Private Project

The Sun Shines On Me

Logline: When a novice drama teacher enters a men’s prison to lead a workshop, she develops an intimate and dangerous connection with an enigmatic inmate.

Synopsis: Lily, an earnest but inexperienced drama teacher, steps into the raw and unpredictable world of a men’s prison to lead a transformative workshop. On her very first day, she encounters Leon, a prisoner whose quiet confidence and guarded demeanor sparks an immediate, unspoken connection. As Lily guides her group through provocative drama exercises, their bond deepens, unfolding into a powerful, forbidden intimacy.

  • Owain Astles
    Director
    To My Younger Self, Sleeping Rough, The Process
  • Owain Astles
    Writer
    To My Younger Self, Sleeping Rough, The Process
  • Ella Church
    Writer
    Cell Outs
  • Jonny Dry
    Producer
    Salvage, An Tarow, Open Country
  • Sophie Seyd
    Producer
    Silo, The Power, Egg
  • Anton Vicente Kliot
    Producer
    Shithead, Look At Me, Daly City
  • Freya Mavor
    Key Cast
    "Lily"
    Skins, Industry, Pride and Prejudice
  • Marlon Mollison
    Key Cast
    "Leon"
    Renegade Nell, The Beekeeper, The Runner
  • Project Type:
    Short
  • Genres:
    Drama, Romance, Prison
  • Runtime:
    12 minutes 43 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    September 30, 2025
  • Country of Origin:
    United Kingdom
  • Country of Filming:
    United Kingdom
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital, Anamorphic
  • Aspect Ratio:
    2.39:1
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    Yes - NYU Tisch School of the Arts
  • Digital Cinema Package:
    Unavailable
Director Biography - Owain Astles

Owain Astles is a filmmaker from South West UK, whose work focuses on social impact and participatory filmmaking across both narrative and documentary genres. Owain’s films have screened at multiple BAFTA and BIFA-qualifying festivals. Currently, Owain studies at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts within the Grad Film program, where he is a BAFTA scholar and a recipient of the WTC Johnson scholarship. He recently took part in HBO’s shadow program for House Of The Dragon and is a Gotham Marcie Bloom Fellow.

Before attending NYU, Owain worked in London prisons for several years, running a filmmaking program with incarcerated men. He has created work for BFI Network, BBC Arts, and Netflix. Owain is a passionate advocate for film as a tool for social change.

Add Director Biography
Director Statement

The Sun Shines On Me is a love story set in prison, exploring an intimate connection between a staff member and an incarcerated man. The film is rooted in the authentic experiences of workers within the UK prison system – both mine and those of my co-writer, Ella Church.

I taught filmmaking in London jails for over two years, while Ella worked first as an officer and later as an abolitionist theatre facilitator. As anyone with experience in UK prisons knows, relationships between staff and inmates are a common yet taboo dynamic, one rarely portrayed with nuance within mainstream media. Our intention with this film is to examine how systemic oppression and isolation inside prisons can spark moments of blurred intimacy — not to justify them – but to understand their roots and consequences.

The Sun Shines On Me was made with the belief that the unseen aspects of production are just as crucial as those visible onscreen. Aside from the lead role of Lily, all actors in the film possess lived experience of the criminal justice system. We ensured that all cast were paid equally and at a fair rate, using an equitable pay system. More than anything, our goal was to integrate voices with lived experience at all stages of the process, from script development to our collaborative onset environment, all the way through to post-production.

I am passionate about telling stories of intimate human connection grounded in social impact and community-led filmmaking. With The Sun Shines On Me, I sought to eschew the traditional, muted, gritty social realist lens through which prison dramas are usually told. Instead, we worked to explore the story through the framework of the romantic drama genre – albeit with a twist.

I am currently developing the feature film version of The Sun Shines On Me with co-writers Ella Church and Olu Sowemimo. The feature delves deeper into the connection between Lily and Leon, exploring their individual lives and the traumas that have shaped them, as well as revealing the ultimate aftermath of their brief encounter.