‘Hereditary’s’ Toni Collette and ‘Homelands’ Damien Lewis have joined the cast on true-life drama ‘Dream Horse’.
The film is based on the true story of one woman’s extraordinary dream to breed and raise a champion racehorse on the allotment of her forgotten Welsh village – and of how she brings her entire community with her.
Collette will take the role of Jan Vokes, a middle-aged barmaid at a working men’s club who bring together a syndicate of local people to breed a foal – which they name Dream Alliance. Lewis will play Howard Davies, the local accountant she persuades to join her in running the racing syndicate.
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On the racetrack, the horse proves himself to be more than a match for multi-million-pound racehorses he comes up against – a true working-class champion, taking on the establishment at their own game. But much more than this, Dream begins to alter the lives of everyone in the syndicate, not least Jan’s. He is everything to her: friend, confidant and an escape from a life of always putting other people’s needs first.
Bafta award-winning director Euros Lyn takes the helm on a script written by Neil McKay.
The true story behind the film was previously told in the documentary ‘Dark Horse’, produced by Judith Dawson and directed by Louise Osmond, also backed by Film4. It won the World Cinema Audience Award at Sundance before being released by Picturehouse in the UK and Sony Pictures Classics in the US.
Production is due to commence this spring.
