'Atomic People' Courtesy of BBC Share on Facebook Share on X Google Preferred Share to Flipboard Show additional share options Share on LinkedIn Share on Pinterest Share on Reddit Share on Tumblr Share on Whats App Send an Email Print the Article Post a Comment The 2025 BAFTA Breakthrough cohort of rising U.K. talent across film, TV, and gaming, supported by Netflix, has been unveiled, and it represents creatives from across such craft areas as producing, writing, directing, editing, acting, and more. Among the 20 "must-watch" creatives highlighted in the latest year of the BAFTA Breakthrough initiative are Grand Theft Hamlet writer-director Pinny Grylls, whose feature documentary focuses on two out-of- work actors attempting to mount a production of Hamlet inside the world of Grand Theft Auto that was shot in game, Mr Loverman series writer and associate producer Nathaniel Price, Scottish Highlands period drama Harvest producer Marie-Elena Dyche, and Megumi "Meg" Inman (Black Box Diaries), the co-director and producer of Atomic People, which gives voice to survivors of the atomic bombs dropped on Japan. Related Stories General News BAFTA Breakthrough: Ellis Howard, Laura Carreira, Akinola Davies Jr. Among Rising U.K. Creatives Movies KC Global Media, Rein Entertainment Sign Five-Movie Slate Deal to Step Up Asian Content Production THR caught up with them to discuss their hopes for the BAFTA Breakthrough experience, the works that have gotten them into it, and future plans. Marie-Elena Dyche Having worked as a producer on such successes as Blue Jean, How to Have Sex, and Harvest, starring Caleb Landry Jones, Harry Melling, Rosy McEwen, Frank Dillane, and others, her latest films are Dragonfly and Mission, starring George MacKay and Rosy McEwen, which was selected for the Cannes Great8 showcase 2025. Marie-Elena Dyche, courtesy of BAFTA/Hollie Fernando It sounds like a super-busy year for you, with Harvest and more recently Dragonfly, starring Andrea Riseborough and Brenda Blethyn... Absolutely. It's been a really amazing year. We're jumping between different screenings and juggling loads of stuff. It's really fun, and there's a lot of stuff going on, but I really love that. It's these types of films that I'm really proud of, particularly Dragonfly. It's a very simple, kind of wholesome story about connection and loneliness, and we've got these amazing actresses who I feel like are at the top of their game, and it's just come all together in a very simple way, but also just lets them flourish and lets these themes of loneliness and connection just speak for themselves. And I think that's the reason why it's been doing so well recently, winning awards and stuff. Harvest was more of a genre film, but also touched on serious social issues. How do you approach genre? Harvest was more like trippy, dreamy, and it just looks beautiful and stunning. But at the core of it and its heart, it does have some really important social impact themes. It is about the Highland Clearances [the evictions of many tenants in the Scottish Highlands and Islands from 1750 to 1860] and about what happens to villages and communities that get moved along and the unfairness of it. I think there are links between all of the projects I've done so far in that I want them to be defying and pushing boundaries. But also, it's really, really important for me that there is this important human value of social impact, or making people come away with a message, or starting a discussion. Harvest also featured Rosy McEwen, who starred in Blue Jean. You two must enjoy working together! It's really funny. I've done two films with her previously, and I've got one coming out, on which we're just in post-production. It's a film by director Paul Wright, called Mission. I just love working with her. And I think that when you've got really interesting subjects and material, actors want that stuff. So it's really nice to be able to go back to particular actors I have worked with in the past, like Rosy, and be like: "Look, there's something really special here." Is there anything else you can share on Mission? We have been on a very long post-production journey with it, and so it's changed and shifted over the course of the process. I'm really excited to finally introduce it into the festival world and get people's reactions. It's been another really special project, and working with another wonderful director and an amazing cast. Pinny Grylls Last year, Grylls won the BFI Chanel Filmmaker Award for her debut feature Grand Theft Hamlet, a doc shot entirely inside video game Grand Theft Auto, which also won the SXSW jury award for best feature doc, and 2 BIFAs, namely the Raindance Maverick honor and the Outstanding Debut Documentary Director honor. "A deaf filmmaker who learned BSL after losing her hearing in 2016, Grylls has also created documentaries for major U.K. broadcasters and institutions, including the BBC, Channel 4, The National Theatre, and The Guar