Celtic Cult Cinema

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Showing posts with label Gwenno Ffrancon. Show all posts

Thursday, 3 April 2008

Cyfrwng Welsh Media 2008 Holds Annual Seaside Resort Conference at Aberystwyth University May 1-2, Follows Gala April 27 BAFTA Cymru Awards

[Pictured above: Aberystwyth overlooks the Irish Sea.]

CYFRWNG 2008 CONFERENCE

Aberystwyth University
1-2 May 2008

New Platforms :: Convergence

The Cyfrwng 2008 conference will be held in the National Library of Wales, Aberystwyth, on 1-2 May and this year’s theme is ‘Convergence – Cydgyfeiriant’. During the two day event, a range of speakers, papers and panels will consider how the media in Wales are rising to the challenge of a digital, multiplatform world.

The conference programme will be published on this website shortly but we are urging people to register as soon as possible and to book their place at the conference dinner which will follow the Cyfrwng 2008 award ceremony on Thursday night 1 May.

The dinner will be hosted at the Council Chamber in the National Library but space is limited! Come back to the website soon for full programme details but speakers include:

[Pictured above: Dr David Barlow, University of Glamorgan]

Dr Mike Cormack, Sabhal Mòr Ostaig

[Pictured above: Phil George, National English Language Theatre]

[Pictured above: John Geraint, Green Bay Media Limited]

Rhian Gibson, S4C Director of Commissioning

Janet Lewis Jones, BBC Trust

Prof. Tom O’Malley, Aberystwyth University

Elis Owen, Managing Director ITV Wales

[Pictured above: Prof. Mike Pearson, Aberystwyth University]

Arshad Rasul, Director of Technology, S4C

[Pictured above: Dr Heike Roms, Aberystwyth University]

Mandy Rose, Creative Director: Multiplatform, BBC Wales

[Pictured above: Ceri Sherlock, Multiplatform Commissioning Executive, BBC Wales]

[Pictured above: Prof. Elan Closs Stephens, Aberystwyth University]

Prof. Ioan Williams, Theatr Genedlaethol Cymru

Rhodri Williams, Ofcom Wales

For further information, contact Elin Haf Gruffydd Jones or Rhodri ap Dyfrig on 01970 622533.

Cyfrwng Welsh Media Conference May 2008

BAFTA CYMRU

CYNHADLEDD CYFRWNG 2008

1-2 Mai 2008

Prifysgol Aberystwyth

Llwyfannau Newydd :: Cydgyfeiriant

Bydd cynhadledd Cyfrwng 2008 yn cael ei chynnal yn Llyfrgell Genedlaethol Cymru yn Aberystwyth rhwng 1-2 Mai a’r thema eleni yw ‘Cydgyfeiriant – Convergence’. Dros gyfnod o ddau ddiwrnod, bydd amrywiaeth o ddarlithoedd a phaneli difyr yn trafod sut mae cyfryngau Cymru yn ymateb i her yr oes ddigidol, aml-lwyfan.

Caiff rhaglen y gynhadledd ei chyhoeddi ar y wefan hon cyn hir ond rydym yn annog pobl i gofrestru mor fuan â phosib ac i sicrhau lle yng nghinio’r gynhadledd fydd yn dilyn seremoni wobrwyo Cyfrwng 2008 ar nos Iau 1 Mai.

Y bwriad yw cynnal y swper yn Ystafell y Cyngor y Llyfrgell Genedlaethol ond mae nifer y llefydd yn gyfyngedig, felly cyntaf i’r felin! Dewch nôl i’r wefan am fanylion llawn y rhaglen ond dyma rai o siaradwyr y gynhadledd:

Dr David Barlow, Prifysgol Morgannwg
Dr Mike Cormack, Sabhal Mòr Ostaig
Phil George, Theatr Genedlaethol cyfrwng Saesneg
John Geraint, Green Bay
Rhian Gibson, Cyfarwyddwr Comisiynu S4C

Janet Lewis Jones, Ymddiriedolaeth y BBC
Yr Athro Tom O’Malley, Prifysgol Aberystwyth

Elis Owen, Rheolwr Gyfarwyddwr ITV Wales
Yr Athro Mike Pearson, Prifysgol Aberystwyth

Arshad Rasul, Cyfarwyddwr Technoleg S4C
Dr Heike Roms, Prifysgol Aberystwyth
Mandy Rose, Cyfarwyddwr Creadigol: Aml-lwyfan, BBC Cymru
Ceri Sherlock, Gweithredwr Comisiynu BBC Cymru
Yr Athro Elan Closs Stephens, Prifysgol Aberystwyth
Yr Athro Ioan Williams, Theatr Genedlaethol Cymru
Rhodri Williams, Ofcom Cymru

Am fwy o wybodaeth, cysyllter ag Elin Haf Gruffydd Jones neu Rhodri ap Dyfrig ar 01970 622533.

AIM: ATRiuM Intelligent Media

Chapter Arts Centre Cardiff

Cardiff School of Creative & Cultural Industries

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

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Sunday, 1 July 2007

Yn Mapio Ffilmiau Cymreig fel ‘an Irish Shangra-La’ / Mapping Cinematic Wales as ‘an Irish Shangra-La’

Pictured above: New Welsh Film Book by Dr. Gwenno Ffrancon Jenkins, Swansea University

In her recent book, 'Cyfaredd y Cysgodion - Delweddu Cymru a'i Phobl ar Ffilm, 1935 – 1951', film scholar Gwenno Ffrancon Jenkins points to the ‘othering’ of the Welsh by director John Ford in the film How Green was My Valley (1941).

Ford adapted an indigenous Welsh novel by author Richard Llewellyn, but directed and cast the script in such a way to create not a Welsh story, but an Irish story in a Welsh motif, what Berry has called ‘an Irish Shangra-La’ (Berry 1994: 17).

Ffrancon Jenkins reflects this in her statement:

'mai ffilm am Gymru drwy lygaid a lleisiau Gwyddelig a gynhyrchwyd yn y diwedd . . . A dyma un o'i diffygion pennaf.'

'It is a film on Wales through the Irish eyes and voices and direction right to the end.' (Ffrancon-Jenkins 2003: 18) [all Welsh to English translations by the author of this study, unless otherwise noted].

So in Ffrancon Jenkins’ opinion, Ford has rendered the Welsh as ‘contributors’ to his Irish fable, similarly to the ‘primitive’ but proper Welshwomen-known-as-Englishwomen in ‘Outsider’ François Truffaut’s film 'Les Deux Anglaises et le Continent' (1971), and she writes about ‘Welsh Cinematic Outsider’ Ford’s characterization of the Welsh people:

"Y canlyniad yw ‘darluniau afreal’ o'r Cymry fel ‘simple, primitive people’."

"Consequently it is an ‘unreal portrayal’ of the Welsh as ‘simple, primitive people.’" (Ffrancon-Jenkins 2003: 19)

Ford based his film upon Llewellyn’s novel. Llewellyn was a Welshman born into the London Welsh Diaspora, and he did sufficient ‘cultural tourism’ while visiting his grandfather in the South Wales mining community of Gilfach-goch, to base his novel on this village.

So while Ford and Llewellyn are both ‘Outsiders’ to varying degrees, Llewellyn is an important type of ‘Insider’ who went away from Wales and became an ‘Outsider’ (as a scriptwriter for the American studio, MGM), which permitted him to peddle his narrative wares to the global, cinematic imperial powers in Hollywood, in this case the iconic John Ford, best known for his Hollywood Westerns.

'Cyfaredd y Cysgodion - Delweddu Cymru a'i Phobl ar Ffilm, 1935 – 1951' is a thorough and highly readable social and cultural study of the influence of the cinema on the lives of Welsh people between 1935 and 1951, and how Wales and her people have been portrayed by film makers. 25 black-and-white illustrations.

Mae 'Cyfaredd y Cysgodion - Delweddu Cymru a'i Phobl ar Ffilm, 1935 – 1951' astudiaeth gymdeithasol a diwylliannol drylwyr a hynod ddarllenadwy o ddylanwad y sinema ar fywyd pobl Cymru rhwng 1935 a 1951, ac ar y modd y delweddwyd Cymru a'i phobl gan wneuthurwyr ffilm. 25 llun du-a-gwyn.

‘Robustly historical view of Welsh cinematic heritage . . . the first social and industrial study of the formative years of the genre in Wales . . . Gwenno Ffrancon has used every archive available to her, and she treats the ‘unknown’ with a great deal of empathy and understanding . . . this volume certainly succeeds in rediscovering the beginnings of the ‘forgetting chambers’ in Wales.’ (New Welsh Review)

Y mae Gwenno Ffrancon, brodor o Flaen-plwyf ger Aberystwyth, yn ddarlithydd ffilm yn Adran Cyfathrebu a’r Cyfryngau, Prifysgol Cymru, Bangor.

Gan Gwales: 'All neb ddadlau â honiad y broliant fod hon yn 'gyfrol arloesol'. Mae'r ymdriniaeth drylwyr, ddychmygus, amlonglog hon â detholiad o ffilmiau o Gymru ac am Gymru rhwng 1935 a 1951 yn gamp gyflawn ynddi'i hun, ond y mae hefyd yn agor maes enfawr a chyfoethog i eraill ymchwilio ynddo . . .'

'Mae hi'n gyfrol a fydd o ddiddordeb i rychwant llydan o ddarllenwyr, ond yr hyn sy'n rhoi rhuddin iddi yw ysgolheictod gadarn ac ymchwil fanwl ei hawdur.'

'Mae'r rhestr ffynonellau ar ddau gyfandir yn tystio i barodrwydd Gwenno Ffrancon i fynd yr ail a'r drydedd filltir er mwyn medru llunio darlun mor gynhwysfawr, mor gyflawn ei gyd-destunau â phosibl o'i phwnc. Mae ei gallu i wisgo het y beirniad ffilm a het yr hanesydd diwylliannol gyda'r un argyhoeddiad yn ei galluogi i wneud cyfiawnder â'i thestun.’

www.gwales.com