Cinema Wales Sinema Cymru

"Expanding self-determination builds stronger national confidence in Wales, and investors see opportunities in TV and Film production as 'clean industries'"

"Promoting Welsh film and television abroad is one of the most effective ways of raising Wales's profile in the world. A Welsh programme broadcast in a foreign country has the potential to reach tens or hundreds of millions of people." (According to the House of Commons Select Committee on Welsh Affairs, First Report, in 2001, (sect. 47, 48).

Recognition might be the first step, but the obstacles to implementing any film projects to "raise Wales's profile" are daunting. Welsh film director Christopher Monger sums it up, "The average cost of a film produced by a Hollywood studio was $52,700,000 - a cost which does not include monies spent on advertising which are often equal to the amount of producing a picture . . . Given the size and scope of this, how can any other country's film makers compete for screen-time, let alone an audience? How can a tiny country like Wales hope to make an impression?" (Wales On Screen, S. Blandford, editor.)

RECENT WELSH FILMS

Academy Award Nominee 1992

HEDD WYN

Academy Award Nominee 1999

SOLOMON & GAENOR

 

American Box Office Hit

HUMAN TRAFFIC

 

TWIN TOWN

TESTIMONY OF TALIESYN JONES

Endaf Emlyn, Director of

UN NOS OLA NEUAD

"The most successful of Welsh language drama directors Endaf Emlyn continues to give the lie to those who would decry Welsh talent. He moves easily from period pieces, including his masterpiece Un Nos Ola Leuad (One Full Moon) (1991) — arguably the finest film ever to have been made for television in Wales — to contemporary dramas, such as his 1997 S4C domestic comedy drama /road movie Provence. Emlyn's work has included genre features, and semi-autobiographical or youthful rites-of-passage material Stomydd Awst (Storms of August) (1988) or Mapiwr (the Making of Maps). His recent dramas reflect an increasing maturity in handling complex ideas and his growth in stature as a director has proved some vindication of S4C's policy of regular commissions to indigenous companies." "Unearthing the Present: Television Drama in Wales, by Dave Berry, from Wales On Screen, Steve Blandford Ed. 2000.

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