Michael Sheen and debut director Simon Ryninks have discussed the personal inspirations behind Welsh science-fiction film Out There, which premieres in competition at the Edinburgh Film Festival. The film combines a story of grief with UFO folklore, using an apparent sighting over a Welsh town to explore the search for answers and closure after loss.

Set in 1999, it follows teenage amateur astronomer Maz, who is grieving her missing scientist father and enlists friends, a conspiracy theorist and Sheen’s local psychic character to investigate. Ryninks drew on his mother’s death and Wales’s history of UFO sightings, particularly reports and alleged cover-ups from the 1970s; Sheen also recalled seeing unexplained lights near Port Talbot as a child. The cast includes Nerys Amber Stocks, Iwan Rheon, Aneurin Barnard and Tom Moya.