From Pioneering Films of 1898 to Wales’ Newest Filmmakers: Theatre Gwaun Celebrates 130 Years of Welsh Cinema
From pioneering film footage captured on a Welsh beach in 1898 to some of the newest work being created by young filmmakers in Pembrokeshire and Wales today, Theatr Gwaun will celebrate 130 years of cinema in Wales with its inaugural Welsh Film Festival, taking place in Fishguard from 23–25 October.
Supported by Film Hub Wales, part of the BFI Film Audience Network, the three-day festival will bring together landmark films, new releases, archive treasures and emerging filmmaking talent for a celebration of the breadth and creativity of Welsh cinema.
Perhaps nowhere is that ambition clearer than in two special short-film events spanning more than a century of filmmaking.
On Sunday 25 October, 130 Years of Cinema: Archive Short Films takes audiences back to 1898 and Children on the Beach, pioneering footage of children playing on Rhyl Sands, filmed by Arthur Cheetham, one of Wales' earliest filmmakers.
The seven-film archive programme then journeys through more than a century of Welsh filmmaking, taking in silent film, early footage of the Welsh football team, animation, documentary and the work of acclaimed Welsh animator Joanna Quinn.
Just one day earlier, the Festival will turn its attention firmly towards the future.
Your Films, Our Screen, a free Gala Screening on Saturday 24 October, will showcase short films selected through Theatr Gwaun's recent open call to filmmakers across Wales.
The programme will bring work from both new and experienced filmmakers to the big screen, spanning drama, documentary, personal stories and immersive art film.
Among the emerging talent being celebrated are two aspiring filmmakers currently studying at Pembrokeshire College, whose work will be showcased as part of the Festival.
There is something particularly special about the connection: more than a century after Arthur Cheetham captured children playing on a beach in North Wales, a new generation of young filmmakers, including students studying here in Pembrokeshire, are creating their own stories for the cinema screen.
From the earliest days of Welsh filmmaking to its newest voices, these two screenings capture the very heart of the Festival: celebrating where Welsh cinema has come from while helping to nurture where it might go next.
Simon Coton, Theatr Gwaun Board Member and member of the Welsh Film Festival organising committee, said: “We’re incredibly proud to be bringing together such a rich range of Welsh filmmaking for our first Welsh Film Festival at Theatr Gwaun.
“To be able to show audiences one of the earliest pieces of film made in Wales, dating all the way back to 1898, while also giving our cinema screen to some of the newest work being made by filmmakers in Wales today really sums up what this festival is about.
“This is a celebration of our remarkable filmmaking heritage, but also of the creativity and talent that continues to thrive across Wales. We’re proud to be showing some of the very best of Wales here in Fishguard and we hope audiences will come and celebrate it with us.”
The Festival opens on Friday 23 October at 7.30pm with Marc Evans' Effi o Blaenau (15), a new Welsh-language film starring Leisa Gwenllian and Tom Rhys Harries and based on Gary Owen's acclaimed monodrama Iphigenia in Splott. Already the highest-grossing Welsh-language film, this is another chance to see this moving and brilliantly acted portrayal of a young woman's world.
On Saturday evening, audiences can revisit one of the defining Welsh films of the 1990s with Twin Town (18). Chosen by a public vote as the Festival's Audience Choice, the screening will be followed by a live Q&A with director Kevin Allen, hosted by Jamie Rees.
Sunday's programme opens with a free screening of the Oscar-nominated Hedd Wyn (12A), alongside John Parr's 2025 short film A Pack of Five and a special live performance by the Fishguard and Goodwick Rugby Club Male Voice Choir.
The archive short-film programme then takes audiences through more than a century of cinema history before the weekend concludes on Sunday evening with the Festival's Closing Night Premiere, On the Sea (15), directed by Helen Walsh and set in a remote fishing community in North Wales.
From children playing on Rhyl Sands in 1898 to aspiring filmmakers from Pembrokeshire College seeing their work on the big screen in 2026, the inaugural Theatr Gwaun Welsh Film Festival brings together the past, present and future of Welsh cinema.
Theatr Gwaun Welsh Film Festival - 23–25 October 2026
Tickets and full programme information are available from www.theatrgwaun.com.