Filming in Reepham for new feature movie
Local filmmakers, director Teele Dunkley and producer Lesley van Dijk, who are working together with Nick Barton of Calendar Girls and Kinky Boots fame, have been shooting scenes at Reepham Primary School in October for a new feature film, The Secret Folk Dancer.
Filming high school scenes for The Secret Folk Dancer in Reepham in October. Cast (left to right, middle row): Israel Addo, Noah White, Adam Parkinson and Freya van Dijk-Warner. Photo: Lesley van Dijk
The filmmakers have already filmed a few scenes in Estonia last year following crowdfunding campaigns.
The majority of the movie is due to be filmed in the UK when the rest of the funding for the feature-length movie is secured.
Ms Dunkley wrote the script with Norfolk-based screenwriter Stephan Drury which tells the story of a conflicted Filipino-Estonian teenager, Rein, who is forced to lead a tricky double life after he joins an Estonian folk dance group. He does this out of fear of being made fun of by his no-nonsense and cool London skateboarding friends.
The film is a coming-of-age drama with comic elements and lots of movement, showcasing various dance styles and scenes with skateboarding.
Readers of the script were hooked from the start and have called it a “multicultural Billy Elliott”.
Actors from well-known Netflix series are already attached to the project, as well as Oscar-nominated Estonian actor Reimo Sagor and British-Filipino actor Kim-Michael Last alongside comedian and actress Ria Lina.
On set, the young actor Dominic Montes from Estonia who plays Rein was joined for the filming in Reepham by the cast from London, Manchester, Yorkshire, Suffolk and Norfolk, including actor Adam Parkinson from the popular Two Mr Ps in a Pod(Cast).
See our earlier story:
Behind the scenes during filming for The Secret Folk Dancer in Reepham in October. Left to right: producer Lesley van Dijk, director Teele Dunkley and actor Kim-Michael Last. Photo: Jamie Bird