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Janis Pugh’s debut feature Chuck Chuck Baby won two awards at last night’s Bafta Cymru ceremony, which took place in Cardiff and is a celebration of the Welsh film and TV industries.

Pugh’s feature won in the breakthrough and feature/TV film categories. The BFI, Ffilm Cymru Wales and BBC Film-backed musical romance world premiered at the 2023 edition of the Edinburgh International Film Festival ahead of playing at last year’s Toronto.

Chuck Chuck Baby filmed in north Wales, where Pugh is from, and Cheshire.

It follows a woman stuck in a rut, working in the local chicken factory,...

Chuck Chuck Baby is one of those fabulously rare feel-good movies that stays with you long after you leave the theater. In the vein of other soul-stirring films like Before Sunrise, The Way Back, Billy Elliot, The Full Monty, and even Tarsems deeply moving The Fall, writer/director Janis Pugh manages to capture our hearts while colorfully revealing the ever-shifting emotional kaleidoscope of regular life.

Theres the longing for something better, the deep comfort of having great friends, and the unbridled joy that emerges from a surprise reunion that can open our hearts so wide that it literally takes our breath away. Its all here in this powerful and entertaining musical comedy/drama that celebrates the female working class.

Steered by a resilient cast featuring Louise Brealey (Sherlock) and Annabel Scholey (The Split), Chuck Chuck Baby may have a catchy tagline "a film of love, loss, and music set amongst...

Rank Film (distributor) Three-day gross (July 19-21) Total gross to date Week 1. Despicable Me 4 (Universal) £4.9m £17.4m 2 2. Twisters (Warner Bros) £3.1m £4.1m 1 3. Inside Out 2 (Disney) £1.5m £47.2m 6 4. Longlegs (Black Bear) £1.3m £4m 2 5. A Quiet Place: Day One (Paramount) £447,000 £9m 4

Gbp to Usd conversion rate: 1.29

Despicable Me 4 withstood the Twisters whirlwind at this weekend’s UK-Ireland box office, as the Universal animation held top spot for a second successive weekend.

Despicable Me 4 added £4.9m – a 49% drop on its opening session, which brought it to £17.4m from two weekends in play. The film took a strong £2.3m on Saturday alone.

Working class British dramas historically — and still — often fall into a box-ticking exercise of certain tropes and clichés. Musicals have certainly helped shift certain portrayals and representations, with stage adaptations of Billy Elliot, The Full Monty, Kinky Boots and, most recently, West End production Standing At The Sky’s Edge often elevating underrepresented perspectives and voices. While writer/director Janis Pugh’s North Wales-set jukebox musical Chuck Chuck Baby can, at times, fall into those tropes, it proves a welcome female-led addition to the canon.

Despite the oppressive nature, there’s a moving vulnerability juxtaposed with endearing humour at the heart of the central performances.

With a mix of gritty, melodramatic social realism, fairy tale and musical whimsy, Chuck Chuck Baby can, at times, be quite tonally jarring. But the heartfelt and moving performances from Louise Brealey and Annabel Scholey elevate the plucky proceedings, with a sweet and affecting sapphic...

Annabel Scholey and Louise Brealey in Chuck Chuck Baby. Janis Pugh: 'Bel came in and the chemistry between her and Lou was lovely' Photo: Studio Soho Distribution Janis Pugh’s Chuck Chuck Baby finally makes it to cinemas this week, almost a year after its world premiere at Edinburgh International Film Festival. It’s generally upbeat nature makes it perfect for a summer release. It charts the story of Helen (Louise Brealey), whose life is at a low ebb. Her spoilt and unpleasant husband Gary (Celyn Jones) has moved his much younger girlfriend into their house, while still expecting his wife to look after his ailing mum Gwen (Sorcha Cusack). She takes refuge among the camaraderie at the chicken factory where she works and allows her emotions to flood out while listening to songs. Pugh mixes the sort of northern humour fans of Victoria Wood and Caroline Ahearn will...

Universal’s “Despicable Me 4” has claimed the top spot at the U.K. and Ireland box office, earning £8.8 million ($11.4 million) in its opening weekend, according to numbers from Comscore.

The animated sequel’s strong debut pushed Disney’s “Inside Out 2” to second place after a five-week run, with the latter adding £2.2 million, bringing its running total to £44.4 million. Newcomer “Longlegs” from Black Bear secured the third position with a £1.3 million opening, while Sony Pictures’ “Fly Me To The Moon” debuted at No. 4, collecting £862,358.

Paramount’s “A Quiet Place: Day One” held steady in its third week, rounding out the top five with £824,948, bringing its cumulative total to £8 million. Other notable entries include DJ Tech Ltd’s Tamil-language “Indian 2,” which opened at No. 6 with £213,245, plus a further £39,127 for its Telugu-dubbed version “Bharateeyudu 2,” and Sony Pictures’ “Bad Boys: Ride Or Die,” maintaining its presence in the chart after six...

"We could be so much more than what they think we are." Studio Soho has revealed an official trailer for a British indie comedy titled Chuck Chuck Baby, set for release in UK cinemas this July. The film originally premiered at both the 2023 Edinburgh and Toronto Film Festivals last year, though it still doesn't have a US release confirmed yet. Helen lives with her ex-husband, his 20-year-old girlfriend, their new baby - and his dying mother Gwen. Her life is stuck in a grind, and like all the other women she toils around with at the local chicken factory, is spent in service of the clock. Via TIFF: "The more serious themes of finding strength through community and the quest for female autonomy are intertwined with joyous, observant humour, and [a few] spontaneous musical numbers that the characters find themselves pulled into, capturing the blissful catharsis of art and the way it empowers us to be brave.

Studio Soho Distribution has announced the UK and Irish release date of the 19th of July for the British movie ‘Chuck Chuck Baby’ alongside its new poster.

Set in present-day industrial North Wales, Helen spends her nights packing chickens and her days caring for a dying mother-figure Gwen. Helen’s world takes an unexpected turn with the return of Joanne. Twenty years ago, they were the objects of the other’s unspoken teenage passions. One night, Helen encourages Joanne to start a playful wooing game that re-awakens their youthful feelings.

As they fall in love and lust, Helen’s zest for life returns but Joanne feels the walls closing in as she faces something much darker from her past. Helen’s world is shattered when Gwen dies and Joanne’s painful memories cause her to flee. Separated and alone, will both women reflect on their unfulfilled chance to break their...

Welsh actor, writer and director Celyn Jones has set “Madfabulous” as his next directorial venture.

The British indie is based on the true story of Henry Cyril Paget, fifth Marquess of Anglesey, who was once one of the richest men in Britain but died penniless and forgotten at the age of 29 in France.

“It’s full of pathos and humanity, it’s very much a character who wants to get the attention of his family who don’t want him and he keeps upping the ante with his spending, his flamboyance and his dancing,” Jones told Variety about the 1890s-set film. “What happens if you are a theatrical, and you are very gender fluid at a time when when people didn’t even know what that was? And you’ve got all the money in the world to do that. Well, of course, you buy a theater company, you buy...

The Yellow Affair has sold Janis Pugh’s debut Chuck Chuck Baby to a slew of territories, including Dark Star Pictures in North America and Studio Soho for UK-Ireland.

The Edinburgh premiere, which also played at Toronto, has also sold to Scandinavia and Baltics (NonStop), Germany and Austria (Salzgeber), Spain (Yoda Films) and for airlines (Aardwolf).

LA-based Dark Star Pictures has a theatrical release planned for this summer.

Anne Beresford, Adam Partridge, Andrew Gillman and Peggy Cafferty produced the UK feature. The cast includes Louise Brealey, Annabel Scholey, Sorcha Cusack, Celyn Jones and Emily Fairn.

Chuck Chuck Baby takes place in the present day,...

Newen Connect has signed a pact with international sales company The Yellow Affair to have the company handle global distribution for independent films produced by Newen Studios.

Newen Studios and Yellow Affair are already related though Anagram, which is label of Newen and a shareholder Yellow Affair, along with Visiorex, Helsinki-filmi and Marianna Films. Newen, meanwhile, is owned by France’s leading commercial network group. The European banner handles co-production, co-financing and international sales through its commercial arm, Newen Connect.

Unveiled during the Goteborg Film Festival, the three-year deal will see Newen Connect continue handling mainstream titles and French movies, while The Yellow Affair will focus on indie pics produced by Newen Studios’ international labels under the new brand The Yellow Affair by Newen Connect.

The inaugural roster of the new label include Constanze Klaue’s “Punching the World,” produced by Denmark’s Nimbus and Germany’s Flare Films, based...

The Yellow Affair has boarded world sales on Sundance World Cinema Dramatic Competition title “Reinas,” directed by Klaudia Reynicke. Variety has been given access to the trailer (below).

The film is set in Lima in the summer of 1992. Lucia, Aurora and their mother Elena are about to leave. They are apprehensive about saying goodbye to a country, to family and friends, but above all to Carlos, a father and ex-husband who has all but disappeared from their lives.

In the midst of Peru’s social and political chaos, this announced departure will give rise to contradictory feelings, reviving old regrets and generating new illusions. Facing the uncertainty of their future head on, their frustrations and fears are mixed with excitement and expectation, as the family faces the difficult truth about the losses this departure implies.

The Yellow Affair says the film is a “beautiful, dramatically intense and ultimately heart-warming film...

Anna Higgs is chair of the Bafta film committee and managing director of talent agency Casarotto Ramsay & Associate

Anna Higgs, chair of the Bafta film committee and managing director of talent agency Casarotto Ramsay & Associate, will be the keynote speaker at Film London’s Production Finance Market (Pfm), which runs October 10-11 as part of the BFI London Film Festival’s Industry strand.

The two-day film financing event will take place at London’s The Thistle hotel with 60 projects and 50 financiers expected to attend.

Higgs, who was recently re-elected Bafta chair, will sit down for an interview with Film London...

A documentary about musician Pete Doherty will have its world premiere at this year’s Zurich Film Festival in the Sounds section.

Described as “an intimate film portrait of his scandalous rockstar life,” “Peter Doherty — Stranger in My Own Skin” is helmed by Doherty’s wife, Katia deVidas. Doherty will present the film in-person, and also perform live following the documentary’s screening.

“The biopic chronicles the British rockstar who, after reaching the pinnacle of his career, sinks into the depths of a serious drug addiction,” Zff artistic director Christian Jungen said in a statement. “His wife, director and musician Katia deVidas, followed the wild life of the Libertines frontman at close quarters for over 10 years. We’re looking forward to welcoming them both to Zurich.”

The Sounds section of Zff, which launched last year, showcases feature or documentary films centered on musical themes or that feature exceptional soundtracks. This...

When attending a UK film festival, you inevitably run into films that display some very tired clichés about the British Working Class. As the latest word from director Janis Pugh, Chuck Chuck Baby deserves to put them all to shame as a film scripted entirely from tired tropes and ideas. As though she asked ChatGPT to write a queer romance after feeding it ten years’ worth of The Sun.

So, we have a film that bizarrely tries to mix musical theatre and social realism, telling the story of Helen (Louise Brealey) an utterly downtrodden factory worker, relegated to the status of handmaiden by her gammon-faced ex-husband Gary (Celyn Jones). Lodging in Gary’s spare room to care for his ailing mother Gwen (Sorcha Cusack), Helen’s been rendered all but invisible by the spectre of his new baby with a younger woman. Which is great for thematic resonance but terrible for building a compelling protagonist.

Helen (Louise Brealey) wakes in a bright, all-pink room, but the reality of her life is nothing like the whimsical room she's awoken in. She lives with her ex-husband Gary (Celyn Jones) and his girlfriend Amy (Emily Fairn in a hilarious performance evoking "Little Britain"). She's not moved out as she has a strong connection to Gary's mother Gwen (Sorcha Cusack), who she cares for when not working night shifts at the local chicken plant. Leaving is all too tempting -- in the opening scene, she takes a suitcase out from under her bed but doesn't go through with packing. Her friends at the plant, Lynn (Emily Aston), Clare (Cat Simmons), and Paula (Beverly Rudd) try and get her to open up, but she seems resigned to the predictable monotony of her life in a small Welsh town.

That all changes when Joanne (Annabel Scholey) re-appears in their quiet town after years away.

The importance of laughter during times of loss is often undervalued. With her feature directorial debut, Janis Pugh showcases the significance of friendship and humor when grief strikes. A musical rom-com drama, “Chuck Chuck Baby” underscores the power of female companionship through the ups and downs of life.

Premiering as part of the Edinburgh International Film Festival’s LGBTQ Stories section and also headed to Toronto Film Festival, “Chuck Chuck Baby” follows the life of Helen (Louise Brealey), a chicken factory worker in a small industrial town in northern Wales, whose life is mired in quotidian details, packaging chickens and caring for her ailing mother-figure Gwen. Helen’s life is turned upside down, however, with the unexpected arrival of her former high school love Joanne (Annabel Scholey), who inspires a renewed appreciation in Helen of her hometown, her life and herself. Yet, the couple’s reunion is quickly muddled. The...

Recruitment for a new CEO is underway.

Pauline Burt – the founding CEO of Welsh film agency Ffilm Cymru Wales – is to step down after 17 years.

Since Burt founded the agency in 2006, it has invested £15.8m of National Lottery funding in supporting 89 feature films through to production, and many more in development. These include Gideon Koppel’s documentary Sleeping Furiously, Rungano Nyoni’s I Am Not A Witch, Prano Bailey-Bond’s Censor, Lee Haven’s Gwledd (The Feast), Euros Lyn’s Dream Horse, Janis Pugh’s Chuck Chuck Baby, Sally El Hosaini and James Krishna Floyd’s Unicorns and animation Kensuke’s Kingdom.

Auteurs Agnieszka Holland, Wim Wenders, Hamaguchi Ryusuke and Aki Kaurismaki are among the filmmakers featured in the Toronto International Film Festival’s (TIFF) Centrepiece program.

The strand, previously known as Contemporary World Cinema, which honors and celebrates global cinematic achievements, features 47 titles from filmmakers representing 45 countries.

TIFF has also revealed the additional lineup of galas, special presentations and documentaries, which feature star wattage from around the world including Tommy Lee Jones and Anil Kapoor.

“We are very excited to present the new Centrepiece program, a cinematic journey that transcends boundaries and embraces the art of human experience,” said Anita Lee, TIFF chief programming officer. “The rebranding of the TIFF program, formerly Contemporary World Cinema, is a reflection of the festival’s vision to provide an elevated platform for international cinema, acclaimed titles from festivals around the globe, highly anticipated premieres from Canadian and international talents, and the latest work of influential filmmaking luminaries.

The Strange Case Of Dr Jekyll And Mr Hyde Photo: Courtesy of Eiff Edinburgh International Film Festival has announced its line-up this year will feature five world premiere features, including The Strange Case Of Dr Jekyll And Mr Hyde, documentary Choose Irvine Welsh and Welsh-set romantic drama Chuck Chuck Baby.

The slate of 24 films - which is abbreviated due to the event being hosted by the International Festival after the collapse of Eiff's parent organisation The Centre for the Moving Image last year - also features the already announced premiere of Silent Roar as the opening night film and Scottish thriller Kill.

Afire Photo: Courtesy of Sideshow and Janus Films Hope Dickson Leach's Jekyll and Hyde has been created as a live hybrid performance with the National Theatre of Scotland. Ian Jefferies' Choose Irvine Welsh looks at the career of the Trainspotting author, while Janis Pugh's Chuck Chuck Baby...

A total of 24 feature films, including five world premieres, make up this year’s programme.

Edinburgh International Film Festival has unveiled a 24-title programme for 2023, featuring the world premiere of Janis Pugh’s feature debut Chuck Chuck Baby, and international titles spanning Europe, China, India and Japan.

There are five world premieres, plus five retrospective titles, five short films and an outdoor screening weekend of seven features.

Chuck Chuck Baby unfurls in a chicken factory in north Wales, and stars Louise Brealey, Annabel Scholey, Sorcha Cusack, Celyn Jones and Emily Fairn. It’s set in the present day, with a...

“The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde” and “Choose Irvine Welsh” are among the world premieres at the 2023 Edinburgh International Film Festival (Eiff), the full program for which was unveiled on Thursday.

As previously announced, “Silent Roar” and “Fremont” will bookend the festival, which includes 24 feature films, five retrospective titles, five short film programs and an outdoor screening weekend with seven features.

A hybrid adaptation of Robert Louis Stevenson’s iconic novella “The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde,” Hope Dickson Leach’s film transposes the action from London to Victorian Edinburgh. Ian Jefferies’ “Choose Irvine Welsh” is a documentary about the renowned “Trainspotting” author and features his admirers including Iggy Pop, Martin Compston, Danny Boyle, Bobbie Gillespie, Gail Porter, Rowetta and Andrew Macdonald.

Other world premieres include debutant Janice Pugh’s Lgbtqia+ romance “Chuck Chuck Baby,” starring Louise Brealey (“Sherlock”) and Annabel Scholey (“The Split...

The event showcases UK titles and UK sales companies to mainly European buyers.

Animated features Kensuke’s Kingdom, an adaptation of a Michael Morpurgo novel directed by Neil Boyle and Kirk Hendry.and sold by Bankside, and Tim Harper’s Ozi - Voice Of The Forest, about an orphan orangutang, that is produced by Leonardo DiCaprio’s Appian Way and sold by Gfm, are among the high-profile projects that will screen to distributors at this year’s London Screenings.

The three-day event will take place at Picturehouse Central in Piccadilly Circus from June 19 - 21 2023,

UK and international sales companies will be...

Sales company also takes on Janis Pugh’s Great 8 selection ‘Chuck Chuck Baby.’

The Yellow Affair has boarded international sales for Mark Leonard Winter’s feature directorial debut The Rooster starring Hugo Weaving (The Lord Of The Rings) and Phoenix Raei (The Night Agent).

When the body of his oldest friend is found buried in a shallow grave, a small-town cop, forms a strange relationship with a volatile hermit who may have been the last person to see his friend alive.

Winter is an acclaimed actor who previously appeared in The Dressmaker, Elvis and Top of the Lake: China Girl.

Nikki Molloy and Zoe Martin have joined as lead agents.

UK talent agency Loop Talent has expanded its representation remit with a new slate of line producers, production managers and first assistant directors, while building on its growing list of intimacy co-ordinators, and bringing on Nikki Molloy and Zoe Martin as lead agents for the new departments.

Loop Talent was founded by Lucy Price in 2020. It is an agency that focuses on representation of UK heads of department and crew.

Prior to joining Loop, Molloy was an assistant director on film and high-end TV productions including The Personal History Of David Copperfield...

Feature examines film as conduit for humanity’s end-of-millennium fear, anxiety, elation and obsession.

New York and LA-based genre arthouse specialists Yellow Veil Pictures have acquired worldwide rights to Amanda Kramer’s cyberspace cinema documentary So Unreal narrated by Blondie singer and pop icon Debbie Harry and will launch sales in Cannes.

So Unreal puts cyberspace cinema from 1981-2001 like The Matrix, Tron, Tetsuo and eXisTenz under the spotlight and examines film as a conduit for humanity’s fear, anxiety, elation and obsession over the emerging technology at the end of the millennium.

“What a deep honour that Debbie Harry lent her legendary,...