Wales One World Film Festival
Gŵyl Ffilm Cymru a'r Byd yn Un

Undoubtedly the most important director in Chilean cinematic history, Patricio Guzman, is among the greatest documentary makers in the world. Widely regarded as one of the towering achievements in the history of documentary film, his epic The Battle of Chile (1973) captured Chile’s catastrophic revolutionary upheaval at the end of Allende’s government and the trauma of Pinochet’s coup. In recent years he has mastered a meditative, essayistic mode of non-fiction filmmaking seen in Nostalgia for the Light and its companion piece The Pearl Button. Where he uses stunning images to explore the significance of water as a way to plumb the depths of Chilean history and culture. Sometimes described as Chile’s answer to Ken Loach, Guzman’s lyrical work takes you on a wonderful journey through the heritage of a nation that also reveals the poetic potential of nonfiction cinema.

“A country without documentary films is like a family without a photo album” Patricio Guzman

"His work speaks to the past and present, the living and the dead with equal resolve... Grows in magnitude and importance with each passing day.”  Little White Lies

“Guzman is hands down the most important director in Chilean cinematic history” Indiewire

 “Guzman’s unique gift lies in his ability to weave together multiple modes of documentary: the picturesque, the political and the poetic.” Indiewire

“A film of wonder and dread… The Pearl Button is a contemplative stunner.” Sight & Sound

Chapter Arts Centre, Friday 11 March 2016, 2pm

In Spanish with English translation

Beautifully framed and shot, this visceral, anti-war silent movie is brought to life by Guy Bartell’s resonant score. The Great War has brought devastation, heartache and hardship to the Ukrainian people.

Timosh, a demobbed soldier, returns to his hometown Kiev amidst celebrations of Ukrainian freedom, only to challenge the local authorities by calling for the soviet system to be adopted. From its devastating opening sequence onwards you are acutely aware of the emotional impact of a completely different style of filmmaking. Anyone who saw the wonderful Turksib at WOW a couple of years ago will not want to miss this.

With live musical accompaniment by Bronnt Industries Kapital

Interview with Guy Bartell

With its superbly understated script, brilliant ensemble cast of professional and nonprofessional actors, and a naturalist approach that reveals the characters in all their complexity, this is a rich portrait of contemporary India.

Ed Talfan is Creative Director at Cardiff based production company Severn Screen. Ed is also producer/writer on Yr Ymadawiad (The Passing), and also co-creator, producer and writer on S4C/BBC drama series Y Gwyll/Hinterland.

Yr Ymadawiad (The Passing) is Gareth Bryn’s debut feature. Following his 2006 Welsh BAFTA win Gareth has received a further 7 Welsh BAFTA nominations for work on 35 Diwrnod (2014), Hinterland (2013-16), Pen Talar (2010), and Prix Europa nominated Y Pris (2008). Gareth is an experienced VFX artist and editor and says, “as a director, being across the edit and the VFX is hugely liberating.”

The masterclass will focus on five areas:

CASTING & WORKING WITH ACTORS

SCRIPT DEVELOPMENT

THE WORLD OF THE FILM - 

BUILDING A SEQUENCE

SCORING THE FILM

Using examples from the film as well as their work on Hinterland.

Aberystwyth Arts Centre, Thursday 10 March 2016, 6.00pm

Chapter Arts Centre, Friday 11 March 2016, 4.15pm

This is the terrific, tender, emotionally restrained but powerful story of the unlikely love between a married Hassidic Jewess and a rich wastrel.

Life is tough for Romani teenager Adam when his father is murdered and his menacing uncle Zigo marries his grieving mother without delay. But this Hamlet-inspired storyline is subtly different from Shakespeare’s plot.

Set in the fabulous Ethiopian Highlands this is a delightful portrait of village life amongst subsistence farmers. Young Ephraim is left with his tyrannical uncle while his father looks for work. Alone in an unfamiliar world, Ephraim’s constant companion is his pet sheep, apparently destined for the pot.

Mascaro has a happy knack of creating magical, atmospheric films from the everyday lives of ordinary folk who dare to dream. A cowboy working the rodeos around the back roads of Brazil, Iremar knows there’s more to life than his daily routine of bulls, dust and macho posturing.

The brilliant Kore-eda's (I Wish, Still Walking) amazing ability to get natural performances from his cast creates a real sense of family life unfolding. Three sisters take in their younger half-sister, who they meet for the first time at their father’s funeral.

If you want to be totally immersed in Tibetan culture this is for you. Rising before dawn to light the fire and load up the yaks, the inhabitants of a remote Himalayan village plan their pilgrimage to Lhasa.

An endearing story of love, loss and forgiveness set against the backdrop of the magnificent Icelandic landscape. On neighbouring farms in a remote valley two warring brothers tend to their prized sheep.

This is the delicately observed, beautifully realized story of Hana who follows an old Albanian tradition and becomes a sworn virgin to escape from an arranged marriage.

Set against the rain forest and volcanic slopes of the Pacific Island paradise of Vanuatu, this Romeo & Juliet tale is performed by an extraordinary cast from the Yakel tribe, who give a sprightly rendition of their own true story.

Shot in long takes in striking black and white, this beguiling fable subtly explores the changing face of Tibet. Leaving the solitude of the high Himalayas behind, Tharlo, a simple shepherd has to go into town to get his ID photo taken.

Like nothing you’ve ever seen before this staggeringly original dive into history raises endless, fascinating questions. Two unrepentant, unpunished mass murderers reenact their killings in whichever cinematic genres they wish, including classic Hollywood crime scenarios and lavish musical numbers.

Delighting in the beauty of Patagonia’s volcanoes, mountains and glaciers, this extraordinary film will give you much to ponder. In the same lyrical vein as his wonderful Nostalgia for The Light, Guzman ruminates on astronomy, water, memory, and much else besides.

In an isolated house in the parched back of beyond in Bulgaria a mother supports her husband and teenage son by washing sheets for local hotels.

What if confronting the climate crisis is the best chance we'll ever get to build a better world? Based on her bestselling book, Naomi Klein argues that we can seize the crisis of climate change to transform our ecocidal economic system into something much better.

This moody, masterful melodrama has a killer twist. When young couple on-the-run Sara and Iwan crash their car into a stream near a remote farmhouse they’re rescued by dogged loner Stanley.