After more than four years, the Ottawa Welsh Society (OWS) is proud to present the return of the Ottawa Welsh Film Festival (OWFF). Debuting back in 2019, the goal of the OWFF is to help Canadians learn more about the culture and language of the Welsh people.
“They’re going to understand a little bit more about Wales, how proud we are of the Welsh language and of our history and culture,” said Alison Lawson, a member of the OWS who was part of the film festival’s subcommittee, during a phone interview.
Over the next few weeks, OWFF 2023 will present a different film every Monday in March at one of Ottawa’s most iconic local cinemas, the ByTowne (which has once again assisted with promoting the festival). According to Lawson, the OWS was quite satisfied with the number of people who attended their first film festival, which featured the Welsh films Y Syrcas, Y Streic a Fi, Hedd Wyn and Under Milk Wood as part of its lineup.
“They were all very different, as are the choices this time,” says Lawson. “We tried to cater to a wide range of tastes. Three of them, actually, were in Welsh language last time with English subtitles.”
Lawson and the subcommittee from the OWS devoted a lot of time and effort to selecting the best examples of Welsh films, or films connected to Welsh culture, and narrowed them down to a lineup of movies Lawson says appeal to a diverse audience.
Mr. Jones (2019)
Serving as the debut film for OWFF 2023, Mr. Jones is a biographical film set during the early 1930s and is based on the story of Welsh journalist Gareth Jones, who travelled to the Soviet Union to investigate the Holodomor, a man-made famine that resulted in the death of millions of Ukrainians. Directed by Agnieszka Holland and written by Andrea Chalupa, Mr. Jones was awarded the 2019 Golden Lions Award at the 44th Gdynia Film Festival.
“It’s a gripping story […] and also it has relevance right now, of course,” says Lawson. “We’re hoping that the Ukrainian community will come out and join us in watching this film. It’ll be tough to take, but it puts things in a historic perspective.”
Mr. Jones will be showing at the ByTowne on March 6 at 6:30pm. The film is in in English, Ukrainian, Russian and Welsh.
Patagonia (2010)
Based on the real Welsh community Y Wladfa—established in Patagonia in Southern Argentina back in 1865—Patagonia is a drama that follows two parallel stories. One involves the Welsh couple Gwen and Rhys, who travel to Patagonia to restore their relationship and make an important decision regarding their future, and the other follows Cerys, an elderly Welsh Argentinean woman who travels to Wales to return to her family roots. Nominated as the British entry for Best Foreign Film at the 2012 Academy Awards, the film features actor Matthew Rhys, who starred in the spy drama series The Americans.
“There’s still a very live Welsh community in Patagonia,” says Lawson. “This film is sort of really neat […] even though it was made a while ago, it’s never been shown in Ottawa. And it’s a first-class film and, quite honestly, we’re delighted that we can show it to Ottawa audiences now.”
Patagonia is scheduled for March 13 at 6:30pm and is in Welsh and Spanish with English subtitles.
Morfydd (2018)
A screenshot of the movie Morfydd directed by Andy Newbery and written by Siwan Jones. Produced by Boom Cymru.
Unlike the other films featured at OWFF 2023, 2018’s Morfydd (pronounced Morvydd in Wales) was originally released as a TV movie. A biopic focusing on the very talented Welsh singer, composer and pianist Morfydd Llwyn Owen (1891–1918), the film explores Owen’s life, from her musical career and personal life to her unfortunate death at the age of 26.
“I guess what is so interesting about this film is that Morfydd Owen was a Welsh woman composer of note in the 19th century and this contrasts starkly with her domestic life,” said Lawson in a follow-up email. “There is also the unanswerable question of what more she could have composed had she lived longer.”
Morfydd is scheduled for March 20 at 6:45pm and is entirely in Welsh with English subtitles.
American Interior (2014)
As the sole documentary featured in OWFF’s lineup, American Interior captures the journey of Gruff Rhys—a Welsh musician, composer, filmmaker, and founding member of the Welsh rock group Super Furry Animals—as he conducts an “Investigative Concert Tour” with his band across the U.S.A.’s great plains in search of the Madogwys, a lost tribe of Welsh-speaking Indigenous people, while tracing the same 18th-century route undertaken by his ancestor, John Evans. According to Lawson, American Interior is an exceptional film that must be seen in order to truly understand it.
“It’s very hard to describe, it will take you by surprise,” says Lawson. “It’s charming, I loved it. At the end, I couldn’t believe how wonderful it was.”
American Interior is scheduled for March 27 at 7pm and is in English with some Welsh language as well.
For more details about OWFF’s film lineup and for tickets, visit the ByTowne’s events page.
