Lincolnshire independent cinemas are going to be offering free tickets to preview screenings of the coming-of-age comedy drama Sunny Dancer, ahead of its release on August 14.

On July 27-28, over 120 independent UK cinemas are offering free tickets for the new movie starring Bella Ramsey (The Last Of Us, Game Of Thrones) and James Norton (Happy Valley, McMafia, House of Guinness).

Lincolnshire cinemas offering the free tickets include The Loewen Cinema (Mablethorpe), The Kinema in the Woods (Woodhall Spa), and Savoy Cinemas in Boston, Gainsborough and Grantham.

The free screenings are part of Escapes, a nationwide free cinema initiative, supported by the BFI with National Lottery funding, on a mission to bring cinema to all by hosting more than 100 free film screenings across the UK every month.

A scene from upcoming film Sunny Dancer. Photo: Colin J Smith

placeholder image — A scene from upcoming film Sunny Dancer. Photo: Colin J Smith

These screenings will be one of the first chances for UK audiences to see the film, two weeks before its release.

Sunny Dancer follows 17-year-old Ivy who had recently beat cancer. When Ivy's parents send her to a summer camp in Scotland for kids affected by cancer, she has a hard time adjusting to the rules. But as the weeks progress, Ivy finds a friend group of misfits and has a summer she'll never forget at 'Chemo Camp.'

Shot entirely in Scotland, Sunny Dancer comes from 26-year-old writer-director George Jaques, starring a beloved ensemble cast, also featuring Jessica Gunning (Baby Reindeer) and Neil Patrick Harris (How I Met Your Mother, It’s A Sin) alongside a number of rising stars. You’re Beautiful singer James Blunt even makes a cameo as himself.

Sunny Dancer’s soundtrack comes from Haim sister Este Haim and Zachary Dawes, best-known as a regular Lana Del Rey collaborator and member of the British supergroup The Last Shadow Puppets.

Bella Ramsey and Neil Patrick Harris - Photo by Colin J Smith

Director George Jaques said the film’s inspiration was personal: “My mum had cancer for a long time when I was growing up. I think it was part of why I got into writing. Having that background as a teenager, and her getting

diagnosed massively impacted the way I saw the world. So I knew I wanted to tell a cancer story.”

Jaques remembers saying: “I want to make a film about cancer but I don’t want to make it depressing. I want to do a film with no hospital scenes.” Jaques wanted to reflect the teenage cancer patients he met as an ambassador for the Teenage Cancer Trust. “I wanted to make a film where cancer was the least interesting thing about the characters. They have these skills, this whole life, because they are still teenagers.”

Tickets are available now at escapetothecinema.co.uk