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Aberystwyth

Archif Ffilm a Theledu Cymru

Wales Film and Television Archive wins European grants

In 1993 the Wales Film and Television Archive is working on two film restoration and exhibition projects in collaboration with other European Archives. Two applications for funding from the Lumière project, one of the many funding bodies set up by the European Economic Community, have been successful, providing 50% of the moneys required to undertake the projects.

The projects initiated by the Wales Film and Television Archive will involve the restoration of films which belong to the National Library of Wales collection. The preservation of the Library's valuable collection is now the responsibility of the Archive. The Lumiere money is a welcome boost to this work.

The first of the projects to be undertaken involves a number of films from the Sir Ifan ab Owen Edwards collection. During the 1930s Sir Ifan filmed many of Urdd Gobaith Cymru's (the Welsh League of Youth) activities, including youth camps, gymnastic displays and folk dancing exhibitions. The collection also includes material filmed during the cruises organised by the Urdd between 1933 and 1939. These included visits to Brittany, Portugal, Madeira, Norway and as far as Tangiers in the north of Africa.

The Wales Film and Television Archive, in collaboration with the Cinémathèque Régionale de Bretagne, and to a lesser extend the Cinemateca Portuguesa, will use the Lumière money to restore a number of reels recording these cruises. To do this the Archive will:
-    undertake research to try to uncover more about the exchanges which took place during these cruises, in particular between the Bretons and the Welsh;
-     undertake research to try to uncover more footage recording these cruises by appealing to the public for information;
-    repair, restore and, in some cases, reconstruct the films chronologically;
-    translate the Welsh language intertitles into Breton, French, Portugese and English so that the films become more accessible to European Audiences;
-    preserve the films according to internationally recognised standards by making new duplicating negatives and providing viewing prints for each of the film archives collaborating on this specific project;

Once the restoration work has been completed it is intended that the films should be shown during the "14th International Festival of Film and Television in the Celtic Countries" to be held in Lorient, Brittany in April 1994. As well as being an opportunity to view these images of early attempts to cross cultural and geographical barriers, the screenings will draw attention to a shared cultural heritage and to the advantages of the collaborative work made possible by the Lumière project. The films will be available to Welsh audiences via the Archive's access service once the project work has been completed.

The second project will involve the Wales and Television Archive working in collaboration with the Münchner Stadtmuseum in Germany. It will involve some of the films from the A.J. Sylvester Collection acquired by the Political Archive at the National Library of Wales recently. A.J. Sylvester was Lloyd George's private secretary, and in 1936 Sylvester accompanied the politician, members of his family and some of his political colleagues on an unofficial trip to visit Adolf Hitler. Sylvester, who was a keen amateur filmmaker, recorded the visit with his movie camera, and it is these images, which are of historical significance, which will be preserved with the Lumière money. The Münchner Stadtmuseum whose interest in the material is evident, will provide the technical expertise required to reconstruct these films chronologically. Once this work has been completed, the necessary preservation work will be undertaken to provide a duplicating negative and viewing copies of the film for both the collaborating archives. As the city of Munich is organising a Third Reich Exhibition in the early autumn, it is likely that the restored films will be screened as part of this event. The Wales Film and Television Archive hopes to organise a screening of the material in Wales later in 1993.

Gwenan Owen


Subvention Européenne pour les Archives du film et de la télévision du Pays de Galles

En 1993, les Archives du film et de la télévision du Pays de Galles ont obtenu les subventions sollicitées auprès du programme "Lumière" pour la réalisation de deux projets de préservation de films appartenant à la Bibliothèque Nationale du Pays de Galles. Le premier porte sur des documents filmés de Sir Ifan ab Owen Edwards concernant la "Urdd Gobaith Cymru's" (la Ligue de la jeunesse galloise) et sera effectué en collaboration avec la Cinémathèque régionale de Bretagne et la Cinemateca Portuguesa. Le deuxième, réalisé en collaboration avec le Münchner Stadtmuseum, porte sur des films tournés par A.J. Sylvester lors de la visite de Lloyd George en Allemagne en 1936.

Subvención europea para los Archivos del cine y de la televisión de Gales

En 1993, los Archivos del cine y de la televisión de Gales obtuvieron les subvenciones solicitadas al Programa Lumière para la realización de dos proyectos de conservación de películas pertenecientes a la Biblioteca Nacional del País de Gales.

El primero abarca una colección de películas de Sir Ifan ab Owen Edwards sobre la "Urdd Gobaith Cymru's" (la Liga de la juventud Galesa) y sera llevado a cabo en colaboración con la Cinemateca regional de Bretaña y la Cinemateca portuguesa. El segundo, realizado con la ayuda du Münchner Stadtmuseum, se refiere a las películas rodadas por A.J. Sylvester durante la visita de Lloyd George a Alemania en 1936.