23 Awesome Welsh Movies
Celebrating the land of the leeks
Solomon & Gaenor (1999)
The Movie: BAFTA- and Oscar-nominated drama about an orthodox Jew living in 1911 Wales who must hide his ethnicity in order to sell fabric door-to-door in South Wales Valleys.
The Awesome: Every scene in Solomon & Gaenor was filmed twice – once in English, and once in Welsh. There’s even some Yiddish chucked in for good measure.
Welsh Reference: Ion Gruffud’s in it – surely one of the most successful of Welsh exports.
Hang Up Your Brightest Colours (1973)
The Movie: Dramatic documentary revolving around the life and death of Irish Republican leader Michael Collins.
The Awesome: Welsh actor and filmmaker Kenneth Griffith fully inhabits his role as Collins in a documentary that is more of a pace-y monologue that sees him conversing with Winston Churchill and David Lloyd George.
Welsh Reference: Um, it was first aired on BBC1 Wales in 1993.
Very Annie Marie (2001)
The Movie: Sugary coming-of-ager set in South Wales about a 30-year-old woman who lives with an abusive father, who himself is recovering from a stroke.
The Awesome: The film’s depressing-sounding premise is really a springboard for a little musical action as our central young woman attempts to re-find her (singing) voice.
Welsh Reference: Young girl singing? How very Charlotte Church.
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Josh Winning has worn a lot of hats over the years. Contributing Editor at Total Film, writer for SFX, and senior film writer at the Radio Times. Josh has also penned a novel about mysteries and monsters, is the co-host of a movie podcast, and has a library of pretty phenomenal stories from visiting some of the biggest TV and film sets in the world. He would also like you to know that he "lives for cat videos..." Don't we all, Josh. Don't we all.
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