New Olivier Award winner Papa Essiedu, star of HBO’s upcoming Harry Potter series, is stepping away from his role as Professor Snape to star alongside Maxine Peake (I Swear, Say Nothing) in the British short film Rundream.
Producer Tobi Kyerematen, who won the BAFTA Best TV Short Film Award for 2023’s How to Be a Person, is also attached to the project, which marks the debut of the writer-director duo Amber Gadd and Evie Ward-Drummond.
Essiedo makes his film acting debut in a coming-of-age short film set in the Sheffield countryside, co-starring Ward-Drummond (G’WED), David Fielder (Peterloo) and Gadd. Peake will executive produce alongside Kyerematen, Chris Overton, Rachel Shenton and Mustafa Wehbi.
Rundream is set inside a working laundromat, filmed on location at Ward Drummond’s family business, and follows Minnie and Leah, two twenty-somethings who have never left their hometown. When ex-coworker Danny (Esiedu) unexpectedly returns from London, the two are thrown into turmoil as they try to impress him, only to discover that the life and relationships they’ve been overlooking may be exactly what they need.
The short was produced for Muckea by Nina Georgiev and Anna Sophia Duff in association with Little Lark Productions and Oscar-winning Slick Film.
The filmmakers describe the project as “an ode to the courage to dream, no matter where you come from,” and a film that explores “the humour, kindness and ambition that exist within ordinary spaces.”
Nanu Segal (The Horde, Slow Horses) serves as the cinematographer.
Rundream will have its world premiere at the BAFTA and Oscar-nominated Raindance Film Festival and will be screened on Sunday 21st June at 12:15pm and Tuesday 23rd June at 12:45pm.
