The Film Agency for Wales has invested $486,000 (£300,000) in John McNally’s debut feature Four Working Days, starring Ray Winstone and Bond girl Olga Kurylenko.

The $4.5m (£2.8m) film, billed as a Coen Brothers/Hitchock style thriller, will start shooting in Cardiff later this year. Kevin Loader (Brideshead Revisited, In The Loop) is onboard as executive producer, with Nerys Lloyd and Margeret Bone producing.

A further $243,000 (£150,000) has been awarded to The Silk Man, written by Margery Constantas and to be directed by Kevin Thomas. The $1.6m (£1m) film is a magic-realist fable set in Cyprus. It has also secured financing from the Irish Film Board and the Cyprus Cinema Advisory Committee.

The Film Agency for Wales is funded by the Arts Council of Wales, the UK Film Council and the Welsh Assembly Government, via Creative Business Wales, which was set up to increase the range and number of films being produced in the country.