THE SECRET FOLK DANCER
10-year-old Rein is a happy country boy - he lives in a beautiful home among the forests of Estonia, attends a small country school and dances with his parents in a folk dance group. On a beautiful summer's day, they perform at the Pere Folk Dance Festival in Pärnu County. An idyllic day at the festival for Rein comes to a sad end when he discovers that his family life is changing and they will soon be moving to London.
When 17-year-old Rein discovers a group of Estonian folk dancers practising in London, he joins them in secret knowing that his cool skateboarding friends would not approve of this hobby and new community of dance friends of various ages. Rein's dad is Estonian and mother Filipino and what starts off as Rein's simple wish to dance and connect to his dad's culture, very quickly becomes a double life that he is struggling to maintain.
The Secret Folk Dancer is Estonian film director Teele Dunkley's next project - a fun combination of great characters, Estonian folk dancing, skateboarding and many other dance styles peppered into a moving and occasionally funny story.
A section of the film was made in Estonia, featuring the 10-year-old version of the main character Rein and the team is now preparing to continue filming in the UK from spring 2025.
Estonian born and UK-based Teele Dunkley is a director, writer and still photographer.
Her career started in 2010, working for Eye Film and TV. Soon after that, Teele went freelance, focusing on making music videos, short films and actors showreels in the UK and in Estonia.
Now, Teele has directed 28 projects, with the size of the crews ranging from small crew to 200 people on set. She has received awards for scriptwriting short film 'Metres Apart' that she also directed in 2020 and her short film 'Losing Us' has received high praise from Stephen Fry and is doing its festival run, where it has won multiple awards.
Teele can apply all her skills in dance and passion for filmmaking and her interest in meaningful human stories into making 'The Secret Folk Dancer'.
DIRECTOR & CO-WRITER
Teele Dunkley
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER
He founded Harbour Pictures in 1999 and the company commenced feature film development and production in 2000 with the commissioning of a script for CALENDAR GIRLS for Buena Vista. Calendar Girls, starring Helen Mirren and Julie Walters became the seventh highest-grossing British film ever in the UK. It took over £20 million at the UK box office and approximately $100 million internationally.
Harbour Pictures negotiated the rights to The Kinky Boot Factory and struck a deal with Miramax for the development and production of KINKY BOOTS, another huge worldwide success as a film and stage show. The latest film by Harbour films was SWALLOWS & AMAZONS for BBC Films, BFI, Studio Canal and Hanway Films, BFI, Studio Canal and Hanway Films. The company has numerous films in development and pre-production.
Nick Barton
Lesley, who is originally from the Netherlands, is a producer, photographer and communications professional. She has more than two decades of experience in communications, marketing and project management. Her unique mix of being visually creative and having worked in the corporate world, is a real asset to the project. Recently, Lesley produced short films ‘Metres Apart’ and 'Losing Us' and has previously produced promotional videos while working as Head of Communications. In 2009, she produced a set of short films about Gypsies and Travellers. The project won a national award from the Royal Town Planning Institute that year. She has a big heart for the environment and is working on her own film (script phase), which is about climate change aimed at young teenagers.
PRODUCER
Stephan Drury is an award-winning script writer, lecturer at The Open University and an actor. He has trained at Rose Bruford College, a Theatre and Performance academy, and has an MA in Creative Writing from the University of East Anglia. Stephan has written several scripts for film and theatre productions. He writes black comedy, tragedy and drama that is sharp, witty and psychologically informed. He often explores existential themes of mortality, madness and isolation in an absurdist manner.
The Secret Folk Dancer is one of many project Stephan has collaborated on with Teele Dunkley. Being half German and half English, Stephan connected to the multicultural world Rein lives in, when working on the script.