Premiere for Shropshire director's new movie

A Shropshire cinema rolled out the red carpet to stage the premiere of a county director's new movie.

Finding Their Feet, which has already been a big hit at film festivals on both sides of the Atlantic, made its official debut at Telford's Odeon cinema.

Director Matt Daniels, from Shifnal, was joined by members of the cast and crew for yesterday morning's event.

Finding Their Feet, which was filmed largely around the Shifnal, Oakengates and Dawley area, is 35-year-old Matt's second feature film.

• See pictures from the premiere in our gallery to your right

It tells the story of a dancer, played by Telford actress Hannah Polland, who is mute and reclusive as a result of family traumas.

She meets a boy in an internet chat room, who persuades her to face her darkest fears and compete in a national dance competition.

The film, which is also out on DVD next week, features many of Shropshire's finest dancers and actors, and has won critical acclaim at film festivals in California, Oklahoma, Hollywood, and back home in Shifnal and Bridgnorth.

Matt, who also composed and performed some of the music for the film, said yesterday's premiere was a chance to say thank you to the cast and crew.

"Most of the film is shot in Shifnal and was entirely produced in our Shifnal office at This Can Motion Pictures, so it was nice to do something special in Shropshire," he said.

Matt's first film, Powerless, a post-apocalyptic thriller about a family struggling to survive a devastating terrorist attack which crippled the UK, was released in 2006.

Finding Their Feet will be shown for 24 hours on the film's Facebook page if it reaches 10,000 "likes" - it would be a first for a British film.

The page can be found at www.facebook.com/FindingTheirFeet