Croeso i drafodaeth 'da fi ar y we, gyda newyddion cerddoriaeth, ffilmiau, barddoniaeth, ffuglen, dramau, a storiau byr y Gymru. Welcome to my online symposium, your one source for news and reviews about new and old, Welsh Music, Film, Poetry, Fiction, Dramas, and Short Stories. A (mostly) English language forum of Minority Celtic Language, Culture & Politics in Music and Film.
The Skillset Screen Academy Wales is co-ordinating a new FREE documentary festival in March (13th and 14th) at the Riverfront Arts Centre, Newport.
To book tickets call the Riverfront on (01633) 656757
Stranger than Fiction Wales Programme Thursday - 13/3/2008 The Studio Riverfront Arts Centre
18.30 - 20.00 Jennings Finest Hour (A BFI Presentation)
20.00 - 22.00 Bardsey, Senghennydd, Tiger Bay and Pill (A National Screen and Sound Archive of Wales Presentation)
Friday - 14/3/2008 The Studio Riverfront Arts Centre
13.00 - 15.00 Black Film Festival Wales Docs Q&A with guests to follow screening
15.00 - 16.00 Screening of award-winning graduate and student productions
16.00 - 17.30 FourDocs Screening and discussion
18.00 - 19.15 Jennings and Rotha (A BFI Presentation)
19.30 - 21.00 Anstey, Clarke and Grierson on film (A BFI Presentation)
21.00 - 22.30 Closing Reception sponsored by the Film Agency for Wales RSVP here to request a ticket for the reception which is open to anyone who has attended a screening over the two days.
Staff at Stranger than Fiction Wales:
Festival Manager: Hannah Raybould Festival Coordinator: Matthew Evans Festival Programmers: Humphry Trevelyan & Matthew Evans Guest Liaison: Matthew Evans Design: Sian Crandon, University of Wales, Newport Marketing/PR: Hannah Raybould & Rebecca Froggatt Translations: Owen Martell Volunteers: SSAW students and students of BA Documentary at IFSW
Hill of Dreams -- Best Documentary at the International Film School Awards 2005
Thanks to:
Dan Thomas at the Film Agency for Wales; Clare Harwood at the BFI; Undeg Griffiths and Iestyn Hughes at the National Screen and Sound Archive of Wales; Yvonne Connickie at the Black Welsh Film Festival; Rebecca Franckel at FourDocs; Lisa Nesbitt at BAFTA Cymru; Chris Morris at the International Film School Wales.
Searchd opens at Chapter Arts Centre in Cardiff this weekend:
Fri 21 - Sun 30 Dec Gwe 21 - Sul 30 Rhag
Friday, 21 December 2007 17:00 Cinema 1
Saturday, 22 December 2007 15:00 Cinema 1
Saturday, 22 December 2007 17:00 Cinema 1
Sunday, 23 December 2007 17:00 Cinema 1
Thursday, 27 December 2007 17:00 Cinema 1
Friday, 28 December 2007 11:00 Cinema 1
Friday, 28 December 2007 17:00 Cinema 1
Saturday, 29 December 2007 15:00 Cinema 1
Saturday, 29 December 2007 17:00 Cinema 1
Sunday, 30 December 2007 17:00 Cinema 1
{Pictured above: publicity still from the Gaelic Language feature film, Searchd: The Impossible Pinnacle (2007).]
Scottish film director Simon Miller has put out an appeal for help, as it's been reported to Celtic Cult Cinema that the Scottish Parliament is poised to debate BAFTA Oscar Controversy over the alleged snub of the Gaelic Feature Film 'serachd: The Impossible Pinnacle (2007).
Simon Miller's Gaelic language feature film opens across Scotland this week, just as the BAFTA Oscar nomination controversy has caught fire.
It’s a film specifically about storytelling, and about the firm location of old stories in particular landscapes."
"A fitting theme for the first ever feature film in Scottish Gaelic."
"Gorgeously-realised blend of magic realism and family drama" THE HERALD "Dramatic, funny, spectacular and steeped in Gaelic mythology" THE LIST "Glows with warmth and humanity" THE OBSERVER "Visually breathtaking" BBC
Simon Miller writes:
"As you may have seen in the Seachd group blurb on facebook BAFTA (The UK's film academy) has failed to put forward any non-English language films for the Best Foreign Language Film category at next year's Oscars - which includes Seachd."
"THERE IS SOMETHING YOU CAN DO TO HELP, PARTICULARLY THOSE OF YOU FROM OUTSIDE THE UK..."
"Of 18 Western European countries invited by the Academy to put non-English language films forward for the Oscars, the UK is the only one to fail to do so."
"BAFTAs decision is sensless and really could not have been made on some measure of the "quality" of the film, given the strong early reviews we have had (“excellent” The Sunday Times, “breathtaking” BBC, “tender, graceful…gorgeously-realised” The Herald, “worth shouting about” The Scotsman, “dramatic, funny and spectacular” The List, and “an astonishing production” Eye For Film). And surely they wouldn't have put forward such obviously English language turkeys as they have in recent years if quality really was the issue?"
"BAFTA is an institution designed to promote British film - in whatever language - and their decision feels dangerously close to censorship and it will mean - ultimately - that less people will get to see the film in the UK internationally."
"YOU CAN HELP CHANGE THAT..."
"We have been able to gather a great deal of support to help overturn their decision within the film industry in the UK, and also from the Academy who have written to BAFTA asking for an explanation. And we have just learned that this issue is on the agenda to be debated in the Scottish Parliament on Thursday this week."
UK/2007/100 mins/subtitled/ctba. Dir: Simon Miller. With Aonghas Padruig Caimbeul, Padruig Morrison, Coll MacDonald.
This delightful Scottish Gaelic film features stunning scenery and powerful performances. Angus travels to Skye to say a final farewell to his grandfather and find out the truth about his parents.
Seachd: The Inaccessible Pinnacle is the first feature film in Scottish Gaelic.
It is a film from the Scottish Gaelic community starring local Gaelic-speaking actors from the Highlands and Isles and was filmed entirely on the Isle of Skye (An t-Eilean Sgitheanach) off the West Coast of Scotland.
Seachd is not a Hollywood film. The film was shot across just 25 days on a tiny budget, but it is a film with a big heart and it represents the lives of people living in a part of the world that has yet to be shown on the big screen.
The soundtrack to Seachd features some of Gaeldom's greatest living vocalists and musicians - and ancient Gaelic instruments such as the Carnyx (Celtic battle horn), the metal strung Clàrsach (Gaelic harp) and the triplepipes (the predecessor of the bagpipes).
As it's said in Gaelic: Làn fhìrinn na sgeòil -- The truth is in the story. When a young man, Angus, visits his dying Grandfather in hospital he cannot hold back his boyhood quest for the truth - the truth behind the death of his parents and the truth behind his Grandfather's ancient, incredible, fearful stories.
Stories from the whole swathe of Gaelic history of poisoned lovers, bloody revenge, water-horses and Spanish gold.
His Grandfather hijacks Angus' life for one last time leading him to one of Scotland's most treacherous mountains, The Inaccessible Pinnacle on the Isle of Skye, and an ancient truth he never expected to find.
Làn fhìrinn na sgeòil. Tha Aonghas air a bhith air tòir na fìrinn o òige, miann a tha a' teannachadh na inntinn 's na chorp nuair a thuigeas e gu bheil am bàs gu laighe air a Sheanar.
Tha fios aig Aonghas gu bheil an t-àm dha eòlas a chur air an fhìrinn mu bhàs a phàrantan 's cuideachd mu sgeulachdan a Sheanair. Sgeulachdan iongantach, eagalach a thug air cuairt tro eachdraidh nan Gaidheal iad le gaol, sabaid, eich-uisge agus òr Spàinnteach nam measg.
Tha Aonghas 's a Sheanair a' gabhail aon chuairt eile còmhla, cuairt a tha gan toirt gu mullach Sgùrr Dearg 's gu fìrinn ris nach robh dùil sam bith.
FourDocs is a broadband channel from Channel 4 that is THE place to watch and upload four-minute documentaries.
This is the first time a major broadcaster has offered this kind of opportunity to everyone, and for free. Make your film and upload it. It's as simple as that.
The FourDocs Guides to Documentary Making - 1. Get Thinking
What you get:
Step-by-step guides on how to plan, shoot, edit and compress your fact-based documentary.
Access to an archive of documentary greats and interviews for inspiration and the chance to have your film uploaded for the whole world to view.
Then what?
Apart from a great opportunity for any filmmakers to get their work out there, other FourDocs users can review your film, offering their comments and constructive criticism.
And Channel 4's very own Kate Vogel - commissioning editor for 3 Minute Wonder - keeps a close eye on all uploaded films to spot talented filmmakers she can commission for this innovative strand.
FourDocs filmmaker Tomas Leach has recently been commissioned to make a series for 3 Minute Wonder after he showcased his film, The Glass-Eye Maker on the site.
Deadline:
There is no deadline. You can upload and view films whenever you want.
So what are you waiting for?
For more information about Channel4 on FACEBOOK go to
Pictured above, Red Dragon Logo for the Welsh Blogs Awards and an image capture of the Welsh blog 'Blamerbell Briefs', recent winner of the prestigious "The Centre de Formation des Journalistes (CFJ) and CNN" -- "CFJ/CNN European award for the best student news blog"
For Immediate Release: Welsh Blog Award Organizers Announce Competition Launch
Wales, United Kingdom. His name is Sanddef (pronounced San-they) and he's fluent in at least four languages and lists Quantum Physics among his hobbies, as well as being a student in Bangor.
But online his blogosphere mates know him as the affable 'Ordovicius', and these days, with a blog by the same Latin name, he's dedicating a discrete amount of his energy to creating and launching the first Welsh Blog Awards 2007, or as it's called in Welsh, Yr Academi (the event and group are bilingual, Welsh/English).
It's still not clear whose brainchild the Welsh Blog Awards is, but the online rumour mills also point to another Welsh wunderkind, Dr. Daniel Cunliffe at the University of Glamorgan. Cunliffe has a blog called Datblogu.com.
Another Welsh blogger involved in the awards is Cardiff University journalism student Ciaran Jenkins, aka "Blamerbell Briefs.com."
Blamerbell Briefs is the Welsh blog mentioned above, which is exemplary of the fine blogospheric world being generated by the tiny Celtic nation of Wales.
CFJ/CNN writes: "Ciaran's blog has become one of the most popular blog in the region of Cardiff. Politicians intervene on it, Medias respect it and the author is pretty amazed by his success which he would not have envisaged a few months back."
Alan is a Welsh ex-pat in Brazil, fluent in Welsh and Portuguese, with a blog called Y Ddraig Goch, or Welsh for "The Red Dragon", the iconic symbol of the Welsh nation, going back to Roman times.
Mark Woods lives in Miami Beach but has spent the past four years in Wales completing a Ph.D. in Film.
Woods says, "My film students forced me to become a 'New Media expert' since now we regularly digitally format and load our short films onto sites like YouTube and Yahoo Video. In today's world, Blogging and Film Studies go hand-in-hand."
Woods has a Welsh American Genealogy blog. Woods is using his background as a former owner of a public relations service in Miami, to help promote the fledgling group online.
Woods says, "When I got to Wales I looked around and it reminded me of Microsoft in Seattle. The high quality of life, the mountains, the mild, wet weather and the obsession wth coffee bars and computer geeks is just like the Pacific Northwest, only it's in Western Europe!"
Woods says' "The group is in their early days and is looking for corporate sponsors and new members. Anyone can volunteer. We'd like to see local merchants and tourism companies from across Wales, all being encouraged to donate prizes and cash to assist the group."
Various social events and networking parties are being discussed, along with a showcase 'Awards Night'.
Many other Welsh bloggers, not mentioned here, have already helped to launch the awards project. Categories reflect the national bilingualism of Welsh and English, and include comic, political and cultural topics.
Group members tell how this is a reaction to other British blog awards centered mostly in London, which leave out the Welsh aspect, or miss the local talent.
Woods points to a similar situation with the film industry in Wales:
"There are the British BAFTA Awards and there are the BAFTA Cymru (Wales) Awards, and both are important to the worldwide valuation of films in Europe and abroad."
"The Welsh Blog Awards could easily grow to a similar global prominence as BAFTA Cymru," Woods predicts.
To join the Academy you will have to open a FaceBook account and then visit http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=2393167778
Bloggers who for any reason are unable to join this group but who wish to join the Academy should email Sanddef aka Ordovicius(at)gmail(dot)com
The Welsh Blog Awards 2007 have decided their set of categories and announced how you can become part of the "Academy" which enables you to nominate and vote.
Group Info: Yr Academi: The Welsh Blog Academy
Type: Internet & Technology - Cyberculture
Description: Bydd aelodau'r academi yn gallu enwebu blogiau ar gyfer y Gwobrau Blogio ac wedyn yn gallu bwrw eu pleidlais.
Members of the Welsh Blog Academy will be able to nominate blogs for the Welsh Blog Awards and later will be the ones who vote for the finalists.
