Actor Prasanna Puwanarajah’s feature directorial debut Ballywalter is currently shooting in Northern Ireland.
Described as a “bittersweet comedy set in the village of Ballywalter,” the film is written by Stacey Gregg and stars Paul Mallon, Joanne Crawford, and Tara Cush.
A former NHS Doctor, Puwanarajah’s acting credits include Critical (Sky1), You, Me and the Apocalypse (Sky1/NBC), Doctor Foster (BBC), the BAFTA-winning Patrick Melrose (Sky Atlantic/Showtime) starring Benedict Cumberbatch, and most recently, legal comedy Defending the Guilty. He has previously directed the short films Half-Light and Clamp and Grind and TV series Coming Up.
Puwanarajah’s writing credits include Boy starring Timothy Spall, which screened at the London 2012 Opening Ceremony, and his first graphic novel, Sleeper, co-written with Jed Mercurio (Line of Duty) is due to be published in Summer 2021.
The film is written by Stacey Gregg, writer-director of upcoming psychological thriller Here Before. Belfast native Gregg is a writer, director, and performer for stage and screen. Her screenwriting credits include The Innocents for Netflix, Riviera for Sky, Your Ma’s a Hard Brexit. Stacey was the recipient of a NI Screen Access short award for Mercy, which she wrote and directed.
Producers are James Bierman of Empire Street Productions, Nik Bower of Riverstone Pictures and NI Screen, alongside co-producers Alan Maher and John Wallace of Cowtown Pictures (Rialto), and Brian J. Falconer (Ordinary Love). Executive Producers are Celine Haddad (God’s Own Country), Deepak Nayar (Bend It Like Beckham), and Natascha Wharton (Billy Elliot).
Ballywalter received £860,860 in BFI production funding in 2020, as well as support from Screen Ireland.