The Runaways

Hebden Bridge Picture House

Film director Richard Heap is in Hebden Bridge this weekend for a screening of his new feature film The Runaways at Hebden Bridge Picture House.

The film screens on Saturday February 1 at 4.30pm, where it will be a followed by a question and answer session with Heap.

The Runaways, 12A, was filmed on location in Whitby and across the North York Moors bringing a beautiful area of the country to life.

The film’s principle human star is Yorkshire-based actor, Mark Addy.

He plays father to a family that run the local donkey ride on Whitby seafront.

When tragedy befalls the family his three screen children run away heading west across the moors.

It is an adventure that tests their sibling bonds and love.

The film is described as a throwback to old adventure films, full of gentle humour but with a modern gritty aesthetic.

Other stars are Tara Fitzgerald and recent BAFTA winner Molly Windsor.

She won Best Actress for her role in the BBC mini-series Three Girls.

Sight and Sound described the film’s Yorkshire setting as “quite ravishing at times”, Total

Film praising the cinematography which “brims with atmosphere”.

Other national reviews focussed on the youngsters who were “the stars of the show” according to the Daily Express.

On set Addy said, it was “lovely to be on home ground, and showing Yorkshire off to the rest of the world”.

Mark Addy who lives in East Yorkshire, is off to Broadway to appear in Richard Bean’s play Hangman.

“It’s set ina pub in Oldham and all about Britain’s last executioner –it’s a pitch-black comedy, so heaven knows what the New Yorkers will make of that.”

He has also revealed that he was asked to slip into Berwick

Kaler’s panto frocks at York’s Theatre Royal.

He says he was “very flattered” but politely declined.

Director Heap said: “I wanted to tap in to the gentle comedy of being in a sibling group, but also explore the emotional landscape between the innocence of a young life and the harsh reality of a family on the brink.”