Cinema3

Cinema Wales Sinema Cymru

On an “Awareness of Power, Cool Cymru, and the Possibilities”

“Trying now to reflect on the overall tone of the contributions to this brief survey of a contemporary Wales on screen, one is to an extent struck by their variety, but it is also hard to escape the fact that the balance remains pessimistic. Arguably this is an unfashionable pessimism given the impetus by the Assembly and the various components of the so-called ‘Cool Cymru’. Again and again though, contributors draw attention to the possibilities apparent in the Welsh position only to then go on to give accounts of how these are wasted or thwarted, either by public policy makers or by the social and economic conditions created by the global industries . . .It would be a distortion to say that nothing is changing . . . If this book is to have a true value, it will make its contribution to the growing awareness of a powerful role for all the creative talents involved in film in Wales and add its voice to those who will urge policy makers not to ignore the so-called ‘cultural industries’ when faced with an array of more politically pressing priorities.” — Steve Blandford, Ed., Wales On Screen 2000.

“Every major studio today relies on its film library for billions of dollars of residual income, considered the industry's ‘cash-cow’ assets. Try eliminating every film from these libraries, that includes a Welsh-descended (Esther Williams, D.W. Griffith, Shirley Jones) or Welsh-born film actor or director (Christian Bale, Sir Stanley Baker, John Rhys Davies, Catherine Zeta Jones, Sir Richard Burton, Edith Evans, Hugh Griffith, Kenneth Griffith, Edmund Gwenn, Sir Anthony Hopkins, Ray Milland, Lyn Harding, Jack Howells, Rhys Ifans, Terry Jones, Philip Madoc, Ivor Novello, Dame Siân Phillips, Jonathan Pryce, Paul Rhys, Geraint Wyn Davies, Desmond Llewelyn, Emlyn Williams, Rhys Williams, to name a few) and you'll find their collections dwindle.” *Why Welsh Film? Mark Leslie Woods — SinemaCymru Review* 2002.**
	Oscar-Nominated Welsh Actor Sir Richard Burton

“In the film schools they used to teach us how the French (Les Frères Lumières), Germans (Lang, Fassbinder), Russians (Dovzhenko, Eisenstein), Italians (Fellini, Bertolucci), Jews (take your pick), and recently gays, blacks, hispanics — all were distinct groups who ‘built Hollywood’ or ‘influenced U.S. cinema.’ The time has come to amend our histories to include those indomitable, creative spirits, sometimes overlooked by the stages of London, who found success in America — the Welsh actors, writers, and musicians, unforgetable ‘stars’ in the saga of the silver screen.” *Why Welsh Film? Mark Leslie Woods — SinemaCymru Review* 2002.**	Hugh Grant & Tara Fitzgerald in The Englishman who went up a hill but came down a mountain, written and directed by Christopher Monger. Filmed on location in Wales.

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