sea of Trees. Sundance alumni Rick Alverson is wrapping up Entertainment, Reed Morano is set to make her directorial debut this mid-August with Meadowland, while Douchebag, Like Crazy, Breathe In‘s Drake Doremus is stationed in Japan for a weighty cast and futuristic tale in Equals. Here are some...

The name Craig Roberts has been high on the list of promising film talent ever since he took the screen by storm in Richard Ayoade’s film, Submarine, in 2010. That role brought with it well-deserved recognition, and a slew of varied offers, including The Double, Bad Neighbors and 22 Jump Street. Now, Roberts is turning all that good will into tangible opportunities behind the camera, by beginning pre-production on his own directorial debut at the tender age of just 23 – Just Jim.

Written by Roberts himself, Just Jim features the lead character realizing that he will be considered part of the socially acceptable group of teenagers, if he can successfully negotiate with his handsome and mysterious American neighbour. While Roberts is expected to play the lead, Emile Hirsch has been cast in the role of his neighbour. The cast is rounded out by Aneirin Hughes (Young Dracula), Nia Roberts (Doctor Who), Richard Harrington...

Though Submarine star Craig Roberts is just 23 years old, he’s already gearing up to begin production on his directorial debut. Roberts will lead Just Jim, which revolves around “a teenage loser whose life is turned around by the appearance of an enigmatic, handsome neighbor.” ScreenDaily reports that Emile Hirsch has now joined the cast, and one imagines he'd be a swell fit for the aforementioned neighbor. Filming begins in Wales this week, and co-stars include Aneirin Hughes, Nia Roberts, Richard Harrington, Matthew Aubrey, and newcomers Ryan Owen and Charlotte Randall. The pic will be released in the UK and Ireland sometime in 2015. The Welsh Roberts—who was recently seen onscreen in Neighbors, The Double, 22 Jump Street—previously directed a music video for the band Los Campesinos, but Just Jim marks his first time helming a feature film. He’s definitely a promising young talent in front of the camera,...

Just Jim

Emile Hirsch ("Into the Wild," "Lone Survivor") is set to star in "Just Jim," directorial debut of "Submarine" and "Neighbors" actor Craig Roberts, which begins filming in Wales this week.

Roberts plays a teenage loser who life is turned around by the appearance of an enigmatic, handsome neighbour (Hirsch). Aneirin Hughes, Nia Roberts, Richard Harrington and Matthew Aubrey also star. [Source: Screen]

Fast and Furious 7

Rapper Iggy Azalea is set to cameo in the upcoming seventh "Fast and Furious" film at Universal Pictures. Vin Diesel revealed the news during an interview with France's Skyrock FM. Diesel said:

"Well, Iggy Azalea, I just worked with her two weeks ago. I guess you'll be the first person that knows this - we casted her in Fast & Furious 7. She has a cameo in Fast & Furious 7." [Source: Billboard]

Zoom

Gael Garcia Bernal, Jason Priestley, Mariana Ximenes and Alison Pill have joined the cast of Pedro Morelli...

It's probably not a total shock that a miniseries adaptation of Leo Tolstoy’s doorstop "War And Peace" is being described as "the most ambitious event series ever made for the BBC." But it is interesting to see some of the actors being sought. Paul Dano and Lily James have been offered roles in the production, with the former eyed for "Pierre Bezukhov, the awkward illegitimate son who rises in society but leads a tumultuous life as he seeks to overcome his emotions" and the latter as Natasha Rostova, who falls in love with him. The plan is for this one to air in 2015 in the UK, so expect things to start coming together soon. [Deadline] Emile Hirsch has joined "Just Jim," the directorial debut of "Submarine" star Craig Roberts, who will also lead the film. The story follows "a teenage loser who life is turned around by the appearance of an enigmatic,...

Into the Wild star joins the directorial debut of Submarine star Craig Roberts.

Us actor Emile Hirsch has been cast alongside Craig Roberts in Just Jim, which goes into production in Wales this week.

The feature marks the directorial debut of Roberts, the 23 year-old star of Submarine and The Double who has recently been seen in Us comedies including Neighbors and 22 Jump Street.

Roberts plays the title role opposite Hirsch, best known for his roles in Lone Survivor, Into the Wild and Prince Avalanche.

The story centres on Jim, a teenage loser who life is turned around by the appearance of an enigmatic, handsome neighbour.

Co-stars include Aneirin Hughes, Nia Roberts, Richard Harrington, Matthew Aubrey and newcomers Ryan Owen and Charlotte Randall.

Producers are Adrian Bate and Pip Broughton of Vox Pictures and the film will shoot on location in Caerphilly, Wales, over three weeks.

Just Jim was selected as one of three finalists of Ffilm Cymru Wales...

As if his breakthrough performance in Richard Ayoade’s Submarine wasn’t impressive enough, 23 year-old Craig Roberts is looking to take a leaf from his colleague's book by gearing up his own directorial debut, Just Jim. And he’s snagged Emile Hirsch to co-star with him.Just Jim will see Roberts as a teenage loser whose life is suddenly turned around by the arrival of an enigmatic, charismatic neighbour (Hirsch). The pair heads a cast that also includes Aneirin Hughes, Nia Roberts, Richard Harrington, Matthew Aubrey, Ryan Owen and Charlotte Randall.Roberts got the gig after submitting the project to Wales’ new talent scheme, Cinematic, and will shoot in Caerphilly across three weeks. “It’s surreal to be back in my home town shooting a movie,” Roberts says in a statement picked up by Screen International. “I’m excited to work with a great cast and I hope Emile likes Maesycwmmer.

★★☆☆☆ Screened as part of last year's Eiff and Film4 FrightFest lineups, British director Ian Clark's low-budget debut The Facility (2012) (formerly known as 'Guinea Pigs') now finds its way onto DVD, having just missed out on a theatrical release. A group of eight strangers come together at an isolated research facility to undergo a phase one medical trial for an untested drug called 'Pro-9'. Most of the participants are there for the money, with some having made such clinical trials their primary source of income. Katie (Nia Roberts) is a journalist there to cover the procedure for a piece she's currently writing - entitled 'The Last Resort'.

If Katie was looking to discover the depths that people will go to when faced with extreme hardship, then she certainly gets what she came for, as she and the others soon encounter a series of peculiar side effects from...

We've updated our Film4 Fright Fest line-up story with tons of images. Read on to see what you may have missed and what's brand spanking new! Dig it!

Programme - Screen 1

Thursday Aug 23

Opening Film - The Seasoning House (World Premiere)

Special make-up prosthetics and splatter genius Paul Hyett makes his directorial debut with a harrowing exploration into tense claustrophobia, hard-hitting action and rollercoaster suspense. In a Balkan brothel, where girls kidnapped by soldiers in war-torn zones are prostituted to the military and civilians alike, Angel (Robin Day) is the deaf mute orphan enslaved to care for the inmates. But unbeknownst to her captors, she moves between the walls and crawlspaces of the seasoning house planning her escape. Psychological horror in the nerve-shredding Alfred Hitchcock and Roman Polanski style but with an ultra-modern twist.

89 mins Director: Paul Hyett UK 2012

Rosie Day – Angel

Sean Pertwee – Goran

Kevin Howarth – Viktor

David Lemberg...

Arriving at a secluded ProSyntrex facility situated deep in the English countryside, seven strangers are carefully briefed on the nature of a drug trial they have each agreed to participate in: a routine, double-blind experiment run by Dr. Mansell (Chris Larkin) that aims to study the effects of Pro-9 on human subjects.

As Adam (Aneurin Barnard), Joni (Alex Reid), Jed (Oliver Coleman), Katie (Nia Roberts), Morty (Steve Evets), Carmen (Skye Lourie) and Arif (Amit Shah) receive their first round of injections, however, they soon find themselves reacting to the drug in unexpected and drastic ways. Trapped, alone and slaves to the chemicals now coursing through their veins, the guinea pigs might not survive the night, let alone the study’s fortnight-long duration.

In festivals often packed to the highest brows with pretence, pedigree and Philippine New Wave, sometimes it’s nice to kick back with a schlocky British horror movie...

For many years they waited. Under the ground. Waiting for the moment that they would see the light of day and reign supreme...

Yes, Chris Chibnall's crayon-scribbled Doctor Who scripts locked in a hermetically-sealed time capsule in the late 1970s and dug up and dusted in the 21st century. Well, possibly. Yes, having put us through the wretched 42 , it seems that the man ain't through with us yet. He was invited back to pen a two-part story for Matt Smith's first season, which not only brings back the Silurians but apparently wipes out Amy's gormless whipping-boy once and for all.

It's a shock tactic that could have paid dividends, but in the harsh light of day, it wasn't to be. Which makes my original take on the story somewhat laughable, given that a good story was supposedly elevated to classic status because of an ending that just...

Cwmtaff, South Wales 2020 Ad. Nasreen (Meera Syal) is excited about the drill hitting a new level of 21K. Mo (Alun Raglan) returns to work after reading with his son, Elliot (Samuel Davies.) The Doctor (Matt Smith) steps out of the Tardis and thinks they've arrived in Rio. But it's a cemetery and he notices something strange: blue grass. Amy (Karen Gillan) notices herself and Rory (Arthur Darvill) on a hill and they appear to be waving. The Doctor comments they can both relive past glories from their future. Amy is surprised they're still together in the future. Doctor: "I love a big mining thing." Rory takes Amy's ring and puts it in the Tardis for safe-keeping and for a future plot line. Mack (Robert Pugh) and Nasreen notice the hole in the ground. Elliot asks Rory if the Tardis is a portable crime lab, as they think he's a policeman.

Eldane: "This is the story of our planet, of Earth. The day - a thousand years past when we came to share it with a race known as humanity. It is the story of the Doctor who helped our races find common ground and the terrible losses he suffered. It is the story of our past and must never be forgotten." The Doctor (Matt Smith) notes the race is still asleep and they need to find the others. The front door approach is good, but the backdoor is better too, at times. The Silurians gas them. Amy (Karen Gillan) the female is more resistant to the cold and is about to be dissected, but is saved by an alert. She's picked the creature's pocket and she and Mo (Alun Raglan) get out. She has to be nosy at times and presses the button on one of the chambers revealing Elliot...

Patagonia

Stars: Matthew Rhys, Duffy, Nia Roberts, Nahuel Pérez Biscayart | Written by Laurence Coriat | Directed by Marc Evans

Did you know that back in the 1800s, a community of Welsh folk set sail for a new life in South America and settled, after many years of toil, in Patagonia? Did you also know that there are still vestiges of this Welsh-speaking colony in Patagonia today? I didn’t and therefore found Marc Evan’s film (also called Patagonia) utterly fascinating.

Patagonia follows two pairs of travellers – a Welsh couple whose relationship is in the balance, Rhys and Gwen who are in Patagonia due to the former’s photography assignment and old Argentine lady Cerys and her teenage neighbour Alejandro, whom she has tricked into accompanying her to Wales to seek out her descendants’ farm, from which they immigrated to South America.

With its twin tales of travel told in parallel and only tenuously connected,...

Patagonia could be a worryingly hard sell to the popcorn chomping public. Its brilliant cast rarely use the Queen’s English; preferring the Spanish and Welsh tongue as we follow the intertwining stories through Wales and Argentina’s Patagonia.

Marc Evans (My Little Eye) has the directorial reigns here; taking the viewer on a intriguing journey that plays out the lives of two women, at very different stages – an old lady’s quest to find the birthplace of her mother and the relationship of a young couple, still treading the early complicated waters of their potential life together.

Evans is a marvel behind the camera. As the parallel journeys play out, the screen is filled with stunning panoramic landscapes that lend themselves as a beautifully artistic backdrop. The contrast between the harsh farmland desert of Patagonia, against the sweeping valleys of deepest darkest Wales act as striking mood ring for the movie.

Independent Films have released the first trailer and poster for comedy-drama Third Star.

Directed by BAFTA Award-winning filmmaker Hattie Dalton, Third Star stars Hugh Bonneville, Tom Burke, Benedict Cumberbatch, Jj Feild, Rupert Frazer, Nia Roberts, Adam Robertson and Eros Vlahos.

James (Cumberbatch) and his three closest lifelong friends go on an ill-advised trip to the stunning coastal area of Barafundle Bay in West Wales. What follows is a touching and comical adventure dealing with friendship, heroism and love.

Third Star closed the 64th annual Edinburgh International Film Festival last year, and will be released nationwide on May 20.

Check out the poster below, then head over to The Guardian to watch the trailer premiere:...

Archipelago (15)

(Joanna Hogg, 2010, UK) Kate Fahy, Tom Hiddleston, Lydia Leonard. 115 mins

With her debut, Unrelated, Hogg proved herself to be just about the only film-maker out there seeking to depict Britain's middle classes in a way they wouldn't necessarily enjoy. This brave follow-up is even more uncomfortable and less narrative-driven, as a well-to-do family's get-together in the Scilly Isles turns into a slow, sparse drip of resentments, silences, joyless activities and blithe snobbery. It's uncomfortable in a good way.

Rango (PG)

(Gore Verbinski, 2011, Us) Johnny Depp, Isla Fisher, Ned Beatty. 107 mins

Fine visuals and surreal comedy help this hallucinogenic animated spaghetti western stand out – far out. Depp's identity-crisis chameleon is the stranger in a town that's already strange.

The Adjustment Bureau (12A)

(George Nolfi, 2011, Us) Matt Damon, Emily Blunt, Terence Stamp. 106 mins

Ambitious, Inception-style conspiracy thriller, with Damon and Blunt lovers on the run from literal agents of fate when they deviate from The Plan.

A road movie about the links between Wales and Argentina, Marc Evans's film includes an acting debut for the singer Duffy

Duffy makes her acting debut with a small part in this sincere road movie – and looks like she's itching to be in a way cooler, hipper film. In the late 19th century, thousands emigrated from Wales to inhospitable Argentina; here director Marc Evans knots together two modern stories, one from each country. A wily octogenarian Argentine (Marta Lubos) pressgangs a neighbour's son into taking her to Wales, which her mother left in the 1920s, pregnant and unmarried; a couple from Cardiff (Nia Roberts, Matthew Gravelle) travel to Patagonia where he photographs chapels; austere and isolated, they're a metaphor for his remoteness. But a topcoat of enforced lyricism creates an emotional soft-focus that is unsatisfying and unconvincing.

Rating: 2/5

DramaDuffyCath Clarke

guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2011 | Use of...

Here's a collector's item, a drama in which the only languages spoken are Welsh and Spanish. It's also two road movies for the price of one, running the parallel stories of pilgrims on a search for identity. Gwen (Nia Roberts) and her photographer boyfriend Rhys (Matthew Gravelle) journey from hometown Cardiff to Patagonia, having packed some unspecified sadness that comes to the boil when Gwen meets Welsh-Patagonian rancher dude Mateo (Matthew Rhys). Meanwhile, travelling in exactly the opposite direction is elderly Argentine native Cerys (Marta Lubos) who wants to connect with her ancestral Wales before she dies, and takes along her shy young neighbour Alejandro (Nahaul Perez Biscayart) as companion. Wonderfully shot by Robbie Ryan (Fish Tank), the film displays a lyrical sensitivity both to the desert landscapes of Patagonia and to the remote, rain-glazed hills of Wales, and the unlikeliness of their ancient connection (the Welsh settled in Patagonia in 1865) becomes rather moving.