Sheffield-produced film gets nationwide release

A feature film produced in Sheffield and shot around Whitby and the North York Moors, is to have a national cinema release from this weekend.

The Runaways is an uplifting and light-hearted tale in the tradition of children’s adventure films but with a dark undertone.

After their home life is turned upside down when their father's brother (Lee Boardman, Jez Quigley from Coronation Street) returns after a five year prison sentence bearing a grudge, three children get a sense of the family history their father (Mark Addy) had kept hidden.

The siblings, Angie (Molly Windsor), Polly (Macy Shackleton) and Ben (Rhys Connah), go on the run from Social Services across the harsh landscapes of the Yorkshire Moors to reunite with their estranged mother, played by Tara Fitzgerald.

They take along along two donkeys with from the family's beach donkey business.

Molly Windsor went on to win a BAFTA for her performance in the BBC mini-series Three Girls on the Rochdale sex grooming scandal.

The director is Sheffield-based Richard Heap, who has previously made award-winning documentaries on motor racing and climbing.

Producers are Mark Thomas of Ballpark Film Distributors, also Sheffield-based and whose credits include The Bank Job and Up 'n' Under, and Mario Roberto, a long-time London-based collaborator with Heap at Slackjaw Film.

The Runaways was made on a 1.6 million budget with development support from Creative England and the BFI and individual financial backers, many from the area and was made using a mostly Yorkshire based crew.

Filming took place across the North York Moors, but mostly in the towns of Thirsk and Whitby in North Yorkshire, in the summer of 2017. Other locations included Runswick Bay, Grosmont and Goathland stations on the North York Moors Railway.

There are no scheduled dates in Sheffield where it has already had public screenings but can be seen at Buxton Cinema, tonight, January 9, and the Savoy Cinema, Worksop, on Sunday, January 12, with director Richard Heap holding a Q+A on both occasions.

Later it will have a run at the Paramount, Penistone, from March 17-19.