Shooting is underway for director Bruce Goodison’s feature Leave to Remain, which will star Toby Jones.

The film is a coming-of-age story about refugee teens seeking asylum in London and is the first narrative project from Goodison, who previously won the 2012 Bafta for Our War - an award-winning war documentary series for the BBC.

It is based on the director’s years of research on the real stories of young adults seeking sanctuary after being forced to flee their home countries and will focus on the friendships forged as the characters struggle to remain in the capital city and build new lives.

For full production details, visit:

“I felt moved to tell their stories. By holding a mirror to the lives of these young people, I hope we can learn something about the country we call home,” Goodison said.

The cast was drawn from both professional actors as well as individuals from migrant and refugee backgrounds, with Jones (known for roles in Berberian Sound Studio, Hitchcock biopic The Girl and The Hunger Games) also joining the cast.

The film is supported by the Oak Foundation and the Paul Hamlyn Foundation, with profits from the project slated to go toward training academies for young people seeking sanctuary to learn film-making.