Starring four time Academy Award® nominee Saoirse Ronan (whose directorial debut Paper Plane screens elsewhere in the programme) and directed by Encounters alumnus Jonatan Etzler, Bad Apples is loosely based on Rasmus Andersson’s debut novel De Oönskare. Ronan plays Maria, a primary school teacher doing her best to inspire a class of 11-year-olds but unable to because of one unruly and chaotic student. With her career in question and the child’s behaviour spiralling, she makes a series of bad decisions that lead to her accidentally taking and locking this "bad apple” in her home. She tries desperately to backtrack, but when the class starts flourishing and the staff and parents are thrilled with the improvement, she finds herself in a very complicated predicament. As entertaining as it is provocative, Bad Apples also features a whole host of Bristol legends including Amy Mason and Alice Lamb, and was filmed at The Bottle Yard Studios and on location in the South West.