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National Theatre Wales has two plays shortlisted for drama award

2013-06-18T13:20:52+00:00

Two productions by National Theatre Wales have made it onto the shortlist for the 2013 James Tait Black Prize.

Five plays in total were whittled down from a selection of more than 180 for the award's first ever prize for drama, worth £10,000.

They are NTW's The Radicalisation Of Bradley Manning by Tim Price and In Water I'm Weightless by Kaite O'Reilly.

The NTW plays have been shortlisted alongside Lucy Prebble's play The Effect, The Hundred Flowers Project by Christopher Chen, and Foxfinder by Dawn King.

Organisers said the award would go to the play that displays "an original theatrical voice".

Written by Tim Price, and directed by the company's artistic director, John McGrath, The Radicalisation Of Bradley Manning is inspired by the young intelligence analyst accused of leaking huge amounts of classified information to the website Wikileaks while working for the US Army in Iraq.

Harry Ferrier in The Radicalisation Of Bradley Manning. Photo: Farrows Creative/National Theatre Wales

Manning was arrested in May 2010 and since then has been incarcerated in a military prison. He is currently on trial but if convicted could face a lifetime in jail.

The play was originally performed in schools across Wales in April 2012, and opened at Tasker Milward School, Haverfordwest, which Manning attended in his teens.

A live-stream of the production was watched by more than 8,000 people in 76 countries around the world.

The play is being revived as part of the Edinburgh Fringe and British Council Showcase this summer and will be staged at a school and streamed online simultaneously again.

The cast of The Radicalisation Of Bradley Manning. Photo: Farrows Creative/National Theatre Wales

Kaite O'Reilly's In Water I'm Weightless was a mixture of dance, physical theatre, live projections and monologues, performed exclusively by deaf and disabled actors.

It was staged in Cardiff and London in July and August 2012 and was also directed by John McGrath, forming one of the commissions for the London 2012 Cultural Olympiad Unlimited programme and was selected to be part of the London 2012 Festival.

It followed years of conversations with other disabled people, and was a series of monologues that showed how, just like able-bodied people, those living with disability lead complex and fulfilling lives and do not need pity and charity.

Nick Phillips and David Toole in In Water I'm Weightless. Photo: Farrows Creative/National Theatre Wales

John McGrath said: "We are thrilled and very proud to hear that, of the five plays on the shortlist for prestigious James Tait Black Award, two were commissioned and produced by National Theatre Wales.

"This new international award focuses on plays that show an original voice and which have made a unique contribution to theatre.

"This is exactly the kind of writing that National Theatre Wales has been aiming to encourage.

"It is extraordinary that on a shortlist including plays from as far afield as San Francisco, and produced by venues as established as London's National Theatre, National Theatre Wales' work, and writers from Wales, have been given such prominence.

"Huge congratulations go to Kaite O'Reilly and Tim Price for being shortlisted."

The judging panel for the new drama award includes representatives from Edinburgh University, the National Theatre of Scotland and Edinburgh's Traverse Theatre, where the winning play will be read on 5 August.

First young critics' awards for Welsh theatre

2013-01-11T11:46:47+00:00

Later this month, a ceremony marking the achievements of the great and good from last year's theatrical offerings in Wales is to take place.

And rather than being led by any one establishment or theatre, it has been dreamt up by a group of young critics from Wales keen to celebrate the talent here.

Through the event the critics are also hoping to make more people aware of their voice and what young people can contribute to debate on the arts in Wales via their reviews.

The Theatre Critics of Wales Awards will be held at Sherman Cymru in Cardiff on 26 January and will be hosted by broadcaster Nicola Heywood Thomas.

The ceremony has been born out of a scheme set up three years ago to encourage young people aged 12-25 to review arts events in Wales. They are offered support from mentors and get to see their reviews published online.

I spoke to Guy O'Donnell, Arts Development Officer for Bridgend Council, which runs the Young Critics Scheme.

He said: "The critics I work with became aware of similar awards in Scotland and thought they would work really well in Wales.

"We have a group of professional critics who mentor the younger ones and the idea was to reflect the range of theatrical work created in Wales in 2012.

"There's a good number and spread of categories as we are trying to cover all disciplines, so they vary from acting to set design, sound and opera.

"We've also got three Welsh language categories as some of our critics and the mentors supporting the scheme are Welsh speakers and we thought it would be nice to honour the huge body of work in the Welsh language too."

Guy and the team of critics are hoping the awards will become an annual event and could be Wales' answer to the Oscars one day.

Young critics Emma Louise Faulkner, Rachel Williams and Chelsey Gillard. Photo: Guy O'Donnell

So far the successful Welsh language play Llwyth, which has toured in Edinburgh and Taipei (with subtitles) is leading the nominations, with the critics entering it for 10 categories. See a full list of the nominations.

The drama, by Dafydd James, follows the antics of a group of gay men in Cardiff. The writer and pundit Jon Gower called it the best Welsh language play written in his lifetime and it is nominated in categories including Best Production in the Welsh Language, Best Ensemble and Best Director for Arwel Gruffydd.

Other productions that have won several entries are National Theatre Wales' Coriolan/us, which was staged at an aircraft hangar in the Vale of Glamorgan, and Tim Price's play The Radicalisation Of Bradley Manning.

Guy said that he hopes the event will raise the profile of young critics in Wales. Since the scheme started it has been rolled out to include reviews about art exhibitions and music gigs with the aim being to reflect the ages of audiences more fairly than is currently done with professional reviews.

He said: "Those who are interested in writing should contact me. They don't have to have any experience or want to do it as a career, but just be able to tell me what they are interested in in the arts world."

One of the scheme's prolific contributors is Harriet Hopkins, 27, from Bridgend, who has written reviews about various plays including NTW's A Provincial Life and Dirty Protest's Last Christmas.

She said: "I've really loved having the chance to write reviews. It was a bit scary to start with, especially as you have to learn how to give constructive criticism and that the people you are talking about may well read what you have written.

"The scheme is great because it is such a competitive area if you want to break into it as a job, but this gives you really valuable experience. It's enabled me to really refine my style and learn how to self-edit."

Harriet, who works for Bridgend library, is hoping to introduce review writing to more young people in the area through the library service.

To read some of the young critics reviews visit theyoungcritics.wordpress.com.

Rolf Harris collects Bafta Fellowship

2012-05-28T10:54:25+00:00

Artist and presenter Rolf Harris was awarded a prestigious Bafta Fellowship at last night's awards ceremony for his "outstanding and exceptional contribution to television".

Harris, whose grandparents hailed from Merthyr Tydfil, told BBC News: "It's unbelievable for a start, it's very humbling and thrilling. I can't tell you how exciting it was when they asked if I would accept the award."

Rolf Harris at Cyfarthfa Castle Museum in front of portraits by his grandfather GF Harris

Rolf's grandfather George Frederick Harris was a noted portrait painter. He revisited some of his grandfather's works at the Cyfarthfa Castle Museum and Art Gallery during the series Rolf on Welsh Art. Browse a photo gallery of images taken from the episode.

In this clip from the series, Rolf heads back to his Welsh artistic roots and Merthyr to find out more about GF Harris and attempts to paint in the style of Wales-based Australian artist Shani Rhys James.

Watch more clips from the television series and browse photo galleries from the episodes on Graham Sutherland, Josef Herman and Sir Kyffin Williams.

Related links

Jenny Sullivan wins 2012 Tir na n-Og award with Full Moon

2012-05-22T09:38:08+00:00

Welsh children's author Jenny Sullivan has scooped the 2012 Tir na n-Og English language award for her novel Full Moon.

Jenny Sullivan with her novel Full Moon

The author, who was born in Cardiff and lived in Raglan in Monmouthshire for many years, moved to Brittany in 2004. She often returns to Wales and did so last Friday to pick up the award, which was presented at Cardiff Central Library.

It's not the first time that the author has won the Tir na n-Og award, as she gained the accolade in 2006 for her historical novel Tirion's Secret Journal.

Sullivan said: "I am absolutely delighted and honoured to have won this major award for the second time. I must admit to being a compulsive writer and I'm currently working on a sequel to Full Moon."

In Full Moon average teenager Nia - "she likes make-up and boys, but she's not so keen on homework" - encounters a strange creature in her Aunty Gwen's cellar that only emerges during a full moon, and it changes her average life for ever.

The Tir na n-Og English Award recognises the exceptional quality of books with a Welsh background for children and young people.

The Welsh language winner will be announced in a ceremony at the 2012 National Urdd Eisteddfod in June.

Related links

Anthony Hopkins' Oscar win, 20 years on

2012-03-29T14:38:00+00:00

Twenty years ago Anthony Hopkins scooped one of the most prestigious accolades that Hollywood has to bestow, the Academy Award for best actor.

Hopkins won the gong on 30 March 1992 for his role as the brilliant psychiatrist and cannibalistic murderer Hannibal Lecter in The Silence of the Lambs, adapted from the novel by Thomas Harris.

The Margam-born actor shone in the film as the murderer who helps FBI agent Clarice Starling (played by Jodie Foster) to catch serial killer Buffalo Bill.

As the late film critic and historian Dave Berry commented, "The screen career of Anthony Hopkins reached its zenith spectacularly when, in his 50s, a string of films allowed him to capitalise on his innate talent for playing reflective, introverted roles with rare intelligence."

"Hopkins played his role, occupying little screen time, with a twinkle, as Hannibal relishes the discomfort and asinine mistakes of his jailers, and the actor displayed hitherto unexplored extrovert facets of his extraordinary acting range."

Watch this archive clip of Hopkins talking to Terry Wogan just a day after his Oscar win.

Hopkins' win marked the third year in succession that a British actor had been awarded the prize, with Jeremy Irons winning the previous year and Daniel Day-Lewis in 1990.

Hopkins beat some heavyweight acting peers to the award. Fellow nominees in 1992 included Warren Beatty, for his role as gangster Ben 'Bugsy' Siegel in the star-studded Bugsy; Robert De Niro for Martin Scorsese's thriller Cape Fear; Robin Williams for Terry Gilliam's The Fisher King and Nick Nolte for The Prince of Tides.

Did you know? Billy Crystal was the host of the 64th annual Academy Awards in 1992 at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, Los Angeles. Such was the impact of The Silence of the Lambs on the cinematic world that for his first entrance Crystal was wheeled on stage, by two uniformed orderlies, strapped to a stretcher and wearing a replica of the Hannibal Lecter mask Hopkins had worn in the film.

The Silence of the Lambs scooped five Oscars in total at the 64th Academy Awards, for best actress in a leading role and best director for Jodie Foster and Jonathan Demme respectively plus best screenplay and best picture.

Following his win in 1992, Hopkins has received three more Oscar nominations so far in his career.

In 1994 he was again nominated for best actor in a leading role for the screen adaptation of Kazuo Ishiguro's best-selling novel The Remains of the Day (1993), in which he played butler James Stevens. He was beaten to the prize by Tom Hanks, who won for his role in Philadelphia.

Hopkins was nominated in same category in 1996 for Nixon (1995), the biographical story of the former US president Richard Nixon. He was pipped this time by Nicholas Cage for Leaving Las Vegas.

In 1998 he received a nomination for Best Actor in a Supporting Role for Steven Spielberg's Amistad (1997) but he was beaten to the statuette by Robin Williams for his role in Good Will Hunting.

Try out your Oscar knowledge with a mini quiz - it's just for fun, find the answers at the foot of the article.

Quiz: Wales at the Oscars

For what film did Richard Burton receive an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor?
How many Oscar nominations did Burton receive in total?
Which Neath-born actor won the best actor gong in 1946 for The Lost Weekend?
What was the name of Hugh Griffith's character in Ben-Hur, which secured him the best supporting Oscar?
And in which year did Griffith scoop the Oscar?
Christian Bale won the best actor gong in 2011 for The Fighter, but in which Welsh town was he born?
Which two Welsh-language films have been shortlisted in the Oscar category for best foreign language film?
For which film did Rachel Roberts receive a nomination for best actress? (She missed out on the Oscar but picked up the Bafta for the role in the same year.)
For which film did Catherine Zeta Jones scoop the Oscar for best supporting actress, and in what year did she claim the gong?
Jack Howells' 1963 Oscar-winning documentary short, starring Richard Burton, was about which Welsh author?

Related articles

Related links

Quiz answers: 1. My Cousin Rachel (1952), 2. Seven: six for best actor and the one for best supporting actor, 3. Ray Milland, 4. Sheik Ilderim, 5. 1960, 6. Haverfordwest, 7. Paul Turner's Hedd Wyn (in 1994) and Paul Morrison's Solomon and Gaenor (in 2000), 8. This Sporting Life, 9. Chicago in 2003, 10. Dylan Thomas.

Wales Drama Award 2012 launched

2012-03-21T14:04:36+00:00

A new collaboration between BBC Writersroom, BBC Cymru Wales' TV drama department and National Theatre Wales has been launched to find the writing stars of the future.

The Wales Drama Award is a new biennial prize open to any writer residing in Wales.

To enter, writers must submit a full length script in any medium, with a minimum length of 30 minutes, to BBC Writersroom by 16 July 2012, that is unperformed or unproduced and in the English language.

Wales Drama Award 2012 image

The winner of the Wales Drama Award will receive £10,000 while two runners-up will receive £1000 each. All award winners will be given an opportunity to develop their script and/or ideas with either BBC Cymru Wales' TV drama department or National Theatre Wales.

Six shortlisted writers will be invited to a meeting with the judges to discuss their script and an idea they want to develop in September, with the winner due to be announced in late 2012.

BBC Writersroom have just announced two free workshops for budding writers to get involved with in Bangor and Wrexham in April. The sessions will take place on Thursday 26 April at Bangor University, Arts Centre, 6.30-7.45pm, and on Monday 30 April at Wrexham University, CIB Foyer, 5.30-6.45pm.

For information on how to reserve a place on either session visit the BBC writersroom website.

Other forthcoming sessions in Aberystwyth and Swansea are to be confirmed.

The judging panel for the Wales Drama Award 2012 will be led by Kate Rowland, BBC creative director of new writing. The other judges are award-winning writers Russell T Davies and Abi Morgan, BBC Cymru Wales' head of drama Faith Penhale, and John McGrath, artistic director of National Theatre Wales.

Cerys Matthews joins Dylan Thomas Prize judging panel

2012-03-15T14:38:44+00:00

Welsh singer, songwriter and children's book author Cerys Matthews has been announced as one of three new judges for the 2012 Dylan Thomas Prize.

Matthews joins Guardian literary journalist Nicholas Wroe and Media Wales columnist Carolyn Hitt as the new faces on the judging panel,which also consists of Peter Florence (Chair), Kim Howells, Allison Pearson, Kurt Heinzelman and Peter Stead.

Cerys Matthews

The Dylan Thomas Prize, worth £30,000, is one of the world's largest literary awards for young writers. It is awarded to the best published or produced literary work from the past year in the English language written by an author under 30.

The inaugural Dylan Thomas Prize was awarded to Welsh writer Rachel Trezise in 2006 for her short story collection Fresh Apples. Another short story collection, The Boat by Nam Le, scooped the award in 2008 while Elyse Fenton was the winner of the 2010 prize with her poetry collection Clamor.

Originally a biennial award, the Dylan Thomas Prize is now awarded annually. Last year's winner was Lucy Caldwell, who achieved the accolade for her second novel The Meeting Point.

2011 Dylan Thomas Prize winner Lucy Caldwell

The prize is open to all published authors aged 18 to 30 writing in the English language. Entries can be submitted from anywhere in the world and must be submitted by a publisher, editor, literary agent, or, in the case of film scripts and stage plays, by the producer.

Entries must be received by 31 May 2012. The longlist for the prize will be announced in July and the shortlist in September. The prize will be awarded in Dylan Thomas' birth place Swansea on 9 November, the anniversary of his death.

For more information visit dylanthomasprize.com.

Line up for Artes Mundi prize announced

2012-01-26T10:00:00+00:00

The organisation behind Artes Mundi, the UK's biggest contemporary art prize has announced its shortlist.

Selectors have whittled down the choice of talent from 576 different artists to just seven, who will now vie for the prestigious £40,000 prize.

The seven artists are: Miriam Bäckström (Sweden), Tania Bruguera (Cuba), Phil Collins (England), Sheela Gowda (India), Teresa Margolles (Mexico), Darius Mikšys (Lithuania) and Apolonija Šušteršič (Slovenia).

They were selected by Sofía Hernández Chong Cuy, who is curator of contemporary art at Colección Patricia Phelps de Cisneros, New York and curatorial agent for dOCUMENTA (13), and Anders Kreuger, curator at M HKA in Antwerp, Belgium.

Ben Borthwick, Artes Mundi's chief executive and artistic director, who joined the team from Tate Modern in 2010, said: "We are delighted with the exceptional quality of this shortlist, which was drawn from a very strong field of nominations.

"I look forward to welcoming the artists to Wales and creating an exhibition in October that will give audiences the opportunity to engage with the most exciting international contemporary art."

Anders Kreuger added that he was honoured to have been a selector for the prize: "Almost 600 artists were nominated this year, and it was a huge challenge to whittle these highly accomplished individuals down to just seven.

"We have chosen seven very different but equally talented artists, of different generations and from all across the globe, to exhibit at the National Museum of Art this autumn."

All of the shortlisted artists will exhibit their work in a 14-week show at the new museum from 6 October 2012.

The final decision on the winner will be made by an international judging panel halfway through the exhibition, with £4,000 handed out to all the runners-up. And one of the shortlisted artists will also get the chance to exhibit in a solo show at the Oriel Mostyn in Llandudno in 2013.

The artists selected have all used various mediums to explore life and comment on their experiences and social issues, but all of their work is said to share the common threads of action and performance.

Swedish artist Miriam Bäckström uses photography, text, theatre and video to explore the idea of the documentary and the fictional and to recreate memory.

In 2005 she represented Sweden at the Venice Biennale and collaborated with artist Carsten Höller.

Miriam Bäckström, Attractions/Red Vitrine (2010).
Coloured (red) vitrine in glass and wood, with interior made of wood and coloured mirrors, neon light (red) with electric support. Four black painted iron legs. Objects placed in the interior, on the mirrors.

Tania Bruguera, from Cuba, uses performance, installation and social interventions to reflect on what it means to be Cuban.

She is particularly interested in how art transects daily political life, and how the individual's sense of self links to a collective historical and contemporary social memory.

In 2003 she founded the alternative art school Cátedra Arte de Conducta (Art of Behaviour) in Havana to help up and coming Cuban artists access channel intellectual and technological resources unavailable in Cuba. It has been credited with helping an entire generation to display their work internationally.

Tania Bruguera, Tatlin's Whispers #5, 2008.
Photo: Sheila Burnett, Courtesy Tate Modern

Phil Collins is from the UK but based in Germany and works mainly in video and photography in places that have experienced political unrest such as Baghdad, Belgrade, Bogotá, and, most recently, Jakarta.

He is keen to explore the relationship between producer, participant and viewer and how history is narrated in various forms, be it documentary, reality TV, soap operas and music videos.

Phil Collins, Auto-Kino!, 2010.
A stationary drive-in cinema with a curated programme of films and videos. Co-organised with Siniša Mitrović. Installation view, Temporäre Kunsthalle, Berlin - courtesy of Shady Lane Productions

Sculptor Sheela Gowda from India is fascinated by the social and cultural reality of her home country and how the unconventional materials she uses in her work can reference that context.

From thread and hair to traditional dyes, patterns and weaving, she investigates India's traditions of labour, inequity and oppression.

Sheela Gowda, Of All People, 2011.
Wood, metal, Print on paper. Installation, variable dimension

Mexican Teresa Margolles' work has a particular focus on the drug culture of northern Mexico and the impact of violence and murder on the community.

She has a diploma in forensic science and explores how the morgue and dissecting room often bear witness to social unrest.

Teresa Margolles, What Else Could We Talk About, Cleaning, 2009.
Image courtesy of the artist and Galerie Peter Kilchmann, Zurich

Darius Miksys from Lithuania is a fan of experimenting and re-imagining processes of making, displaying and engaging with art.

For the 54th Venice Biennale, he invited all Lithuanian artists who had received European grants to submit a work to his project Behind the White Curtain, 2011. Visitors were then able to select works to create their own displays of post-Soviet Lithuanian art.

Darius Mikšys, Artist Parent's Meeting.
Lithuanian Art 2000-2010: Ten Years (2010), Contemporary Art Centre Vilnius (CAC), Vilnius.

Finally Apolonija Šušteršič of Slovenia uses her background in architecture to create works within urban environments and encourage a socially engaged practice that brings together artists and architects, critics and curators.

Apolonija Šušteršič, Garden Service (2007).
Project by Apolonija Šušteršič and Meike Schalk, Edinburgh 2007

Established in 2002, Artes Mundi supports contemporary visual artists from around the world whose work engages with social reality and lived experience.

Every two years, the organisation works with artists, galleries, art institutions, curators and the British Council, to seeks nominations of artists perhaps famous within their own countries but little known on the world stage.

In 2010 the Artes Mundi 4 Prize was awarded to Yael Bartana who went on to represent Poland at the 2011 Venice Biennale (June-November 2011).

Artes Mundi is publicly funded by the Arts Council of Wales and by Cardiff City Council.

Craig Roberts scoops award for Submarine role

2012-01-20T15:38:27+00:00

Welsh actor Craig Roberts picked up the young British performer of the year accolade at yesterday's London Critics' Circle Film Awards for his role in Swansea-shot Submarine.

Roberts, who hails from Maesycwmmer, Caerphilly, beat the likes of War Horse star Jeremy Irvine, Saoirse Ronan, John Boyega and his Submarine co-star Yasmin Paige to the award.

Craig Roberts as Oliver and Yasmin Paige as Jordana in Submarine. Photo © www.image.net

Submarine was adapted from the novel by Welsh author Joe Dunthorne, and directed by Richard Ayoade.

Ayoade was beaten to the breakthrough British film-maker gong at last night's awards by Andrew Haigh for Weekend, which starred Cardiff actor Tom Cullen. Cullen in turn missed out on the best British actor award to Michael Fassbender.

Read more about the award winners on the BBC News website.

Alexandra Roach makes Bafta longlist for The Iron Lady

2012-01-06T12:37:21+00:00

Rising Welsh star Alexandra Roach has been named on the Bafta longlist in the category of best supporting actress for her role in The Iron Lady, which goes on general release in UK cinemas today.

The longlist is the result of round one voting of films by BAFTA members for entry in the 2012 Orange British Academy Film Awards. Round two voting, which opened today, will reduce these longlisted contenders down to the five nominations in each category.

Alexandra Roach as a young Margaret Thatcher in The Iron Lady. Image: Pathé UK

Nominations in all Bafta categories will be announced on Tuesday 17 January, while the winners will be announced at the Orange British Academy Film Awards on Sunday 12 February.

Meanwhile, Swansea-shot film Submarine, adapted from the novel by Welsh author Joe Dunthorne and directed by Richard Ayoade, also makes it onto the longlist in the category of outstanding British film.

For more information visit www.bafta.org, and read our interview with Alexandra, who hails from Ammanford.

Cardiff actor scoops gong at British Independent Film Awards

2011-12-05T14:31:46+00:00

The small independent film Weekend has triumphed at the British Independent Film Awards, with a special accolade for Cardiff actor Tom Cullen.

At the awards on Sunday night, Cullen, 26, scooped the Most Promising Newcomer award for his portrayal of Russell, a gay man embarking on a fleeting love affair with a man he picks up in a bar. Weekend chronicles their experiences getting to know one another amid the first flush of love.

Tom Cullen (right) with Chris New in Weekend. Photo: Quinnford & Scout

The film, which was shot on a shoestring budget over 17 days in Nottingham, also picked up Best Achievement in Production, while Richard Ayoade's adaptation of Joe Dunthorne's novel Submarine, set in Swansea, won Best Screenplay. Cullen beat nominated Welsh actor Craig Roberts (Submarine) to the newcomer award.

Set over three days, Weekend echoes the themes of the cult hit Before Sunrise, which starred Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy, as the two men experience all the excitement, fear, and intrigue of opening up to one another for the first time.

Both share different world views and seem unsure of themselves and where they fit in.

As director Andrew Haigh puts it: "I wanted to express that feeling of both fear and excitement that comes with the possibility of something new.

"I wanted to watch these two guys slowly fall for one another, fall for each other's differences almost as if they were uncovering missing pieces of themselves. I wanted to capture those moments that two people share when they truly start to engage with one another, gently focusing in on the struggles at the core of their characters.

"Russell and Glen are trying to work out who they are, what they want and how they should define themselves, in private as well as in public."

Cullen won the Most Promising Newcomer award for his portrayal of Russell. Photo: Quinnford & Scout

The film has built a groundswell of support ever since it premièred at the prestigious SXSW film and music festival in Austin, Texas, winning the Emerging Visions Audience Award, and also scooping the Grand Jury prize at Nashville Film Festival, where Cullen picked up the Best Actor award.

At SXSW the film proved so popular that extra screenings had to be arranged, and since then there has been a noticeable buzz about it, with people queuing round the block to see it when it opened in New York.

For former Llanishen High School pupil Cullen it is just one aspect of a busy and promising year, in which he was named as one of Screen International's Stars of Tomorrow.

He has spent the past six months filming HBO drama World Without End in Budapest, a big-budget, Canadian-British-German television co-production starring Miranda Richardson, Sex And The City's Cynthia Nixon and Peter Firth.

TV viewers can see him in December in Black Mirror, a three-part dark comedy devised by Charlie Brooker and co-written by Peep Show's Jesse Armstrong.

And he is due to start work on another film this month, moving to the bright lights of LA in January.

Cullen graduated from the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama in the summer of 2009 and before Weekend his film credits included Daddy's Girl (Best Film - Bafta Wales) and Panic Button.

Tom Cullen and Chris New. Photo: Quinnford & Scout

In a recent interview with BBC Wales he said he knew Weekend was something special when he was offered the script.

"I had four offers at the time, some better paid, some I guess more high-profile than this but there was no other film I was going to do.

"From an egotistical point of view it was a massive challenge, because Russell is so far removed from who I am, and that's always exciting because it stretches you as an actor.

"He's so open, he's gay - I saw the outline of Russell and I wanted to get inside and fill it out."

Weekend is currently showing at Chapter Arts Centre in Cardiff and selected cinemas elsewhere.

Lucy Caldwell wins 2011 Dylan Thomas Prize

2011-11-10T11:15:10+00:00

Belfast-born author Lucy Caldwell has scooped the 2011 Dylan Thomas Prize for her novel The Meeting Point.

Caldwell was presented with the £30,000 prize at a ceremony in Swansea, Dylan Thomas' birthplace, last night. The Meeting Point is the London-based author's second novel.

2011 Dylan Thomas Prize winner Lucy Caldwell

The founder of the prize, professor Peter Stead, said: "The Meeting Point is a lyrical modern day parable set in Bahrain depicting the crises in the faith and marriage of an Irish woman and her relationship with a troubled Muslim teenager.

"It is a beautifully written and mature reflection on identity, loyalty and belief in a complex world."

Caldwell beat four other shortlisted authors to the prestigious prize: New Yorkers Benjamin Hale and Tea Obreht, Yorkshire-based first-time novelist Annabel Pitcher and Canadian poet Jacob McArthur Mooney.

For more on the news read the article on the BBC Wales News website and visit www.dylanthomasprize.com.

The Passion scoops theatre award

2011-10-31T16:39:31+00:00

Michael Sheen and Bill Mitchell have been basking in glory after winning the best director award at the Theatre Awards UK ceremony in London.

The pair shared the gong, which is one of the top accolades in British theatre, for their epic 72-hour performance of The Passion, staged over the Easter weekend in Port Talbot.

On Twitter, National Theatre Wales tweeted that Sheen had thanked "my beautiful town of PortTalbot for giving me the most meaningful, powerful experience of my life".

And on accepting the award from actress Gina McKee, Mitchell thanked the generosity and bravery of Port Talbot in accepting the production.

National Theatre of Wales director John McGrath tweeted his congratulations on hearing the news: "So very happy for @michaelsheen and Bill Mitchell @WILD_WORKS for their best Director award today. Well done both and well done Port Talbot!"

Michael Sheen. Photo: Dan Green/National Theatre Wales

Bill Mitchell during a Passion rehearsal. Photo: Dan Green/National Theatre Wales

Interestingly, Sheen himself seems to have left Twitter over the weekend, having posted the following message on the site on Sunday:

Goodbye to Twitter. Thanks to everyone who has been generous and kind. I wish you the best with all you do. To the rest, you have to live with yourselves. What you put out there is what you make for yourself to live in, for better or worse. Share, inspire, connect. Good luck. x

The awards were handed out by the Theatrical Management Association to honour the best regional theatre from around the UK.

Other winners included Sir Peter Hall and his son Edward and Sir Derek Jacobi, who won best performance in a play for the Donmar Warehouse production of King Lear.

Sir Peter, who founded the Royal Shakespeare Company, was given an outstanding contribution accolade.

Edward won best touring production for Richard III and The Comedy of Errors.

The open-air production of The Passion by National Theatre Wales saw Sheen portraying Jesus and involved a cast of more than 1,000, including many volunteers from local theatre groups.

Sheen, known for playing public figures like Tony Blair, David Frost and Brian Clough, said he was inspired by the community spirit of the passion plays he watched at Margam Park as a youngster.

The gruelling performance culminated in him being crucified at a roundabout, but many of the scenes were played out on the streets and beaches of the town.

It is estimated the play attracted thousands of spectators and it met with widespread critical acclaim.

The Royal Shakespeare Company's Matilda The Musical also won two awards - for best musical production and best performance in a musical for Bertie Carvel.

Iris Prize Festival marks fifth birthday

2011-09-21T10:57:30+00:00

The Iris Prize Festival, the international gay and lesbian short film festival that has adopted Cardiff as its home, celebrates its fifth birthday in 2011.

To mark the occasion the opening night of this year's festival will see the European première of the film August, which is directed by former Iris Prize winner Eldar Rapaport. August is one of eight new feature films in the festival programme alongside the 30 shortlisted short films vying for the prestigious Iris Prize.

Actor Murray Bartlett in Eldar Rapaport's feature film August. The New York based actor will introduce the film at the gala screening on Wednesday 5 October

Valued at £25,000, the Iris Prize is the world's largest short film prize. What's more, the prize is more than just a trophy or certificate; it supplies the winning film-maker with the funds, support and guidance to make a new film.

Organisers have described this year's festival programme as the strongest line-up in the festival's history. Films will be screened at the Chapter Arts Centre in Canton and the Cineworld cinema in the city centre.

Here are a few stills from some of the shorts on show to whet your appetite:

David Fitchew as the Colonel in The Colonel's Outing by Christopher Banks. Photo by Vince Pol and courtesy of the director

This year the 13 strong jury is chaired by Mary FitzPatrick, an independent Diversity Advisor who has worked for the BBC and the UK Film Council.

Other jury members include Pembrokeshire-born author Sarah Waters; the 2010 Iris Prize winner Magnus Mork; Ana Moreno, who won the Iris Prize Best UK short film in 2010, plus filmmakers Amarjeet Singh and Carl Medland. Their feature film, The Adored, will close the 2011 festival.

The 2011 Iris Prize Festival begins on Wednesday 5 October and runs until Saturday 8 October. Visit the Iris Prize Festival website for more information and to see the full line-up of films on show over the four days.

Paul Emmanuel wins 2011 Welsh Artist of the Year

2011-06-07T11:29:22+00:00

Paul Emmanuel has scooped the 2011 Welsh Artist of the Year award for his unusual and striking fleece paintings.

Welsh Artist of the Year Paul Emmanuel collecting his prize

The artist, who lives and works on a farm in Penycau in the Swansea valleys, paints on sheep fleece rather than conventional canvas. He grooms and backcombs the wool with oil paint using hairdressing accessories such as combs and hairbrushes instead of art brushes to apply the paint.

Emmanuel's vibrant green fleece painting Penrhiwllythau, named after the farm which gave him the fleece, beat 400 other pieces of work to win the title and the £2,000 prize.

Paul Emmanuel with examples of his work

Read more on the story and browse a gallery of photos of the 2011 prize winners on the BBC Wales News website.

Plus see the St David's Hall website for information on the Welsh Artist of the Year Exhibition 2011. It runs until Saturday 6 August and showcases the work of all the prize winners plus more than 80 other pieces that made this year's shortlist.