We’ve finally reached the end of my Cardiff Animation Festival 2026 coverage and I want to begin by saying a huge huge thank you to Lauren and the team for hosting yet another amazing and successful festival and allowing me to cover press.
As an avid animation fan, I am always amazed by the skill and craftsmanship that goes into making a film and CAF did not disappoint. It was great to speak with some of the filmmakers and talk to them about their processes and inspiration.
The final slot of the festival is the awards show and, this year, it was hosted by film critic, Ali Plumb, who did a wonderful job of MC’ing and engaging with the audience.
In this roundup, I’ve listed the winners from the Festival’s award show and will conclude with my top 3 films from the festival.
Ali Plumb hosting the awards show
CAF 2026 Award Winners
Here are the winners from the CAF 2026 awards show:
Best Micro Short
Boglach directed by Sarah Benson
Young Jury Award
Lost Marble – The Shortcut directed by Laura Quinn Geyer
Best Student Short
Foreign Bodies directed by Lysander Wong
Student Special Mention
Pear Garden directed by Shadab Shayegan
Best Short Film
And Granny Would Dance directed by Maryam Mohajer
Special Mention
A Night at the Rest Area directed by Saki Muramoto
Audience Award
The Undying Pain of Existence directed by Oscar Jacobson
CAF’s adorable mascot, Dotty, and the the beautiful puppet from Chloe Herbert’s Aster.
Small Pics CAF 2026 Picks
Top Pick
Boglach directed by Sarah Benson
Special Mentions
PASALUBONG! directed by Sophia Uy
Pear Garden directed by Shadab Shayegan
That concludes my CAF 2026 write ups. What a fantastic year filled with talented filmmakers from all over the globe.
Well done to the team at CAF for another successful year!
It’s finally here! The third segment of my CAF 2026 reviews. A lot of these films demanded reflection as there were concurrent themes of change, identity, and acceptance.
Before diving in, I just want to mention that it has been an absolute privilege to be able to review and discuss talented filmmakers from all over the world.
Here is the final group of review write ups:
Shorts 2: Pause
This collection of shorts celebrate the peaceful moments in life. Featuring playful characters and plenty of whimsy, this selection boasted some of the strongest offerings of the weekend.
Sarah Benson’s Boglach is a charming micro-short that follows a small community that creates clouds, which in turn generates rain and helps the land flourish. The design of the people is reminiscent of Ponyo and its environmental discussions did remind me of Studio Ghibli because of this. Benson achieves a fully realised world within a couple of minutes which is an incredible achievement and it is for this reason that this was my highlight from this selection.
I also enjoyed The Sycamore by Jared D. Weiss which is a fable about two friends who seek shade from the titular tree. Based on “The Travellers and the Plane Tree” by Aesop, The Sycamore tells the story from the point of view of the tree and gives metaphorical voice to nature and its frustrations with mankind.
Boglach – Sarah Benson
Small Pics highlights:
Boglach directed by Sarah Benson (Ireland)
The Sycamore directed by Jared D. Weiss (USA)
Shorts 3: Rewind
As the name suggests, these films are about turning back the clock and reflecting on memories past. Whether that is looking at generational trauma or personal growth, these are shorts that showcases the lessons and tribulations in life.
My personal favourite from this batch was Polliwog which follows a prepubescent girl who is struggling with the sudden changes in her body. During a school trip, she encounters a polliwog and relates to the changes it is going through. The warm colour palette and vivid shapes ensure that the shared experience is perfectly conveyed.
While Polliwog presents change from an individual’s perspective, Memoria Colectiva explores the devastating affects of the Peruvian Armed Conflict in the Ayacucho region of Peru and the toll it took on the community, especially the women. It is one of the longer shorts of the festival and it’s easy to understand why. Film is one of the best mediums to share and educate on major events and the directness of the storytelling and the way documentary elemts are combined with animation gives us a look into a regime that took a lot away from the Ayacucho communities but also showcased the women’s courage and resilience.
Polliwog – Julia Skala
Small Pics highlights:
Polliwog directed by Julia Skala (Germany)
Memoria Colectiva directed by Cristina Colmenares and Manuel-Antonio Monteagudo (Colombia, France, Peru)
Family Shorts
The last set of shorts I watched was the Family Shorts. As the name suggests, these are films that have been made with younger audiences in mind. Don’t be fooled, however, as these films may be family-friendly, but that doesn’t mean that they shy away from difficult topics. A lot of the films dealt with isolation, identity and finding your place in the world. There was plenty of whimsy and bright colour palettes scored with an undertone of these deeper themes.
My highlight from this bunch was Marion Jamault’s Filante, a predominantly silent film (save for the singing of some sparkly mermaids) that follows a young girl who has lost her pet rat and befriends a bat during her quest to find him. The textures in this film are stunning, especially when Jamault makes use of the sparkling elements and the colour palette is vivid and dreamy, immersing the audience from the first frame.
Another strong offering in this selection was Chloe Herbert’s, Aster. This is a stunning stopmotion that features some of the most intricate puppet design I’ve seen. The film follows an ethereal being that shifts and changes shape, manipulating the space around it. What Herbert achieves is incredible, especially the scenes in which the being becomes a dragon. I was mesmerised and moved by the originality and fearlessness on display.
Filante – Marion Jamault
Small Pics highlights:
Filante directed by Marion Jamault (France)
Aster directed by Chloe Hebert (UK)
That concludes my film reviews, but I’ll be posting a final roundup which includes the CAF Award winners, plus my overall personal picks, so stay tuned!
Please go and seek the films out if they pique your interest and remember to celebrate and push independent filmmakers, especially in the animation space!
It’s time to dive back into the fun of Cardiff Animation Festival and talk about the next bunch of films from Shorts 1 and Shorts 8. I had the opportunity to meet and speak to many of the filmmakers and enjoyed learning about their creative processes and what influenced their decision-making when making the films.
Attending CAF is always exciting because there’s always something going on. From screenings to workshops to exhibitions, there is something for everyone to enjoy and learn from.
Model of Nessie, star of Loch Ness 1303 – Joshua Chawner
Here’s a roundup of Cardiff Animation Festival Part II:
Shorts 1: Play
These films find the extraordinary in everyday life, showcasing the strength of imagination in storytelling. Some provide classic tales with a twist, while others find joy in the simple things.
Wuthering Hearts by Laura Jayne Hodkin was a hilarious retelling of Wuthering Heights through an emo lens and nostalgic references, particularly the aesthetic and work of My Chemical Romance.
The first film shown in this selection, Huayi Yu’s Family Dinner, is about imagination and finding fun in observations. Yu plays with shapes and proportions which goes along brilliantly with the young boy’s observations. For example, we watch him recount his achievement riding his bike up a huge hill which turns out was just a little bump. Playing with perspectives this way means you never know what to expect, even when faced with the seemingly mundane tasks.
Loch Ness 1303 by Joshua Chawner is an epic of Lego proportions. This stop-motion is a masterclass in utilising Lego animation in a way that plays on scale. We are immediately immersed in the eponymous year as Chawner’s mythical retelling blends classic Hollywood tropes (insert Wilhelm scream here) and contemporary humour.
Family Dinner – Huayi Yu
Small Pics highlights:
Family Dinner directed by Huayi Yu (USA)
Loch Ness 1303 directed by Joshua Chawner (UK)
Shorts 8: Welsh Works
As the name of this selection suggests, these films are a celebration of Welsh identity and culture. Some films did this by incorporating Cymraeg (Welsh language) fully or partially into their pieces, while others took inspiration from folklore, culture, and current issues.
Paper Trees by Paddy Merrigan draws inspiration from the Welsh tradition of storytelling. Creating his own new folktale, Paper Trees is a fable about taking from the land to make art and the consequences for doing so. Merrigan’s choice to tell this story through silhouette animation brings a timeless quality reminiscent of Lotte Reiniger, while the environmental issues discussed cement the film in the present day.
The standouts for me where Tommy Howlett’s All Hail the Duck King, a chaotic glimpse into searching for artistic greatness and finding joy in what you create as you establish your artistic identity. Crayon style colour palette and abstract line-work combines with non-stop music and movement resulting in a film that has fun with the medium.
Another highlight was Eleri Edwards’ Crybaby, a symbolic tale about a young woman diagnosed with autism as an adult. She reflects on her life as a child and teen and struggles that come with not understanding why certain events happen. The use of space and shadow is beautifully done to encapsulate the overwhelming emotions the protagonist is faced with as she grapples with her diagnosis.
All Hail the Duck King – Tommy Howlett
Small Pics highlights:
All Hail the Duck King directed by Tommy Howlett (Wales)
Crybaby directed by Eleri Edwards (Wales)
What I have noticed about films across all categories is that a good chunk of them delve into what it means to be an artist and finding your identity through your craft.
Others explore the struggles of being a working artist in an increasingly detached and problematic world, using animation as a means to provide hope and optimism.
Cardiff Animation Festival has been an amazing platform for aspiring and professional filmmakers alike and it’s been great having the opportunity to watch all these films.
It’s been a while since I have attended a film festival and the lovely folks at Cardiff Animation Festival let me stretch the old critic legs and enjoy a weekend full of brilliant and quirky films made by students and professionals alike.
As ever, CAF was excellent from beginning to end. I saw a lot of familiar faces and met lots of talented filmmakers. It was truly a privilege to watch the result of months of hard work and passion, so it’s only fair I celebrate the work by spreading it out across several posts rather than a single long posts.
Here is Part I of my Cardiff Animation Festival coverage:
Shorts 5: Home
There we 13 films in this category with each bringing their own visual style and perspective on the theme. Interpretations of home ranged from a personal residence to a whole community or country, exploring themes including homesickness, hoarding, and how our home shapes our identity.
We were treated to beautifully abstract works in Homesickness which boasts vivid oil pastels to full narrative stories such as the wonderful stop-motion piece, Two Black Boys in Paradise, is a visual poem exploring two young men’s journey to self-acceptance.
For me, the standouts were Sophia Uy’s PASALUBONG! and Qianhui Yu’s Statue in the Garden. PASALUBONG! explores the friendship of two Filipino children in an airport mall before one of them moves to the USA. In Statue in the Garden, a young woman finds a statue of a dog in the garden of her new home and discovers its history.
PASALUBONG! – Sophia Uy
Small Pics highlights:
PASALUBONG! directed by Sophia Uy
Statue in the Garden directed by Qianhui Yu
Shorts 6: Shuffle
Shuffle had 10 films which were all about bringing the unexpected and experimenting with the medium. Thematically, these films are abstract.
There are films that explore the nuances of everyday life to those that deal with external crises. Ostrich and How to Build a Sand Castle are fast-paced vibrant pieces that explore identity and finding one’s voice in a very personal way, while De Imperio is an intense glimpse into imperialism and the struggles to fight against it.
My highlights in this selection were Shadab Shayegan’s Pear Garden in which a six-year-old girl visits her grandma following the latter’s mastectomy. Not fully understanding the situation, the little girl chases grandma’s shadow at night to try and get her breasts back. One of my favourite shorts of the entire festival, the animation was stunning and had a childlike quality and perspective. Shayegan’s use of mismatched colours and shapes that seem out of place convey the confusion and plight faced by the child.
Ovary-Acting is a comical stop-motion film following a young woman who is frustrated with people pressuring her to have baby. When she unexpectedly gives birth to her reproductive organs in the bathroom, the two talk through societal expectations through a brilliant musical number.
Pear Garden – Shadab Shayegan
Small Pics highlights:
Pear Garden directed by Shadab Shayegan
Ovary-Acting directed by Ida Melum
Different Voices Short Films
Different Voices is an ongoing program developed by Biggerhouse Film that provides neurodiverse filmmakers the opportunity to create and present their work. Before the screening, we got to hear from some of these wonderful filmmakers and the selection was incredibly strong.
Fawn by Molly Mayhew follows the eponymous character returning to her childhood home and dealing with the trauma she experienced growing up at the hands of her parents. We see adult Fawn encounter her child self and come to terms with what has happened, literally and figuratively confronting the trauma and comforting her inner child.
Marco Luke Drago’s The Man, the Moth, the Legend is a mockumentary following American folklore legend, Mothman, and his life in Point Pleasant, West Virginia. In two minutes, we see watch Mothman recount his life as an outcast and the unexpected celebrity he became later.
Fawn – Molly Mayhew
Small Pics highlights:
Fawn directed by Molly Mayhew
The Man, the Moth, the Legend directed by Marco Luke Drago
The subsequent parts will follow in the coming days, so stayed tuned. I’m going to be stretching and celebrating this as long as possible because the festival is such a major platform for many of these artists and filmmakers and I had such a blast.
And remember: support independent filmmakers and artists!
Cardiff Animation Festival offers an extensive showcase of some of the best animation films from around the world. I attended the physical festival at Chapter and discovers a rich eclecticism of the films on offer.
Checkpoint
Day 1
The first thing that you notice upon walking into Chapter Arts Centre is just how busy it is. 2022 marks Cardiff Animation Festival’s fifth year and its second in-person event (the first physical festival took place in 2018, and was followed by three years online).
This year, CAF was able to make good use of the physical space available while also boasting an array of virtual events which continue after the in-person offering until 24th April. The festival was spawned from a love of the animation medium – specifically short films and the licence they give for emerging filmmakers to be experimental with their storytelling and animation style. Hence, it’s no surprise that this is a festival which makes space for both local and international voices. That eclecticism is certainly felt in its many offerings, with no shortage of themes, styles, and perspectives, culminating in a festival that is culturally rich and rewarding.
Hand
There are seven showcases of short films numbered from 1 to 7, each containing a multitude of shorts within the category that share a common theme. I attended ‘Shorts 3: Sound/Vision’, which boasted the most amount of shorts with 17 films included in total.
As the title of the showcase suggests, these films are linked by their innovative use of sound and how this compliments (and sometimes contrasts) with the animation styles. Themes spanned numerous areas, with the pandemic and climate change being among the most recurring topics. The use of hands in various shorts such as WYH and Hand was particularly striking, used to explore the pandemic and gesture to the natural human instinct to communicate and connect with others.
Other shorts focused on the body as a whole, and brought brilliant commentary to discussions around mental health, especially prevalent in shorts such as Downfall and Summer Years. Others ventured into comical territories, including Acid Rain and Cockpera.
Noise Film
Merlin Voss’ poignant Noise Film was a personal highlight. Its narrative follows a protagonist going about her daily routine with the entire soundscape – from car to weather – rendered by humans. The way Noise Film utilises this sound exemplifies the power of subjectivity and how personal perspective may shape perception of outside events.
‘Shorts 2: Human/Nature’ was another bumper category with a whopping 16 films within its rota. These shorts were connected by their themes of identity and the self, contrasting the differences between mankind and nature in a period of increasing climate-based tension.
There were shorts that had a keen interest in the natural world such as Suburb and In Nature, while others had a sharp focus on the human experience such as the heartbreaking Deep Tissue and Silvering. I would be remiss not to mention the hilarious Magical Cat, a series of minute-long shorts that cropped up throughout these pieces following the comical activities of an animated cat.
Magical Cat
Emma Kelly’s Looking for Answers, in particular, offered profound reflection on human experience with a simple story of a man eager to plant and grow a seed who ultimately gets knocked off course by an obsession with research.
‘Shorts 6: Reel/Life’ featured 12 shorts with experimental themes and storylines. Most were made as a response to political issues, and their interests were global in reach; from Checkpoint which follows a young girl in modern-day Palestine to Les Larmes de la Seine (The Seine’s Tears) which explores France’s Algerian population in the 1960s and their rebellion against the curfews imposed by the police. Necessarily, these were not comfortable watches and they emphasised the didactic and activistic power of the animation medium, especially in addressing political taboo.
Freedom Swimmer
Olivia Martin-McGuire’s Freedom Swimmer was especially moving. Its narrative follows a man’s past flight from China to Hong Kong with his young daughter, its story running in parallel to the story of his granddaughter’s current fight for freedom in modern-day Hong Kong. The combination of live-action interviews (using actors to ensure all identities are anonymous) and minimalistic animation tells the story with an intricacy which is at once specific and universal.
‘Shorts 4: Home/Sick’ was the final set of shorts I attended on the first day. Each filmmaker in this showcase explores the themes of home and belonging, the meanings of these terms being both literal (I Call it Home) and conceptual (Depths of Night). Each short gives insight into the nuance of individual experience, and the complexities of what we claim as home.
Affairs of the Art
Joanna Quinn’s Academy Award-nominated Affairs of the Art is the stand-out piece of this set. It sees the return of her much-loved character, Beryl, in a mockumentary format as the protagonist delves into obsessive natures, documenting Beryl’s own fascination with art. Quinn perfectly conveys the shifting dynamics in the family home as she delves into desires and regrets – a perfect encapsulation of the universal longing for identity and meaning.
Day 2
Day 2 is marked by another bustling cinema foyer – the area wall to wall with aspiring animators with plenty of space for scribbling and storyboarding ideas. As well as more film showcases, a masterclass hosted by Joanna Quinn, director and animator of the Oscar-winning short film, Affairs of the Art, is on offer.
Isaiah
Things kick off with ‘Shorts 5: Silent/Cinema’. This collection of films contains the least amount of shorts with only nine in its repertoire, but this is only due to the longer running time of each piece.
‘Shorts 5’ is, in many ways, the most accessible of all the showcases – each piece linked by lack of sound and visual storytelling. Still, the plots are no less vivid for the restraint. Isaiah – one of the shortest of these films – tells the story of Mari Lywd and the tale of its Christianisation. Meanwhile, Megamall provides an insightful look into capitalism and its varying impact.
Pilar
Yngwie Boley’s Pilar captures my heart – its story following a character desperate to escape her post-apocalyptic village and reconnect with nature. Equally wonderful is Samantha Moore’s Treasure, the film following a man’s search for treasure using a metal detector in the modern-day and the connection to the past where we follow a young mother from the past who sacrifices her treasure for the good of the community. These films are completely different in themes and animation style, but both convey the power of the visual format to transcend the need for dialogue in conjuring intense emotion.
‘Shorts 1: Together/Apart’ consists of films connected by the themes of connection and communication – a deeply relevant topic following the years of global pandemic. These shorts display an acute focus on humanity.
Signs
Films such as Signs and Everything Is Going To Be OK explore the desire to reconnect with others after losing oneself in daily routine, while My Ex Boyfriend is a hilarious story about a woman whose life is flipped upside down when water begins to pour out of her boyfriend.
What was great about this collection of shorts was the inclusion of LGBTQA+ stories such as Sincerely and All Those Sensations in My Belly which followed the respective protagonists in their quest to find love in a world which doesn’t always accept them. Lina Kalcheva’s Other Half is a thoughtful claymation exploring a world where couples literally merge together to form one body.
Day 3
The weekend has begun and more animation is on the menu. I start off with ‘Shorts 7: After/Dark’ – with a turn to the darker side, CAF offers firm rebuttal to offhand remarks made at this year’s Oscar ceremony about animation being solely for children. Feature film Flee – which screened at this year’s CAF – was a contender for multiple Academy Awards. The 12 films within ‘Shorts 7’ explore (sometimes with graphic detail) issues of trauma and violence.
MOM
The first film, HIDE, is a beautiful and claustrophobic look into trauma as we see life through the eyes of a young boy who hides in a cupboard and sees glimpses of family life that are often kept hidden from children. MOM follows a young girl who is being hunted for entertainment as her plight is broadcast across the country and her reflection on memories with her mother allow her to come to terms with how the past has shaped her.
The Swiss film, Mr. Pete & the Iron Horse, provided a hint of fun – following a soldier and his quest to appease his leader. Paul O’Flanagan’s Memento Mori, which followed an esteemed post-mortem photographer, Mr. Huxley, and an encounter that forces him to reflect on his previous behaviours is a standout piece. Featuring Mark Gatiss as the protagonist, the film transports its audience into the Victorian era and does a brilliant job of setting the mood and tone from start to end.
Mr. Pete & the Iron Horse
Day 4
Shorts all out the way, the last day of the Cardiff Animation Festival has come around fast. Today the schedule turns East with two feature length Japanese films to watch before the concluding awards ceremony.
Japanese documentary The Kingdom of Dreams and Madness starts the day, the film following iconic Studio Ghibli founder and director, Hayao Miyazaki, as he directs his 2013 feature, The Wind Rises. It’s a beautiful and poignant look into the creative process of one of animation’s leading figures, looking into his entire career and what led him to make The Wind Rises.
The documentary not only gives a brilliant insight into one of the world’s best animation studios but also shows just how much hard work and dedication goes into making a feature-length animation. The screening was followed by a talk by the popular podcasters behind Ghibliotheque where they discussed various aspects of the studio and the filmmakers.
The Kingdom of Dreams and Madness
Next I attend the Welsh premiere of animator loundraw’s directorial debut, Summer Ghost, a 40-minute film that follows three teenagers who meet in the hopes of encountering a mysterious ghost who has been appearing to people during the summer months. A deeply resonant film that looks into the complexities of adolescence, identity, and trying to find your place in a quickly-advancing world, Summer Ghost boasts captivating visuals and a gripping story while managing to delve into each of the main characters’ lives in a way that feels natural. There was also a pre-recorded Q&A with loundraw following the film which delved into his rise in the world of animation and the various inspirations behind the film.
Awards Ceremony
The festival concluded with the awards ceremony where multiple films received the beautiful trophies that had been painted with dots by festival-goers throughout the weekend.
After each winner was announced, the audience was treated to a final viewing of the winning film which was a great bonus. A resounding success from start to finish, Cardiff Animation Festival is a powerful showcase for the emotional vitality and variety of the animation form.
You can see all the winners of the Cardiff Animation Festival 2022 in order that they were announced below:
Best Micro Short
Winner: NOMINO SUKUNE (directed by Ryotaro Miyajima)
Highly commended: Crafty Witch (directed by Laura-Beth Cowley)
Young Jury Award
Winner: Shift (directed by Cam Swartz)
Highly commended: Heartwood (directed by Reyes Fernández), Tobi and the Turbobus (directed by Verena Fels), and Tacet (directed by Zachary Simon)
Quick Draw Award
Winner: Blending In (directed by Bethany Powell)
Highly commended: Camouflage, Sniff Test, Blend, and Guinea Pigment
Best Student Award
Winner: Other Half (directed by Lina Kalcheva)
Highly commended: Sauna (directed by Anna Lena Spring and Lara Perren)
Best Short Film
Winner: Freedom Swimmer (directed by Olivia Martin-McGuire)
Highly commended: In Nature (directed by Marcel Barelli)
Audience Award
Winner: Affairs of the Art (directed by Joanna Quinn)
Showing at the London Film Festival Gala is a huge honour usually reserved for the biggest films sure to draw press. One Gala slot selected this year was Craig Roberts’ third feature The Phantom of the Open. The film follows the life of Maurice Flitcroft (played impeccably by Oscar-winner Mark Rylance), a man who was once dubbed the worst golfer in the world. After Maurice spontaneously decides that he wants to play golf professionally, he enters the British Open having never played a round in his life, thus setting the stage for ensuing hilarity.
The film inevitably explores the fallout from this decision – the effect it has on Maurice, his family, and the surrounding community to boot. The result is one of the most charming films of the year; a grounded story which positions a working-class man as a national hero.
Welsh actor Craig Roberts is no stranger to the director’s chair having previously directed Just Jim (2015) and Eternal Beauty (2019). It’s clear that Roberts thrives in telling stories about outsiders and underdogs, making Maurice Flitcroft the perfect subject for his latest project. The script comes from Simon Farnaby and is adapted from his book The Phantom of the Open: Maurice Flitcroft – The World’s Worst Golfer (co-written with Scott Murray). The passion and respect Farnaby has for the true story is central to the film’s success.
Roberts’ directorial approach sees the film flit between a realistic, humdrum depiction of the average working man’s life interspersed with dreamscape imagery of Maurice golfing, bridging an unlikely fantasy later turned reality. It’s an emotional journey which Roberts guides the audience through deftly, balancing the thrill of Maurice’s sanguine cheer at, technically speaking, poor performances with the rife classism he faces in a space populated by the affluent mainstays of golfing circles. Maurice’s position as an outsider is as much about his background as his ability (or lack thereof) – with the golfing community viewing his presence as something which might tarnish the reputation of the sport.
Mark Rylance is a stellar actor and an apt choice for Maurice Flitcroft, he brings nuance to a character who could feel clumsy or slapstick, rendering him, instead, human (and his palpable joy in playing the role doesn’t hurt, either). In support, Sally Hawkins takes the role of Maurice’s wife, Jean Flitcroft. A scene-stealer at the best of times, Hawkins is a joy to watch – conjuring a chemistry with Rylance which is tender without being saccharine. The film’s plot is careful to keep Jean in the foreground, her journey inseparable from that of her husband’s – a whirlwind series of events from Maurice’s redundancy to his entrance into the British Open are ultimately but passing weather in the longevity of their relationship.
Rhys Ifans appears here as Mr. Mackenzie, a man with great influence over the golfing community in Britain who – in a not entirely unpredictable setup – is determined to stop Maurice from playing in any serious capacity ever again. Meanwhile Mark Lewis Jones is Maurice’s benevolent best friend and accomplice, helping Maurice to steal a golf cart in order to escape from the police after he enters the British Open under a false name. Both actors, respectively, season The Phantom of the Open with the drama and humour necessary to give the films its balance and ultimately make it a pleasure to watch.
To say that The Phantom of the Open is a film about golf is to miss the point. The plot provides the backdrop for a story of emotional resilience, with plenty of fuzzy feel-good laughs along the way. Real, human and comic, The Phantom of the Open is guaranteed to delight film fans and golf fanatics alike, both heartwarming and impeccably executed.
London Film Festival has garnered a reputation for its versatile offerings, presenting a wide range of global films from across a variety of genres. This year’s festival brings a brilliant treat in the form of Gwledd (The Feast), a Welsh-language horror film directed by Lee Haven Jones and based on a script written by Roger Williams.
Gwledd follows an affluent family, led by Glenda (Nia Roberts) and her MP husband, Gwyn (Julien Lewis Jones) who have planned a special meal to discuss fracking the nearby farming areas. When a mysterious waitress, Cadi (Annes Elwy), arrives to help them set up, things take a turn for the worse. The film is an eco-horror exploring man’s treatment of the environment and the revenge that the land takes in return.
Gwledd is beautiful to look at. Lee Haven Jones makes use of the natural environment surrounding the family home, frequently contrasting the man-made house with the encompassing landscape. The house looks preternatural in its location set against pervasive and ferocious greenery. Jones’ direction takes the audience on a visual journey as the film slowly descends from shades of bright green into a climactic scene steeped in darkness. It’s hard to believe that the location at the start of the film is the same location by the end. The shift in appearance mirroring the negative implications that fracking has had on the land.
The runtime may only be 93 minutes, but Roger Williams makes sure that no second is wasted. The film throws the audience into the family’s world without pause for context or overwrought exposition, trusting the viewer to connect the dots as the plot develops. The opening scenes are sparse in dialogue, the characters’ personalities are expressed, instead, through their body language and actions. Williams manages to explore an array of themes in Gwledd in a way that feels fully realised by the final act. The central premise revolving around man’s treatment of the environment, and a supernatural exploration of how that land might bite back, with additional analysis of the self and the body.
The family sons Guto (Steffan Cennydd) and Gweirydd (Sion Alun Davies) lead polar opposite lifestyles as the former abuses his body through drug and alcohol abuse while the latter loves his body too much and is fixated on his appearance to an unnerving degree. The sons represent two extremes and share no common ground until Cadi arrives.
Annes Elwy’s performance as Cadi is captivating and unsettling in equal measure. From the moment she appears onscreen all the way until the final shot, Elwy commands the audience’s attention without the need for effusive dialogue. Working as a waitress for the family’s meal later in the evening, Cadi spends the majority of the first act observing each member of the family and noting their weaknesses. Her conversation seems knowing and calculating, adding to the eerie atmosphere; her performance seems to fall more into the realm of psychological horror. Elwy’s familiarity with the family and their history is in sharp contrast with the more otherworldly aspects of her character.
Nia Roberts is excellent as Glenda, a woman disconnected from her own roots and community after turning to a life of extravagance as the wife of an MP. Coming back to the newly built family home in Wales presents a stark contrast between the life she once led and the life she leads now, the corruption which has taken place in the time since readily apparent. Even though we don’t see Glenda’s life story take place in the film, we feel Roberts’ disconnection and delusions of grandeur throughout.
What makes Gwledd such a successful film is its ability to merge the personal and the universal; both in its familial roles and timely examinations of fracking and climate change. Although it explores a range of secondary topics, the film never feels overwhelmed or dragged down by the weight of these issues, its sharp script a thread of connection throughout.
Overall, Gwledd is a slow burner that is not for the faint of heart. Its plot is tightly wound and its direction unflinching and unapologetic. Despite a limited location and setting, Gwledd manages to pack a punch both on the horror front and thematically with its subject matter, sadly, all too apposite to our current times.
