RUN starring Mark Stanley in cinemas 13 March

A film by

SCOTT GRAHAM

Starring

MARK STANLEY, AMY MANSON, MARLI SIU, ANDERS HAYWARD

RELEASED IN UK CINEMAS MARCH 2020

“Thrilling… powered by a strong tank full of talent” Screen International

 “RUN has a raw Scottish flavor that feels admirably uncompromising”
Hollywood Reporter

“Impressive… honest… hopeful” **** The Skinny

Verve Pictures are delighted to announce the cinema release of Scott Graham’s RUN, a compelling and thrilling portrayal of how teenage dreams are hard to leave behind when you missed your chance to hit the road and run.  Starring Mark Stanley (‘Game of Thrones’, Dark River), Amy Manson (‘Torchwood’, Beats), Marli Sui (Anna and the Apocalypse) and Anders Hayward (Looted), RUN premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival 2019, followed by the BFI London Film Festival and will be released in UK cinemas in March 2020.

Steeped in the mythos of Bruce Springsteen songs about growing up and growing old in the same small town, RUN follows former ‘boy racer’ Finnie (Mark Stanley), who’s failure to leave the small Scottish fishing port he calls home is brought into sharp relief when his teenage son starts to follow in his footsteps.

RUN is the last of three films written and directed by award-winning Scottish filmmaker Scott Graham, following on from Shell and Iona, which focus on the conflict between a parent and child and the place they call home.  His new film expresses the hope that can be found in the ties that bind you to your family and your community.  Scott explains, “With this film I have tried to re-imagine Springsteen’s songs about families who can’t communicate and history repeating itself as something ultimately uplifting. I wanted to show that these themes, expressed so well in American music, literature and film, are as much a part of life in the North East of Scotland as they are the American Mid-west and because some of the men and women who married as teenagers are still together.  Run is a film that celebrates falling in love in your teens, even if it means you never leave your hometown.”

Scott Graham is one of the rising stars of the British independent filmmaking scene.  Largely self-taught, he made his first short film – an early incarnation of RUN – in 2006 and, inspired by the landscape he was driving through while making it, wrote and directed the short film version of Shell (2007) which he then developed into his first feature.  In the interim, his short film Native Son (2010), a dark drama starring Sean Harris, premiered at the Cannes film festival where it was nominated for a Discovery Award. The feature version of Shell (2012) also played multiple festivals, winning three major awards at the Torino International Film Festival in Italy.  It was nominated for outstanding debut feature at the BAFTAs and for the BFI London Film Festival’s Sutherland award.  Shell’s star Chloe Pirrie won a BIFA for Most Promising Newcomer.  His follow-up film Iona (2015) starred Ruth Negga and was nominated for the Michael Powell Award at the Edinburgh International Film Festival.

Mark Stanley’s breakthrough role was portraying Grenn in the first four seasons of HBO’s global hit ‘Game of Thrones’.  Early film appearances included Mike Leigh’s Mr Turner, the BAFTA-nominated war drama Kajaki and Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens.  Mark also played the male lead opposite Ruth Wilson in Clio Barnard’s acclaimed drama Dark River. Since then, he’s starred opposite Alicia Vikander in Euphoria, and appeared in Steven Spielberg’s Ready Player One and will play the lead in Julian Jarrold’s upcoming Sulphur & White.

Scottish actress Amy Manson’s numerous screen credits include roles in Doctor Who, spin-off Torchwood, a recurring part in the BBC’s supernatural comedy/drama Being Human and the roles of Medea in the BBC fantasy series Atlantis and Queen Merida in the ABC-produced fairytale series Once Upon a Time. On the big screen she’s appeared opposite Karen Gillan in Not Another Happy Ending and Kevin Guthrie and Sheila Hancock in Edie. In 2017 she also appeared in Danny Boyle’s T2: Trainspotting and recently starred in the 1990s-set Scottish rave movie Beats.  Amy can also be seen in the upcoming feature Real alongside Aki Omoshaybi and Pippa Bennett-Warner.

One of Screen International’s 2018 stars of tomorrow, Scottish actress Marli Siu gave a standout performance in the zombie-horror musical Anna and the Apocalypse (2017) and will appear as one of the leads in Our Ladies, Michael Caton-Jones’s upcoming adaptation of Alan Warner’s cult Scottish novel The Sopranos.  Marli was nominated for a BFI Fresh Blood: Best Under 25 award for her role in the short film Scoring (2015) and, in 2016, was nominated for the Sunday Times/National Theatre Ian Charleson award for her performance as Hero in Dundee Rep’s production of ‘Much Ado About Nothing’.

Born and raised in London, Anders Hayward’s acting credits include the E4/Hulu-produced comedy series Gap Year (2017) and the upcoming BBC films production Looted, in which he stars opposite Thomas Turgoose.  Anders is also a trained dancer specialising in abstract contemporary dance. He has appeared in the dance-themed short Sistema (2015) and worked as a choreographer on the short film All the World’s a Stage (2018).

77 minutes / Cert: TBC / Released by Verve Pictures