Lluest[80]

EXCLUSIVE: A UK shoot is underway for Gareth Bryn’s Lluest (working title), a Wales-set revenge western starring Aimee-Ffion Edwards, with MetFilm Sales launching sales at Cannes and unveiling a first-look image.

Lluest – which is Welsh for ’shelter’ – is the first film to be greenlit under the Sinema Cymru scheme, an initiative backed by Welsh-language public service broadcaster S4C with a pot of £280,000 to promote Welsh-language filmmaking on the global stage.

Bryn directs the 18th-century-set film, in which a woman is left to defend her isolated homestead from roaming thieves and religious zealots. When her presumed-dead outlaw brother suddenly returns, old wounds reopen, and tensions ignite.

Rhodri Meilir and Yann Gael with Edwards, whose credits include TV series Slow Horses and Peaky Blinders. 

The shoot is taking place at Great Point Studios in Cardiff and on location across Wales. It is produced by Hannah Thomas for Severn Screen, the Cardiff-based production company behind Gareth Evans’ Havoc and Bafta-nominated Mr Burton. Executive producers include Ed Talfan and Todd Brown.

It is being shot in the Welsh language, with a small amount of French.

Bryn is once again collaborating with writer Ed Talfan on this project, having previously worked together on the 2015 genre film The Passing.

“This film marks a significant moment for S4C, as we return to the period genre with a fresh, contemporary edge, telling a story that embodies the depth, beauty and cinematic ambition of Welsh storytelling,” said Gwenllian Gravelle, S4C’s head of drama and film. “Distinctly rooted in our culture yet resonating with audiences worldwide, this is a film conceived for the international stage.”

“We’re building something that embraces the spirit of the western while rooting it deeply in Welsh identity, language and culture,” added Bryn. “It’s a world of harsh beauty, where faith, violence and family collide, and I’m excited to bring that to audiences on an international scale.”

“Lluest is a thrilling, captivating and sometimes brutal frontier story with a unique cultural twist, coming from a pedigree filmmaking team,” noted MetFilm’s Zak Brilliant.

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