Y Sŵn is a

Welsh language Welsh ( or ) is a Celtic language family, Celtic language of the Brittonic languages, Brittonic subgroup that is native to the Welsh people. Welsh is spoken natively in Wales, by some in England, and in Y Wladfa (the Welsh colony in Chubut P ...

period film which follows the events of 1979-80 leading up to the creation of Welsh medium television channel S4C. The film dramatises the fallout of the announcement made by Home Office, led by

home secretary The secretary of state for the Home Department, otherwise known as the home secretary, is a senior minister of the Crown in the Government of the United Kingdom. The home secretary leads the Home Office, and is responsible for all national ...

Willie Whitelaw William Stephen Ian Whitelaw, 1st Viscount Whitelaw, (28 June 1918 – 1 July 1999) was a British Conservative Party politician who served in a wide number of Cabinet positions, most notably as Home Secretary from 1979 to 1983 and as ''de fac ...

, to renege on a Conservative election campaign pledge to establish a Welsh language channel. The film focuses on

Plaid Cymru Plaid Cymru ( ; ; officially Plaid Cymru – the Party of Wales, often referred to simply as Plaid) is a centre-left to left-wing, Welsh nationalist political party in Wales, committed to Welsh independence from the United Kingdom. Plaid wa ...

president

Gwynfor Evans Gwynfor Richard Evans (1 September 1912 – 21 April 2005) was a Welsh politician, lawyer and author. He was President of the Welsh political party Plaid Cymru for thirty-six years and was the first Member of Parliament to represent it at Westmi ...

's campaign to

hunger strike A hunger strike is a method of non-violent resistance in which participants fast as an act of political protest, or to provoke a feeling of guilt in others, usually with the objective to achieve a specific goal, such as a policy change. Most ...

in protest at the government's u-turn, alongside the efforts of others to secure the channel, including campaign group

Cymdeithas yr Iaith The Welsh Language Society ( cy, Cymdeithas yr Iaith Gymraeg, often abbreviated to Cymdeithas yr Iaith or just Cymdeithas) is a direct action Advocacy group, pressure group in Wales campaigning for the right of Welsh people to use the Welsh lang ...

and Plaid Cymru MPs

Dafydd Wigley Dafydd Wynne Wigley, Baron Wigley, (born David Wigley; 1 April 1943) is a Welsh politician. He served as Plaid Cymru Member of Parliament (MP) for Caernarfon from 1974 until 2001 and as Assembly Member for Caernarfon from 1999 until 2003. He wa ...

and

Dafydd Elis-Thomas Dafydd Elis-Thomas, Baron Elis-Thomas (born 18 October 1946) is a Welsh politician who served as the Leader of Plaid Cymru from 1984 to 1991 and represented the Dwyfor Meirionnydd constituency in the Senedd from 1999 to 2021. Born in Carmar ...

Sian Reese-Williams Sian Reese-Williams (born 18 November 1981) is a Welsh actress, best known for playing detective Cadi John in three series of ''Hidden (2018 TV series), Hidden''. Early life Reese-Williams was born in Glanamman, South Wales. She lived in Swan ...

appears as

Margaret Thatcher Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher (; 13 October 19258 April 2013) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of the Conservative Party from 1975 to 1990. S ...

, with

Mark Lewis Jones Mark Lewis Jones (born 31 August, 1964) is a Welsh actor, whose roles include that of a First Order Captain Moden Canady in '' Star Wars: The Last Jedi'', a police inspector in BBC drama series '' 55 Degrees North'', a whaler in the film '' Ma ...

as Willie Whitelaw and Rhodri Evan as Gwynfor Evans.

Synopsis

The film is set after

became prime minister of the United Kingdom in

1979 Events January * January 1 ** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the ''International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the ''Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the song ...

with a manifesto that promised to establish a Welsh language television channel.

Months following the general election, Thatcher made a U-turn on her promise which led to protests in Wales. At a time of civil disobedience in Wales, Gwynfor Evans announces his intention to hunger strike from October 1st, with a commitment to starve to death, until Thatcher reverted to the promise of a Welsh language television channel.

Showing

''Y Sŵn'' was in cinemas in Wales from the 10–24 March 2023. There were also screenings at the Finsbury Park Picturehouse on 13 March 2023, FACT Liverpool on 20 March 2023, Storyhouse Cinema in Chester on 23 March 2023 and HOME in Manchester on 3 April 2023. The film premiered on S4C on 9 April 2023, and was made available after on S4C Clic and BBC iPlayer. A post screening discussion was held by Hiareth podcast including; Roger Williams (screenwriter,), Dewi Rhys Williams (who plays G.O. Williams in Y Sŵn),

Bethan Sayed Bethan Sayed (née Jenkins, born 9 December 1981) is a Welsh politician. She represented the South Wales West (National Assembly for Wales electoral region), South Wales West Region for Plaid Cymru as a Member of the Senedd from 2007 to 2021. ...

(former Plaid Cymru Senedd Member and Chair of the Culture Committee), Matthew Hexter (Hiraeth Podcast), Ceri Davies (Hiraeth Podcast).

Significance

Producer Roger Williams said, “After the success that Lee and I had with ''The Feast'' we are keen to ensure that more Welsh language films are seen on the big screen," “We are all, as a nation, aware of Gwynfor’s stance. But I was also interested in what happened in London, and in the

Wales Office , agency_type = Ministerial department , type = Department , logo = Wales Office logo.png , seal = , seal_width = , seal_caption = , picture = Gwydyr House, Whitehall (geograph 5590 ...

, because I am not aware that that story had been told at all" Williams added that the showing of the film was timely: "I was interested in the debate, and the debate that was happening between London and Wales. As some of those conversations and debates continue to be about the way television is funded and the relationship between Wales and London, and the fact that broadcasting has not been

devolved Devolution is the statutory delegation of powers from the central government of a sovereign state to govern at a subnational level, such as a regional or local level. It is a form of administrative decentralization. Devolved territories h ...

and in the front I felt that the best way for us as an audience to discuss that was through drama."

Review

The film has received a positive review from journalist Molly Stubbs of ''

Nation.Cymru Nation.Cymru () is a Welsh news service established in 2017 with the aim of creating a national English-language news service for Wales. It receives £20,000 a year from the Books Council of Wales and the rest of its financial support comes from ...

''. A ''Buzz'' Magazine journalist gave the film a positive review with 4/5 stars. A ''Get the chance'' journalist also gave the film a positive review with 4/5 stars.

External links

* {{IMDb title, id=25668132, title=Y Sŵn

References