A PEMBROKESHIRE filmmaker, who has self-funded a documentary about Welsh glam rock wrestler Adrian Street, sees her work go into the ring this week with its world premiere.

Joann Randles, 30, who is originally from Saundersfoot, has been involved in the film industry for over half her life.

Her passion to tell the Billy Elliot-style tale of Adrian Street – the boy from the Welsh valleys who transformed himself into an iconic wrestling superstar – has led her to self-fund the project, which she hopes will culminate with a mainstream movie.

The documentary – ‘You May Be Pretty, But I Am Beautiful’: The Adrian Street Story – has been financed from 30-year-old Joann’s earnings freelancing on network television shows and backed by her parents, Peter and Lyndy Randles of Saundersfoot.

The oldest cinema in Wales, The Market Hall Cinema in Brynmawr, near Ebbw Vale - where Adrian Street worked as a child - is to be the venue for the documentary premiere on Thursday May 16.

Joining Adrian and his wife Linda on the red carpet will be WWE wrestlers Flash Morgan Webster, Eddie Dennis, Mark Andrews and Wild Boar.

“This isn’t just a story about a wrestler,” said Joann. “It’s proof that anything is possible, if you believe and work hard.

“That’s what has made me so passionate about the project, because some people feel I wouldn’t be able to see it through because it was over-ambitious and I was too young and inexperienced.”

News of the production has grown internationally, with its fans increasing daily.

Because of this, Joann, now based in Swansea, has had to fight off larger, well-known production companies who have tried to poach the project from her.

“I haven’t sold out because I wanted to stay true to Adrian’s story, and the commitment and promise I made – not only to him, but to myself – to see the production through,” she said.

“It’s been an amazing experience working with Adrian. If I’ve been disheartened, then he’s always there to encourage me forward.

“I think he sees in me a bit of himself, how he fought against the odds for what he wanted.

“It’s a real privilege to be able to tell his story.”

The documentary has been selected for the BAFTA Cymru-qualifying Carmarthen Bay Film Festival later this month, and former Greenhill School pupil Joann is currently a finalist for a 2019 Chwarae Teg Womenspire award in the creative and media category.

To find out more about Joann, visit www.JoannRandles.com