An Tarow’s festival success continues with a nomination in the Best Celtic Short Film category at the BAFTA Cymru Qualifying Carmarthen Bay Film Festival. With over 1000 films submitted to the festival this year, the category recognises the best Celtic produced work and use of the Celtic languages from Wales, Ireland North or South, Isle of Man, Cornwall, Scotland and Brittany.
The other seven nominated films include Orson Cornick’s Choker filmed in Cornwall, Angor by Bangor based photography Paul Hanks, The West Kerry Cowboy by Cian O’Connor, Leave the Road Behind You by Daniel Butler, Pale Saint by Rhys Marc Jones, and Boat Boy Joe Madden. Also nominated was Sema Basharan’s recent documentary The Signalman which recently featured on BBC One’s Inside Out South West and has been previously screened at Newlyn Film Festival, Cardiff Mini Film Festival in June last year, and London’s British Documentary Film Festival where it won in the Best Student Film category. The film follows the life of the only violin maker in Cornwall in the early twentieth century who gained wide spread renown for his craftsmanship. Sema’s previous work includes Unknown Ravens and Life Lessons. An Tarow, which shot on location across Redruth, Truro, Carn Brea, Watergate Bay and West Penwith follows Jackson New in the role of Peder who finds enough courage from his mother’s Cornish tales to confront his abusive father. The film features Edward Rowe in the role of Mal, who’s recent film Bait was nominated for Outstanding British Film in the 2020 BAFTA’s with director Mark Jenkin picking up the BAFTA for Outstanding debut by a British writer, director or producer. Bryher Flanders, whose previous credits include work with R&D, Soho Theatre, Bunker Theatre, RADA and BBC New Creatives, plays Peder’s mum Cara. With local Cornish actor Tim Cartwright playing teacher Mr Cormoron. Carmarthen Bay Film Festival made the announcement alongside other award nominations on their Facebook page which can be watched here. The press kit is available to view here. Alongside a wide range of Cornish based filmmakers, Jonny’s latest project on Penzance based luthier, Hannah Sedgwick, was commissioned as part of the Hypatia Trust’s Women of Cornish Music: Past and Present project. The project, which commissioned eight short documentaries, aims to explore and celebrate the contributions of women to Cornwall’s musical heritage.
Jonny’s project is not only a first step in to documentary, but also a first chance to experiment with Super8 film, which he will be using to capture the tactile qualities of Hannah’s craft, pairing this with conversations and sounds of repair to explore the many aspects of Hannah’s life. From her Penzance-based workshop, Hannah Sedgwick continues the town's long line of luthiers; those who take battered instruments and turn them towards a new lease of life. Through a web of conversations and sound, Jonny’s project reflects on the meaning of craft, showing a woman working with her hands, and listening to the interactions that make up her daily life. Other commissioned filmmakers include Sky Neal, who’s recent feature documentary Even When I Fall was nominated for a 2018 BIFA and Sheffield Doc Fest in 2017, and won the Audience Award at RAI Film Festival in 2019. The film, described at “sensitive, intimate, graceful” by Total Film and “visually arresting” by Little White Lies, follows Sheetal and Saraswoti re-building their lives after returning to Nepal having been trafficked as children in to Indian circuses. The rest have been brought together from across Cornwall, each exploring distinct areas of musical practice; from musician’s such as Martha Tilston, to the work of music therapists like Ruth Bolton and a sweeping generational perspective on Helston Flora Day. The films will sit as a permanent collection that captures female role models in Cornwall and work to rebalance the awareness of women’s roles in Cornish music-making. The wider project, funded through the National Lottery Heritage Fund, Cornwall Heritage Trust and Screen Cornwall, will run for 15 months and encompass a wide range of events and projects in heritage and education. As well as the eight commissioned films, a wider programme of events and volunteer archive work will explore and celebrate Cornish music through a female lens, discovering stories and music of historical women and displaying strong female role models for the next generation. More information can be found through the Hypatia Trust’s website. |