Father and daughter film-makers hit the big screen

BIG SCREEN: Peter Olding with Rebecca and Dean Sills

Films - free for the public to watch – that have begun a five-week run in the Market Hall include The Wild Garden, A Winter’s Tale, Pond Life, A Snowy Christmas, Looney Toons, A Dollar To Die For, Barry the Bauble, the Coast trailer and the premiere of Regeneration.

Dean and Rebecca, who will be there in person for a number of days and are happy to chat to anyone about their award-winning films, thanked Peter Olding and Artists in Residence for enabling the project.

Dean (aged 55) said: “So far the feedback has been great with people asking mainly about the western. People can’t believe we shot the film in our living room in Bolton on Dearne.

DVD: Rebecca and Dean with the DVD of A Dollar To Die For

“We are so grateful to Peter and Artists in Residence, who have four artists there working in open studios, displaying artworks and giving workshops and demos. for giving us this wonderful opportunity to show our short films in front of the general public, especially since I was born in Mexborough.”

Rebecca (aged 24) said: “I was thrilled to see John Greaves there. John worked on Regeneration, he did a superb job and I really appreciated his feedback on my film about the mining community. Thanks to Artists in Residence for making this happen.”

DVDs and CDs of A Dollar To Die For are available to buy plus a number of Rebecca's artworks. The DVD is also available through Amazon across the UK, Europe and North America. It has already won 50 awards in International Film Festivals and was selected as a Classical Western Best Short at the Golden Dust Film Festival in Mexico.

The short movie features Dean as Joe Wade, an outlaw who teams up with Jess Clay, played by Keiron Goodwin, for one last bank robbery before they put down their guns. The raid takes place while the town of Deadwood is empty due to everyone being at Judge Morgan’s funeral, but Wade feels their time is finally running out waiting for the Sheriff and his posse to track them down.

The DVD features a number of Rebecca and Dean’s wildlife shorts – filmed to pass the time during lockdown – plus trailers, outtakes, a director’s commentary and photo gallery.

The Market Place in Mexborough is open Monday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday from 10am.

Dean and Rebecca plan to make more films after they finish their wildlife film on the Yorkshire Coast with Keiron Goodwin. Filming has already taken place in Whitby, Scarborough and Flamborough Head.