Cinema of Wales - Welsh Film Directors

Welsh Film Directors

Wales has produced film directors of quality throughout its history, though those that have found success have more often needed to leave Wales to gain recognition. Although based in Wales neither Cheetham or Haggar were Welsh born, similar for Sidney Northcote who in 1912 produced a number of short films shot on location in Wales and Cornwall, based on Welsh and Cornish myths and tales, including The Pedlar of Penmaenmawr, The Witch of the Welsh Mountains and The Belle of Bettwys-y-Coed.

Welsh-born directors who have gained international recognition include Richard Marquand, (Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi), Peter Greenaway (Drowning by Numbers) and Terry Jones (Erik the Viking). Two of the more notable directors from Wales who have retained a strong connection with the culture of Wales are Karl Francis, who for two decades was the most powerful, distinctive and combatative voice in Welsh film-making; and Stephen Weeks whose commercial features look back to a medieval or imperialist past, or a misty Celtic world. Francis' work is embedded in a realistic exploration of Wales, its language and identity, in films such as Milwr Bychan (Boy Soldier) and The Mouse and the Women. Weeks came to prominence after directing I, Monster, an adaptation of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde starring Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing. Weeks would later film two versions of the Arthurian myth of Gawain and the Green Knight. First as Gawain and the Green Knight (1973) featuring Murray Head in the lead role and again as Sword of the Valiant in 1984.

Later Welsh directors, such as Sara Sugarman and Marc Evans made films set in Wales.