Friday 29 June 2007

Don't Miss Welsh and British Film Expert Steve Blandford Speak Tonight in Cardiff!


Pictured right: Professor Steve Blandford, Associate Dean of Cardiff School of Creative and Cultural Industries, is an expert in British film and television.

Professor Blandford will discuss his new book, 'Film, Drama and the Break-Up of Britain' at tonight's film event at Chapter Arts Centre.

Special Film Event: Screening of the new film, 'This is England' plus a talk by Professor Steve Blandford (18)
Buy Tickets Now from the Chapter Arts Centre, Cardiff


Friday, 29 June 2007 20:15 Cinema 1
Fri 29 June / Gwener 29 Mehefin

UK/2006/100 mins/18. Dir: Shane Meadows. With Thomas Turgoose, Stephen Graham, Jo Hartley.

Shane Meadows’ most accomplished film to date is set in 1983, and focuses on a lonely 12-year-old who runs into a group of skinheads, but finds himself drawn into more uncomfortable territory when an older, overtly racist gang member is released from prison.

This screening will be preceded by a 30-minute talk on current British cinema by Steve Blandford, professor of theatre and media and associate dean of the Cardiff School of Creative and Cultural Industries at the University of Glamorgan, and author of the new book 'Film, Drama and the Break-Up of Britain'.



Critics say that 'This is England' is "fizzing with energy and humour, powered by brilliantly engaging performances" -
BBCi
www.thisisenglandmovie.co.uk
Cardiff School of Creative & Cultural Industries
mwoods[at]glam[dot]ac[dot]uk
Click here to go directly to my personal blog page called Welsh-American Family Genealogy, on the World Wide Web.
Click here to go directly to my personal blog page called Welsh Music, Film, and Books Symposium, on the World Wide Web.
Click here to go directly to my personal blog page called Celtic Cult Cinema on the World Wide Web.
Visit the UK Film Studies and World Cinema and Music Import Showcase
© 2007 Mark Leslie Woods
Smart & Sexy? Your Queer Advantage is waiting!

Getting a 'Reel' Job: CYFLE ANNOUNCES WALES FILM INDUSTRY TRAINING SCHEME FOR NEW ENTRANTS


CYFNOD RECRIWTIO CYNLLUN LLAWN AMSER FFILM CYFLE 28 MEHEFIN - 19 GORFFENNAF 2007

Ewch i www.cyfle.co.uk

CYFLE FILM SCHEME RECRUITMENT PERIOD 28 JUNE - 19 JULY 2007

Go to www.cyfle.co.uk

WALES FILM INDUSTRY TRAINING SCHEME FOR NEW ENTRANTS

Full time training in FILM, based in Wales

Cyfle is offering exciting, full time training for 4 individuals who have a burning desire to develop further skills for a career in the film industry. Cyfle’s ‘Wales Film Industry Training Scheme’ is a twelve month vocational scheme.

This includes an induction course, placements on film productions throughout the UK, off-the-job short courses and an exit programme. Applicants are invited to apply for the following training posts:

Production Co-ordinator
3rd Assistant Director
Boom Operator
Art Department Assistant

Training Allowance Paid
Closing date for applications: 19 July 2007
Course start date: 24 September 2007
Applicants must be 18 or over

Cynllun Hyfforddi Diwydiant Ffilm Cymru ar gyfer Newydd Ddyfodiaid
Hyfforddiant llawn amser mewn FFILM, yng Nghymru

Mae Cyfle’n cynnig agoriad i 4 o unigolion sydd yn ysu am gael datblygu gyrfa ymhellach yn y diwydiant ffilm. Mae ‘Cynllun Hyfforddi Diwydiant Ffilm Cymru’ Cyfle yn gynllun hyfforddi galwedigaethol deuddeg mis o hyd.

Bydd y cwrs yn cynnwys cwrs rhagarweiniol, lleoliadau ar gynyrchiadau ffilm ar hyd a lled y DU, cyrsiau byrion allanol a rhaglen cloi. Gwahoddir ceisiadau am y swyddi canlynol:

Cydlynydd Cynhyrchu
3ydd Gyfarwyddwr/aig Cynorthwyol
Genweiriwr/aig (Bŵm)
Cynorthwyydd Adran Gelf

Telir Lwfans Hyfforddi
Dyddiad cau ar gyfer derbyn ceisiadau: 19 Gorffennaf 2007
Dyddiad dechrau’r cwrs: 24 Medi 2007
Rhaid i ymgeiswyr fod yn 18 neu hŷn



Mark Woods, Cardiff School of Creative & Cultural Industries, University of Glamorgan

Cardiff School of Creative & Cultural Industries

mwoods[at]glam[dot]ac[dot]uk

Click here to go directly to my personal blog page called Welsh-American Family Genealogy, on the World Wide Web.

Click here to go directly to my personal blog page called Welsh Music, Film, and Books Symposium, on the World Wide Web.

Click here to go directly to my personal blog page called Celtic Cult Cinema on the World Wide Web.

Visit the UK Film Studies and World Cinema and Music Import Showcase

© 2007 Mark Leslie Woods

Smart & Sexy? Your Queer Advantage is waiting!

Friday 22 June 2007

For Immediate Release: The New Welsh Blog Awards 2007 Organizers Announce Internet Competition Launch Today



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).

Ordovicius

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.

Datblogu.com

Other Welsh bloggers have already joined the group and are putting their energies and ideas into the launching the event.

Chris Cope is an American who taught himself to speak Welsh, and is now doing a degree in Wales, after relocating with his wife to South Wales.

Chris Cope

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."

Blamerbell Briefs

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.

Y Ddraig Goch

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.

Welsh American Genealogy

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

Welsh Blog Awards 2007

NOTE: YOU WILL HAVE TO JOIN THE 'WALES' NETWORK

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.

Contact Info:
Email: Ordovicius(at)gmail(dot)com
Website: http://welshblogawards2007.blogspot.com/

Yr Academi: The Welsh Blog Academy

Press Contact:
Mark Woods, Cardiff School of Creative & Cultural Industries, University of Glamorgan

Cardiff School of Creative & Cultural Industries

mwoods[at]glam[dot]ac[dot]uk

Click here to go directly to my personal blog page called Welsh-American Family Genealogy, on the World Wide Web.

Click here to go directly to my personal blog page called Welsh Music, Film, and Books Symposium, on the World Wide Web.

Click here to go directly to my personal blog page called Celtic Cult Cinema on the World Wide Web.

Visit the UK Film Studies and World Cinema and Music Import Showcase

© 2007 Mark Leslie Woods

Smart & Sexy? Your Queer Advantage is waiting!

Thursday 21 June 2007

Sexy Welsh God Again Tops America's Summer Weekend Hollywood Boxoffice



Pictured above: Welsh actor Ioan Gruffudd, star of the Fantastic Four (2007)

Welsh actors dominate as Hollywood's Libido Lifeblood for four decades . . .

Is there ever a time when the 'Land of Song' doesn't dominate and control the starring roles of Hollywood?

Ifor Novello, Richard Burton, Anthony Hopkins, Jonathan Pryce, Christian Bale, Siân Phillips, Emlyn Williams, Catherine Zeta Jones -- I'm running out of breath!

And now Ioan Gruffudd's sexy comic book character is 'stretching' across America!

According to the Hollywood Reporter

'Fantastic Four' scores with $57.4 million debut weekend
By Gregg Kilday
June 18, 2007

"20th Century Fox's "Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer" rode a commanding wave to the top of the North American boxoffice during the weekend, finding a broad-based audience with the help of a family-friendly PG rating."

"The original "Fantastic Four," with a PG-13 rating, opened to $56.1 million in 2005, and its sequel didn't lose any momentum and outgrossed its predecessor with an estimated bow of $57.4 million."

Didn't anyone see Ioan Gruffudd speaking Welsh on the Graham Norton Show a couple months ago?

More on the sexy Welshman later . . .

Here's one for your summer reading list: Professor Peter Stead's "Acting Wales, Stars of Stage & Screen" (2002) University of Wales Press.



Gyda bob hwyl i bawb, Mark

Click here to go directly to my personal blog page called Welsh-American Family Genealogy, on the World Wide Web.

Click here to go directly to my personal blog page called Welsh Music, Film, and Books Symposium, on the World Wide Web.

Click here to go directly to my personal blog page called Celtic Cult Cinema on the World Wide Web.

Visit the UK Film Studies and World Cinema and Music Import Showcase

© 2007 Mark Leslie Woods

Smart & Sexy? Your Queer Advantage is waiting!

Wednesday 20 June 2007

The Foreign Hitchhiker's Guide to the Universe called Wales -- Welsh Blogosphere: Part I


Pictured above, 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"

Llongyfarchiadau / Congratulations to Ciaran!

Blamerbell Briefs aka Ciaran Jenkins -- Cardiff School of Journalism, Media & Cultural Studies

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."

Blamerbell Briefs is the Welsh blog mentioned above, which is exemplary of the fine blogo-glossolalia being generated by the tiny Celtic nation of Wales.

Most of our readers are Welsh, but increasingly we get emails from folks in America and Australia or Canada.

If you've wandered into virtual Wales from Canada or Australia or the U.S. and you're trying to make sense of this quirky territory in the Internet, perhaps we can be of some help:

Rather than begin our introduction to the Welsh blogosphere by listing and criticizing specific blogs, let's instead establish some general ideas.

1) Wales is a European 'Small Nation' , which is bilingual English/Welsh. Welsh is a minority language with a few special protections in Wales and Europe (more are needed).

As you might think, it's easy to be a BIG FISH in a small pond with anything related to the culture of so-called 'Small Nations'. Relatively few folks in Wales have discovered the blogging world, if you compare Wales to India or China or North America.

Consequently, if you start a blog in Wales, you can more quickly distinguish yourself, than if you start a blog in New York City or in Bombay.

Here's an analogy: If you open an Thai Cuisine take-away (fast-food restaurant) in a remote Welsh village which has never had a restaurant that wasn't also a mews (horse stable) converted to a pub (beer garden or tavern), then you're going to be instantly famous in that village, and in that Welsh region.

[And the Welsh villagers are probably going to be amazed about Thai food (found on every street in Toronto, L.A., Miami or New York) since they are nuts about Indian and Pakistani food in the UK!]

So it goes with Wales. Start a Sci-Fi blog in California and everyone yawns. But start a Sci-Fi Blog in Wales, and you're one of the first!

2) Also, Wales is a country which has been deeply divided by language -- everyone speaks English, and about 20% of the folks also speak Welsh 'Cymraeg' as their first language.

People who speak Welsh are constantly on guard against the encroachment of English on their language. The Welsh have good reason to feel this way, since England as a country has had at times, what some might call 'arrogant' ways of forcing their English language on others, especially during their Imperial military / colonial history.

So if you wander into a Welsh-speaking blog and speak English, you might get blanked or ignored, since these folks built their blogs intentionally to support their minority language.

Some Welsh-speakers might even be rude and nasty to you, because they have a lot of pent up anger about English encroaching on their native language. Try to ignore the nasties.

3) The Internet is generally a tolerant, generous and welcoming place. This is mostly true for the Blogosphere of Wales, as well, but not always.

Some of the reasons you might experience intolerance in Wales, are that Wales has had this highly politicized issue of nationhood with England/Britain, and internal controversies about language.

There are also areas of Wales, where folks suffered great economic deprivation, and this has effected their knowledge, atttudes and reaction to outsiders.

There are also divisions within Wales of race, religion, economic status and educational status, just as there are in pockets of hatred and paranoia in the Middle East, Asia, Africa and North America.

Traditionally, folks in Britain (including Wales) tended to be more obsessed with 'class consciousness', a concept foreign to many in North America.

Quick Class Tanslator:

American "Middle Class" = British "Working Class"
American "Upper Middle Class" = British "Middle Class"
American "Pain-in-the-ass-rich-jerks" = British "Peerage"
American "a soft, privileged rich-boy whiner like George Bush" = British "Royals" (no offense to the Royals)

Attitudes, which folks from metropolitan areas of North America might associate with the parochial and exclusionary attitudes of 'Small Town mentality' and 'social incest', can sometimes prevail in Welsh circles, and even lap up onto the sophisticated shores of Cymru's blogosphere.

How does this effect the curious foreigner who is cruising the net, and fancies learning something about Wales, maybe even considering moving to Wales, doing business in Wales, or taking a vacation in Wales?

Assume you know nothing about the politics of Wales, and assume you will get it wrong if you try. Wales appears about as bizarre as the rest of Britain when it comes to parties and alliances, (at least in the minds of most Americans, used to the monolithic simplicity of two-party politics).

On the other hand, Wales and most of Britain is child's play compared to the fluidity of political groupings in the labyrinthine jungle called French or Italian politics.

Don't make the silly mistake of assuming that Wales is a 'part of England.' This will get you a lot of angry responses, since the question of nationhood for Wales is wrapped up in this ancient identity thing, summarized by some local historians this way:

"We're Welsh, which means first of, that we're NOT English."

To the outsider this can be confusing, since the geographical distance from Essex (East England) to Cardiff (capital city of Wales) is shorter than the geographical distance from Long Island to New Jersey, but humor the British, they can get very emotional about this national identity issue, at times.

There's even a party which advocates that England separate from the Union of Great Britain, which might seem physically impossible to the outsider!

I suggest that you do a little research and discover from say, Wikipedia, some of the quick, basic ideas about Wales and her long and complicated history and culture.

What you will discover is that, for a small nation, Wales is anything but 'small!' This tiny country is just bursting with vitality and near-geniuses! Most of the Welsh are extremely well-educated and well-read, and travel a lot.

As a people they are bright and warm and friendly, and they can be very entertaining, as well.

Be prepared to meet some of the most bizarre and eccentric people, and some of the most ordinary and lovely folks on the planet, in Wales.

About Welsh language and cliches: Welsh is an ancient and beautiful (some would even say 'magical') modern European language; If you don't understand something, or if someone says something, feel free to ask them to translate. You'll be glad you did!

For general stuff about Wales and other Celtic Nations (Ireland, Scotland, Cornwall, Manx, Breton) visit the Celtic Cafe.

Two places to begin finding Welsh blogs are here:

Blog Cymru.com

Brit Blog.com

Gyda bob hwyl i bawb, Mark

Click here to go directly to my personal blog page called Welsh-American Family Genealogy, on the World Wide Web.

Click here to go directly to my personal blog page called Welsh Music, Film, and Books Symposium, on the World Wide Web.

Click here to go directly to my personal blog page called Celtic Cult Cinema on the World Wide Web.

Visit the UK Film Studies and World Cinema and Music Import Showcase

© 2007 Mark Leslie Woods

Smart & Sexy? Your Queer Advantage is waiting!

Tuesday 19 June 2007

The Future of Welsh Rugby Part I: Nude Ohio 'Babes' and Naked Frenchmen




Pictured above: Agustin Pichot from 'Gods of the Stadium' French Rugby calendar 2004; The semi-nude women's rugby calendar that led to upset in the Maori community; Ohio Oberlin naked 'babes' crouched in a scrum.

[Welsh Rugby, Coal Miners and Male Choirs -- all sacred symbols of national identity? This is Part I of an article which examines the mythos of iconic athletic maleness in Wales.]

Much has been written about the importance of rugby in Welsh society, as part of the construction of masculinity for a post-industrial society.

Now the icon of the rough, scruffy, muddy-faced rugby male is being exploited and challenged.

David Beckham has turned the male footballer into a male object of desire, first plastered on walls in Paris and Milan, and soon to be exploited by Hollywood.

Is this the future of rugby in Wales?

And what does the apparent morphing of Welsh Male Rugby Icon into a male sex object have to say about modern Welsh nationalism?

For example, a French male rugby team's members have been producing a calendar for several years, which was first a run-away best seller with the worldwide female 'Play Girl' audiences.

The calendar is called the 'Gods of the Stadium' or 'Dieux de Stade' in French.

Seduced by their success the French rugby players have intentionally enlarged their appeal by filming two years of DVD documentaries called the 'Making of Gods of the Stadium'.

This has catapulted the French male rugby players to international stardom, mostly because of their popularity with gay men in North America.

Not to be out-done, women at Oberlin College in Ohio have been making their own rugby calendar for several years.

(Oberlin College is famous as being the small, liberal arts college in the U.S. which graduates the highest percentage of students who go on to finish Ph.D.s)

Rugby is important to the construction of the Welsh male identity, and has reached iconic statue, mostly carried by the unexpected commercial success of a film by BBC director John Hefin called 'Grand Slam (1978)'.

'Grand Slam (1978)'.

According to a synopsis written by Reece Lloyd for IMDB:

"A group of Welsh rugby fans go over to see Wales play France in the final match of the Six Nations rugby tournament. Caradog Evans (Oscar-winner Hugh Griffith) goes there also to seek an old flame from his wartime combat in the 1940s."

"His son, finds a love in Paris too. Contains very frequent nudity, some bad language, and brief violence."

In Welsh academic circles, a discourse about the shattering of the traditionally male and iconic identity of the rugby player, has been developing over time.

This specifically Welsh, filmic and gendered discourse has only just started, with the Cyfrwng Welsh Media Journal’s examination of Welsh masculinity in Stanley Baker’s ‘Welsh Western’, Zulu (1964) (Cyfrwng Journal -- Shail 2002: 11-25), and in Peter Jachimiak’s examination the Welsh film Grand Slam (1978) (Cyfrwng Journal -- Jachimiak 2006: 91-106).

John Hefin produced for the BBC, Grand Slam (1978).

Grand Slam has been called the ultimate Welsh 'Lads' video, and is celebrating its 30th anniversary with brisk DVD sales continuing unabated.

Many Welsh female partners tell stories about their husbands 'stocking up the house for the weekend with cider and sarnies', and then inviting a crowd of men over to watch Grand Slam 'several times in one weekend' -- almost like some modern, Welsh male tribal bonding ceremony -- a Welsh male rite-of-passage that re-affirms Welsh heterosexual maleness, while it reinforces a Welsh national and individual sense of 'Welsh Identity'.

Grand Slam is among the best-known Welsh films with domestic audiences, and holds an iconic place in Welsh history and culture Grand Slam (directed by John Hefin, 1978) is not only a film of Welsh origin primarily aimed at a Welsh audience, but – in relation to the reproduction of Welshness and Welsh masculinity in particular – is often seen as a celebratory cultural event (Jachimiak 2006: 91).

Jachimiak’s analysis and conclusions about Grand Slam are built upon some the same generalizations about constructions of masculinity described by John Beynon in his recent book on 'Masculinities', upon some specifically British imperial / post-imperial constructions described by Canadian scholar Christopher Gittings, and upon some specifically Welsh constructions, as described by Welsh scholars Charlotte Aull Davies and Stephanie Jones:

"I believe that in Blaengwyn, masculine identity formerly associated with mining in the community has been transmuted into a masculinity expressed through playing and supporting rugby, the identification of the rugby sport of Wales" (Jones and Davies 2003: 27).

Cyfrwng Welsh Media Journal Online

We mentioned the possibility of seeing in these Welsh films, evidence of a trajectory, revealing an evolution in the ways in which sexuality and gender are treated.

This trajectory might parallel or inform another longer trajectory of Welsh masculinity, as it relates to and constructs a sense of Welsh nationalism.

For example, Davies and Jones noted above, their theory that the fiercely independent and proudly autonomous coal miner, (which was a long held construction of Welsh masculinity, which has come to symbolize Welsh nationalism and historic degrees Welsh political and economic independence), and has since morphed into the activities and male-centric mythos of rugby.

So we have Frenchmen appealing to their gay audience with videos and posters on E-Bay, and even women in New Zealand have stripped off their rugby jerseys for charity.

The New Zealand women went too far, and offended native national identity:

According to the BBC:

"An English women's rugby team caused upset in New Zealand's Maori community when their fund-raising calendar included a picture of a topless haka. The team said the image was based on the ceremonial war dance but they did not mean to offend, and apologised."

Read about the semi-nude Oberlin College women who play rugby here in the Oberlin Review

According to an article in the Oberlin Review, the mission of the female rugby players was to challenge the 'male myth' of what constitutes 'female beauty':

"Part of this statement (which is on the cover of the calendar) disassociates the rugby calendar from stereotypical Playboy calendars:

“In a society that brands female competitive sports athletes as masculine, this calendar parodies the standard beauty myth, by juxtaposing the concept of the seductive and submissive pinup with images of women who assert themselves not only as strong athletes, but also as empowered women.”

The Oberlin women are intentionally shattering the myths around male-dominated rugby, and perceptions of women in sports. But what does this do to the traditional Welsh icon of maleness, wrapped in male rugby jersey (or now, shirtless men in France)?

Some men in Wales might be asking, "Is nothing sacred?"

Others might ask, "What could be next? Gay Welsh Rugby?" More in Part II . . .

Gyda bob hwyl i bawb, Mark

Click here to go directly to my personal blog page called Welsh-American Family Genealogy, on the World Wide Web.

Click here to go directly to my personal blog page called Welsh Music, Film, and Books Symposium, on the World Wide Web.

Click here to go directly to my personal blog page called Celtic Cult Cinema on the World Wide Web.

Visit the UK Film Studies and World Cinema and Music Import Showcase

© 2007 Mark Leslie Woods

Smart & Sexy? Your Queer Advantage is waiting!

Monday 18 June 2007

Sci-Fi Fans Debate BBC Wales Dr. Who: Lazy Low-Budget or Funky British 1950s meets 2007 Retro-Futurism?



Pictured above: the current BBC Wales retro-futuristic 1950s British Police Box TARDIS Time Machine and comic book cover of H.G. Wells' Time Machine.

In the Sci-Fi blog called

Difference Engine,

pgrehan writes:

"I’ve learnt that you have to look past the sillier aspects of a Russell T.Davies Doctor Who story. Like, for example, at the very end of the Universe, countless billions of years in the future, you will find human beings as we know them today."

pgrehan also tells us that :

"Human beings driving 21st century trucks and firing 21st century weapons, just before they board their interstellar (can you still say that when there aren’t any stars left?) spacecraft. The explanation given for this is that human beings have somehow re-evolved into their favourite form, but this smacks of a lazy writer using technobabble to reduce science fiction to a branch of fantasy."

So we see that the writer 'pgrehan' (above) makes some good Sci-Fi Theory / critical points, but from an American perspective, Dr. Who has always reminded me of a broadcast British sci-fi style which smacks of intentionally low-budget retro-futurism.

Kubrick’s low-key approach to ‘Future Britain’ in Clockwork Orange (1971) is probably the best British example of intentional retro-Futurism, but Woody Allen also uses it to comic effect in Sleeper (1973).

In other words, not attempting to create futuristic verisimilitude, and settling for what you describe as ‘lazy’, is actually a self-reflective activity of the film’s author.

European filmmakers observed how Japanese Monster films played in the post 1960s U.S. television market, and resisted being pushed (by budgetary limits) into becoming a similar caricature of themselves.

To accomplish this, directors like Hitchcock opted for a minimalist understatement, which masked the relatively low-budget, low quality special FX of their productions, and The Birds (1963) is a good example.

Dr. Who on the other hand, has always been read as a ‘Jules Verne’-style retro-Futurism by American audiences, and that funky and clunky lack of attention to details has made the story more important than the FX and mise-en-scene.

Willy Wonka is the height of self-deprecating Victorian retro-Futurism, displayed in the first film (1971), but sort of parodied by Tim Burton in a gritty, timeless past/future Industrial reality in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005).

The current Dr. Who might be seen as derivative of Terry Gillam’s Brazil (1985), which trademarked funky Brit retro-future sci-fi for good.

So from our perspective, Russell is simply following an established tradition, and giving his larger U.S. audience what they expect of this brand of Brit Sci-fi.

Our North American readers who are fans of Dr. Who should be sure to check out the UK Sci-fi blog

Difference Engine,

Gyda bob hwyl i bawb, Marc Miami ym Mhontypridd

Click here to go directly to my personal blog page called Welsh-American Family Genealogy, on the World Wide Web.

Click here to go directly to my personal blog page called Welsh Music, Film, and Books Symposium, on the World Wide Web.

Click here to go directly to my personal blog page called Celtic Cult Cinema on the World Wide Web.

Click here to go directly to my personal blog page called Mordechai Razing Ziggurats, on the World Wide Web.

Click here to go directly to my personal blog page called Mordechai's Post-Evangelical-Granola on the World Wide Web.

© 2007 Mark Leslie Woods

Saturday 16 June 2007

Ble mae'r Sinema Cymraeg? Gaelic Language Makes Big Comeback in New Scottish Feature Film 'Searchd'


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.
Simon Miller's Searchd Official Website
Gyda bob hwyl i bawb, Mark
Click here to go directly to my personal blog page called Welsh-American Family Genealogy, on the World Wide Web.
Click here to go directly to my personal blog page called Welsh Music, Film, and Books Symposium, on the World Wide Web.
Click here to go directly to my personal blog page called Celtic Cult Cinema on the World Wide Web.
Click here to go directly to my personal blog page called Mordechai Razing Ziggurats, on the World Wide Web.
Click here to go directly to my personal blog page called Mordechai's Post-Evangelical-Granola on the World Wide Web.
© 2007 Mark Leslie Woods

Thursday 14 June 2007

Ellis's Sexy Welsh Tale of Ancient Milford Haven Court Sizzles on Miami Coral Gables Summer Stage


Time and place:
Cymbeline's Court, Britain; near Milford Haven, Wales, Britain; Rome, Italy

CYMBELINE @ the New Theatre. June 7 - July 1

Adapted and Directed by Kathi E.B. Ellis
Cymbeline revels in the disparate characters and plot-lines that intersect and collide across ancient Britain, Rome, and a pastoral Wales.

"Love betrayed; threatened invasion; advice from beyond... and yet when all find themselves brought together can we be surprised by the cascade of reconciliation and revelation that ensues."

The New Theatre, 4120 Laguna Street, Coral Gables, (305) 443-5909

Cymbeline revels in the disparate characters and plot-lines that intersect and collide across ancient Britain, Rome, and a pastoral Wales. Innogen's marriage to a young man liked by her father, King Cymbeline, but not approved of as heir to the throne precipitates a series of choices and actions that threaten to unravel the kingdom, the marriage, and family bonds.

The weak king, the unprincipled step-mother, the cloddish step son, the loyal servant, the noble but exiled subject, and more, are all highly recognizable characters and yet in Shakespeare's romantic tragicomedy we encounter them in fresh ways. From comedic to gruesome, from supernatural to poignant, we are invited on a perilous journey that culminates in a cascade of reconciliation and revelation.

Cymbeline's Court
CYMBELINE, King of Britain Steve Gladstone*
QUEEN, wife to Cymbeline Barbara Sloan*
CLOTEN, son to the Queen by a former husband Frank Rodriguez*
INNOGEN, daughter to Cymbeline by a former queen Annemarie Rajala*
POSTHUMUS LEONATUS, a gentleman, husband to Innogen Frank Rodriguez*
PISANIO, servant to Posthumus Robert Strain
CORNELIUS, a physician Larry Robinson
GENTLEMEN of the Court Ryan Capiro+, Matthew Leddy+, Ricky Waugh+
DOROTHY, a lady attending on Innogen Ashley Fernandez+

The Romans
PHILARIO, Italian, friend to Posthumus Stephen Neal*
IACHIMO, Italian, friend to Philario Chris Vicchiollo*
A FRENCH GENTLEMAN, friend to Philario Ryan Capiro+
CAIUS LUCIUS, General of the Roman Forces Ricky Waugh+
ROMAN CAPTAIN Ryan Capiro+
ROMAN SENATOR Larry Robinson

In Wales
BELARIUS, a banished lord, disguised under the name of Morgan -- Stephen Neal*
GUIDERIUS, son to Cymbeline, known as POLYDORE, supposed son to Belarius -- Meshaun Lebrone Arnold
ARVIRAGUS, son to Cymbeline, known as CADWAL, supposed son to Belarius -- David Perez Ribada
A JAILER -- Larry Robinson
FIRST BRITISH CAPTAIN -- Matthew Leddy+
SECOND BRITISH CAPTAIN -- Ryan Capiro+

* member of Actors' Equity Association
+ member of the New Theatre Apprentice Program

Set Designer: Sean McClelland
Costume Designer: K. Blair Brown
Sound Designer: M. Anthony Reimer
Lighting Designer: Patrick Tennent
Fight Choreographer: John Manzelli*
Movement: Ricky J. Martinez*
Voice: Jennifer Smith-De Castroverde
Set Construction: TLC Events Group
Photography: Eileen Suarez* (marketing & publicity), Dr. Norman Gorback (Lobby display)
Stage Manager: Betsy Paull-Rick*
Assistant Stage Manager: Michael Heitzler

* members of Actors' Equity Association

Meet me in Miami, Mark

Click here to go directly to my personal blog page called Welsh-American Family Genealogy, on the World Wide Web.

Click here to go directly to my personal blog page called Welsh Music, Film, and Books Symposium, on the World Wide Web.

Click here to go directly to my personal blog page called Celtic Cult Cinema on the World Wide Web.

Click here to go directly to my personal blog page called Mordechai Razing Ziggurats, on the World Wide Web.

Click here to go directly to my personal blog page called Mordechai's Post-Evangelical-Granola on the World Wide Web.

© 2007 Mark Leslie Woods

Tuesday 12 June 2007

Canadian Film Giants Guide Young Welsh Filmmakers at Newport and Glamorgan

Skillset Screen Academy Wales hosted two days of crash seminars for young Welsh film school students and new graduates.

Masterclasses were held on the Caerleon and Trefforest campuses for Welsh film students.

The sessions were led by Canadian Film & TV expert Sherry Lawr, who is also a professor in the Media Arts Depratment of Canada's world famous Sheridan Insitute School of Arts, Animation and Design.

Sherry Lawr has worked as a producer in the Canadian television industry for more than 20 years.

Specializing in news and current affairs programming, Sherry spent 12 years with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation working in Toronto as an Associate Director, Line Producer and Coordinating Producer on a number of award winning programs including The Journal, The 5th Estate and Marketplace.

In 1994 Sherry left CBC to help launch Studio 2 at TVOntario. As Coordinating Producer she was responsible for all production aspects of the show. In 1997 she launched her own lifestyle program with host Maureen Taylor, and in 1998 became the Head of Production for TVOntario.

For the past 8 years she has been a Professor and Program Coordinator of the Media Arts program at Sheridan College in Oakville. Sherry continues to work in the industry on a freelance basis and last year line produced CTV’s The Next Great Prime Minister.

Professor Lawr 'Sherry' led the Newport and Glamorgan film students in a session on Monday considering pre-production planning. The cutting edge technology of Pre-Viz was discussed, as well as the rudiments of the film business.

Toronto has emerged in the past two decades as a world class centre for film and the arts, and the industry and academic ties between Ontario and Wales go way back. The Welsh speaking church in Toronto is among the largest in North America, and will celebrate its 100th anniversary this summer.

Accompanying Professor Lawr was Sandy McKean, ‘Sandy’ McKean, Sheridan Institute's Associate Dean of Media and Journalism programs. Sandy talked with Welsh film students after the sessions about their careers. Sandy told the Newport and Glamorgan students about his distinguished career in television and journalism.

Dean McKean 'Sandy' headed development and the management of CBC Newsworld and his most recent title was Director, CBC TV News, Administration and Staff Development, Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.

Sheridan Institute

Academi Sgrin Cymru Skillset / Skillset Screen Academy Wales (SSAW)

Cardiff School of Creative & Cultural Industries

Gyda bob hwyl i bawb, Mark

Click here to go directly to my personal blog page called Welsh-American Family Genealogy, on the World Wide Web.

Click here to go directly to my personal blog page called Welsh Music, Film, and Books Symposium, on the World Wide Web.

Click here to go directly to my personal blog page called Celtic Cult Cinema on the World Wide Web.

Click here to go directly to my personal blog page called Mordechai Razing Ziggurats, on the World Wide Web.

Click here to go directly to my personal blog page called Mordechai's Post-Evangelical-Granola on the World Wide Web.

© 2007 Mark Leslie Woods

Sunday 10 June 2007

Film Independent's LA Film Festival kicks off next week -- Trailers on line to watch now!

Film Independent's LA Film Festival kicks off next week -- Trailers on line to watch now!

Film Independent's LA Film Festival

Here are some recommended links for Welsh Independent filmmakers, and for Indie producers in Ireland and Britain:

Film Independent used to be IFP/LA, and continues to host the Spirit Awards and other former IFP events:

Film Independent's LA Film Festival

Independent Feature Project (IFP) is one of North America's largest coalitions of Indie producers

Independent.com is the online magazine for Indie producers worldwide

TAC = Teledwyr Annibynnol Cymru/Welsh Independent Producers

UK Producers Alliance for Cinema and Television

European Film Academy

Academi Sgrin Cymru Skillset / Skillset Screen Academy Wales (SSAW)

Miami Underground Film Festival

Cardiff School of Creative & Cultural Industries

My favorite book on American Independent Film is Celluloid Mavericks: A History of American Independent Film by Greg Merritt.



Gyda bob hwyl i bawb, Mark

Click here to go directly to my personal blog page called Welsh-American Family Genealogy, on the World Wide Web.

Click here to go directly to my personal blog page called Welsh Music, Film, and Books Symposium, on the World Wide Web.

Click here to go directly to my personal blog page called Celtic Cult Cinema on the World Wide Web.

Click here to go directly to my personal blog page called Mordechai Razing Ziggurats, on the World Wide Web.

Click here to go directly to my personal blog page called Mordechai's Post-Evangelical-Granola on the World Wide Web.

© 2007 Mark Leslie Woods

Saturday 9 June 2007

American film scholar Launches Welsh Film, Music, and Book Review Symposium

Celtic Cult Cinema Blog expands to new Welsh Film Symposium site:

Mark Woods says:

"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."

In June 2007 I completed my Ph.D. in Film Studies at the University of Glamorgan in Wales, and for the past five years I have watched and reviewed over 100 Welsh films and television products, as part of my research.

While there is extensive research in the field of Welsh national cinema by Berry, Blandford, Ffrancon and others, there is also a paucity of qualified scholarship in important areas of this field.

Welsh national cinema is a national cinema, which has struggled to survive, has struggled to overcome systemic and historic obstacles to scholarship, as well as funding, production, exhibition and distribution of its products, related organizations, agents and services.

Consequently, the National cinema of Wales will only benefit from further scholarship, and the implied enhancement of exposure to new and different audiences, from both and industrial and cultural perspective.

Each month I hope to share my findings and reviews with you, and I hope you'll tell me about your favorite films, as well!

Gyda bob hwyl i bawb,

Mark

Click here to go directly to my personal blog page called Welsh Music, Film, and Books Symposium, on the World Wide Web.

Click here to go directly to my personal blog page called Mordechai Razing Ziggurats, on the World Wide Web.

Click here to go directly to my personal blog page called Celtic Cult Cinema on the World Wide Web.

Click here to go directly to my personal blog page called Mordechai's Post-Evangelical-Granola on the World Wide Web.

© 2007 Mark Leslie Woods

Glamorgan Student Film & Video Showcase at Chapter Arts Nos Iau nesaf -- Croeso i bawb!


End of Year Film and Video Showcase
June 14, 2007 7 p.m. to 9 p.m.
Chapter Art Centre, Cardiff

Cardiff School of Creative & Cultural Industries will be screening a series of Dramas and documentaries made by our Film and Video graduates in Screen one of the Chapter Arts Centre, Cardiff between 7pm and 9pm, on Thursday 14th June.

Cardiff School of Creative & Cultural Industries

Click here to go directly to my personal blog page called Mordechai Razing Ziggurats, on the World Wide Web.

Click here to go directly to my personal blog page called Celtic Cult Cinema on the World Wide Web.

Click here to go directly to my personal blog page called Mordechai's Post-Evangelical-Granola on the World Wide Web.

© 2007 Mark Leslie Woods

Friday 8 June 2007

Fyfe Finishes Glamorgan Storytelling Season


Pictured above: George Ewart Evans (1909–88) was a pioneering oral historian. He published a series of books examining the disappearing customs and way of life of rural Suffolk, the best know of these is Ask the Fellows who Cut the Hay. He was also an accomplished story writer and wrote short-stories, novels and poems. George Ewart Evans was born and raised in the mining community of Abercynon, a stone’s throw from the University of Glamorgan where the George Ewart Evans Centre for Storytelling is based.

George Ewart Evans Centre for Storytelling / George Ewart Evans Centre for Storytelling

The George Ewart Evans Centre for Storytelling research seminar series for 2007 concludes on Thursday 14th June with a seminar from our very own Prof Hamish Fyfe. Please join us at 5pm in L201 for the seminar and a glass of wine.

Thurs 14th June 5 p.m. Prof Hamish Fyfe (University of Glamorgan)

“Habits of the Heart” Storytelling and Everyday Life

Academics have long been ambivalent about storytelling and other aspects of everyday life. As a notion ‘everyday life’ is vague, inclusive, and loaded with ambiguous cultural meaning as are the words ‘banal’ and, despite Raymond William’s heroic effort to rescue it, ‘ordinary’. Often linked to the bathetically comic or eternally tedious the everyday can also refer to the heroically democratic non-elitist and normal.

Storytelling is an everyday activity for most people in the world in some form or another. This paper will attempt to place storytelling in the quotidian of everyday life and to indicate how it has fallen through the gaps of concern that of the academic disciplines that look at everyday life through the refracting mirror of their own specific concerns. Is it possible to rescue storytelling from its position as a kind of remaindered subject that evades traditional divisions of knowledge?

Please Contact: Emily Underwood T: 01443 483312 E: efunderw@glam.ac.uk

Cardiff School of Creative & Cultural Industries

Click here to go directly to my personal blog page called Mordechai Razing Ziggurats, on the World Wide Web.

Click here to go directly to my personal blog page called Celtic Cult Cinema on the World Wide Web.

Click here to go directly to my personal blog page called Mordechai's Post-Evangelical-Granola on the World Wide Web.

© 2007 Mark Leslie Woods

Saturday 2 June 2007

GWYRTH: Cai Tomos, John Collingswood & Tom Raybould y Cwmni Dawns Diversions ar Llwyfan Heno


Double Bill: Monument + GWYRTH miracle

Fri 1 + Sat 2 June
8pm
Gwe 1 + Sad 2 Mehefin

Annie Pui Ling Lok: Monument

Monument provides a temporary landmark for London-based choreographer Annie Lok on a short tour around sites of personal, cultural and historical value. Souvenirs of particular places and occasions are revisited and represented through movement, attempting to recall and organize a non-chronological archive of memories.

Cai Tomos, John Collingswood & Tom Raybould: GWYRTH miracle

“I don’t know what it is that brings me back to life.”

A new collaboration between Cardiff-based choreographer and dancer Cai Tomos, visual artist John Collingswood and musician Tom Raybould. GWYRTH explores the moments in our lives when we are touched by the miraculous.

£10/£8/£6

Horizons 3 for 2 Ticket Offer :

Buy tickets to two events and get a free ticket to any performance at Chapter or Diversions Dance House (at Wales Millenium Centre). The Diversions programme features The Mark Bruce Company (Tue 29 May) and Dance Bristol (Mon 18 + Tue 19 June).

Call Chapter Box Office on 029 2030 4400 for full details.

Click here to go directly to my personal blog page called Mordechai Razing Ziggurats, on the World Wide Web.

Click here to go directly to my personal blog page called Celtic Cult Cinema on the World Wide Web.

Click here to go directly to my personal blog page called Mordechai's Post-Evangelical-Granola on the World Wide Web.

© 2007 Mark Leslie Woods

Wye's Worsted Wool Pulled Over Our Eyes: Welsh Woodstock, Washington's (newest) War, and Iraq Withdrawal (Dim gobaith caneri gyda Bush)

Sir Michael Rose said the Iraq war cannot be won . . .
[Pictured above: Sir Michael Rose live from Hay-on-Wye, Wales.]

Bore da i chi! This has all the makings of another great novel (or perhaps my next motion picture screenplay, if I can only beat Gore Vidal to the punch): Welsh Woodstock, Washington's (newest) War, and Iraq Withdrawal (Dim gobaith caneri gyda Bush!)

A British military leader is saying the war in Iraq is lost, and he's using the platform of the Mid Wales Hay Literary Festival (what Bill Clinton called the 'Woodstock of the Mind') as his bullypulpit.

Once again international attention is upon Wales, which raises the question, 'Is Wales the centre of the Universe, and does the River Wye mark the great divide that separates Washington from Baghdad?' (just kidding, well, sort of).

So in the Welsh 'court' we have a British warrior announcing the war is lost and that we need to withdraw (Dim gobaith caneri gyda Bush), while in Washington's moral wasteland we have Bush announcing the troops will stay for 50 years -- high drama & political intrigue? Shakespeare's King Lear comes to mind . . .

To read more please see 'Ex-Army chief seeks Iraq withdrawal':

Guardian Hay Festival


And for the REAL TRUTH about what Bush & Blair have planned in Iraq:

50 More Years in Iraq?
By Dan Froomkin
Special to washingtonpost.com
Thursday, May 31, 2007; 12:52 PM

The White House, long irritated by the frequent use of Vietnam as a metaphor for Iraq, embraced its own analogy yesterday: South Korea.

There's an undeniable attraction to holding up America's military presence in South Korea as a model for Iraq: Our soldiers stationed there aren't dying in large numbers every month.

But in other ways, the analogy is troubling. And flawed. And dangerous. And telling.

It's troubling because American troops have been in South Korea for more than 50 years -- while polls show the American public wants them out of Iraq within a year.

It's flawed because in South Korea, unlike Iraq, there's something concrete to defend (the border with North Korea); and because Iraq, unlike South Korea, happens to be in a state of violent civil war.

Read 50 More Years in Iraq?

Read 50 More Years in Iraq?

Click here to go directly to my personal blog page called Mordechai Razing Ziggurats, on the World Wide Web.

Click here to go directly to my personal blog page called Celtic Cult Cinema on the World Wide Web.

Click here to go directly to my personal blog page called Mordechai's Post-Evangelical-Granola on the World Wide Web.

© 2007 Mark Leslie Woods

Friday 1 June 2007

Rumbles in the Dragon's Belly? Plagued by delays, Welsh Studio promises news coming soon


The start of building work on £330m film studio complex, dubbed Valleywood, has been plagued by repeated delays.

According to icWales:


Valleywood dream moves step closer to becoming reality
May 30 2007

by Abby Alford, South Wales Echo

ACTION could finally be called on the much-hyped £300m Valleywood film studio after years of delays.

The Echo understands a major announcement signalling a significant step forward will be made in the next couple of months.

A source close to Dragon International Studios, which is chaired by film-maker Sir Richard Attenborough, said the contract for building work on the £50m first stage of the project in Llanilid near Bridgend – five giant TV studios known as silent sound stages – is due to be awarded.

“We haven’t got a definite date for an announcement but the tenders for the work are in,” said the source.

Work is expected to start on site once the name of the firm that has won the contract is revealed. Today, Ogmore AM Janice Gregory, a long-time supporter of the studio project, said: “I am glad that things appear to be moving on and I am sure it will allay the fears of many people locally who were worried that things were a bit too quiet.”

Lord Attenborough publicly announced in July 2005 – after an earlier delay to hunt for rare dormice – that the complex on the vast 760-acre former opencast coal mining site would be completed by spring this year.

Cardiff School of Creative & Cultural Industries

Click here to go directly to my personal blog page called Mordechai Razing Ziggurats, on the World Wide Web.

Click here to go directly to my personal blog page called Celtic Cult Cinema on the World Wide Web.

Click here to go directly to my personal blog page called Mordechai's Post-Evangelical-Granola on the World Wide Web.

© 2007 Mark Leslie Woods