New Welsh short films in development

Ffilm Cymru’s Beacons fund supports emerging writers, directors and producers from Wales to develop bold and unique voices, explore creative forms of cinematic storytelling, and establish flourishing careers as feature filmmakers.

This fresh crop of short films reflects Wales’ rich culture of creativity, featuring animated Welsh-language horror, a poignant documentary portrait of rural life, and a road-trip adventure to Barry Island.

Welcoming these new additions to the development slate, Interim BFI NETWORK Wales Manager Nick Davies commented “We’re hugely excited by the talent we’ll be funding through these Beacons development awards, showcasing some of Wales’ best emerging filmmakers alongside some very experienced storytellers. With the current situation we all find ourselves in, we felt it was especially important to support the filmmakers to further develop their bold ideas, so they can go on to create films that will best reflect the world today.”

The nine new Beacons short film projects in development are:

Barry Island Will Do

Writer/Director: Charlotte James
In pursuit of adventure, two determined Merthyr sisters escape to their favourite place – Barry Island.

 

Beetroot Hot Chocolate

Writer/Director: Casi Wyn
Endlessly curious teenager Clara, fascinated by the mundane beauty of her hometown, takes us on a journey into her wonderful world.

 

Don’t Steal My Voice

Writer/Director: Kaite O’Reilly
Producer: Pauline Williams
An isolated Deaf man and an eight-year-old girl find connection and creativity through visual language, but will her hearing parents understand?

 

Duck

Writer/Director: Mac Nixon
A solitary and troubled figure living in the woods travels across the land to fulfil his dark deeds.

 

Forest Coal Pit

Director: Sion Marshall-Waters
Documentary exploring the fading, hyper-local lifeworld of two farming brothers on the edges of the Black Mountains.

 

Little Fox

Writer/Director: CE Alberie
Producer: Jeremy Routledge
The teenage daughter of a high-profile far right activist is forced to question her identity when she’s taken into care following her mother’s arrest.

 

Organic

Creative team: Mike Williams, Will Clowes, Alaw Llewelyn
John is a lonely farmer in North Wales with a serious problem; he’s standing over a dead body on his land.

 

Out of Breath

Writer/Director: Leyla Pope
Madjid and Sara, siblings living in Newport, have always looked after each other, but their father now expects Sara to move to Iran to live with him.

 

Ymenydd

Writer/Director: Laura Tofarides
If you were to walk through your own brain, what would you find? The disparate thoughts, loves and impulses that shape our inner worlds can be beautiful and scary. As Rhi explores her own mind she must face her fears to learn to live with her past experiences.

 

The creative teams will now work on their scripts with support from Ffilm Cymru and BBC Cymru Wales, as well as online training from experts in the industry. Following this development phase, a selection will be awarded further funding to progress into production as soon as it is safe to do so.

Ffilm Cymru’s Beacons fund has previously helped progress the careers of Welsh talent from short to feature filmmaking, including BAFTA award winner Rungano Nyoni (I Am Not a Witch), Catherine Linstrum (Nuclear), and Ryan Andrew Hooper and Matt Redd (The Toll).

Short films produced through the scheme have been screened at film festivals across the world; Lauren Orme’s animated Creepy Pasta Salad premiered at Edinburgh International Film Festival, Ewan Jones Morris’ BAFTA Cymru award-winning This Far Up screened at Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival, and Rhys Marc Jones’ Father of the Bride was selected for this year’s South by South West film and music festival in Austin, Texas.