Director who remortgaged home to fund movie gets festival screening

A film-maker is to present his new movie at the BFI London Film Festival after remortgaging his home to make it.

Jamie Thraves, 41, who made his name with music videos for Radiohead and Coldplay, recruited his friend, Aidan Gillen, star of Queer As Folk and The Wire, to appear in Treacle Jnr which was shot in four weeks in south London and cost £30,000.

Father-of-two Thraves raised £20,000 when his wife, Nicky, agreed to remortgage their house in East Dulwich. Family pitched in with another £10,000 and everyone involved deferred their fees.

Treacle Jnr is about Tom, 40, played by Tom Fisher, who walks out on his wife and baby and lives on the streets, where he meets Aidan, played by Gillen. Last weekend the film shared top prize with Made In Dagenham at the Dinard British Film Festival in France.

Treacle Jnr will be screened in London from October 21-24.