Starring: Matthew McNulty (Deadwater Fell, The Syndicate), Andrew Gower (Black Mirror, Outlander) Rakhee Thakrar (Sex Education, Eastenders), Tamzin Merchant (Carnival Row, The Tudors)
Making its UK Premiere on World Cancer Day RUNNING NAKED is a wonderful new British feature from Emmy winning director Victor Buhler (Rikers High, The Negotiators), that’s guaranteed to make you laugh and cry.
A story with cancer at its heart – yet so very much more, the film stars Matthew McNulty (The Terror, Misfits) and Andrew Gower (The Village, Being Human) as two friends who bond during their teenage cancer treatment and become lifelong buddies…but must face a challenge that leads to a life-changing adventure.
Filmed on location in Stoke on Trent, Manchester and Wolverhampton, Running Naked had its World Premiere at the Beijing Film Festival, to a rapturous response, and is now set for its UK premiere on 4th February 2021, with its digital release on 8th February 2021 courtesy of Now Films with a portion of all profits donated to Teenage Cancer Trust and Weston Park Hospital.
When Ben (Gower) and Mark (McNulty) meet in hospital while undergoing leukaemia treatment, they become inseparable. Their wild boyish pranks on the ward may drive the doctors to distraction but it helps take their minds off their precarious state of health.
Skip forward 20 years and their lives have taken different directions…Mark has forged a successful career as a doctor, while Ben is in a dead-end job with debilitating obsessive tendencies. But they have always maintained their friendship and never fail to meet for their regular catch ups. When Mark receives some shocking news, he’s forced to re-evaluate his life and the two men embark on an adventure. As their exploits grow more dramatic, a secret Mark has been hiding comes to light and forces Ben to question everything he knows.
Written by Victor Buhler, Jennifer Knowles and Michael Knowles, the story is a heartfelt and moving tale that draws on Jennifer Knowles’ personal experience as a cancer survivor, that balances humour, emotion and drama in equal measure.
In a world where cancer affects so many lives Running Naked brings a positive and hopeful message to everyone and anyone whose life has been touched by the disease.
Notes: On 4th February 2021 Running Naked will hold its UK premiere, this will be an online at ourscreen's Virtual Cinema and we hope the planned UK Premiere screening at the Film Theatre, Stoke on Trent, goes ahead subject to Covid restrictions. Should this not be possible we plan to run live screenings once circumstances allow. A portion of all profits raised will be donated to the Charities involved which are Teenage Cancer Trust and Weston Park Hospital.
Released on digital Monday 8th February
