Touching film about ageing Flintshire choir helps put staff at TV firm in seventh heaven

A touching documentary about a campaign to recruit new members for an ageing male voice choir from Flintshire has helped put a TV company in the running for a record haul of awards

Cwmni Da has been shortlisted for an “incredible” total of seven awards at the Celtic Film and Television Festival – more than any other television company in the history of the event founded more than 40 years ago.

It’s also half the number of nominations for all the other television production companies who make programmes for S4C.

The winners will be announced in September.

The documentary directed by  Dylan Williams about the desperate campaign for new members launched by Côr Meibion Trelawnyd is shortlisted in the arts category.

The choir needed “brown-haired men” to join the massed ranks of grey and bald heads which include Dylan’s 91-year-old father, Ednyfed Williams, who lives in Denbigh and was the deputy head of Ysgol Maes Garmon in Mold,

Dylan, 50, who hails from Dyserth but moved to live in Stockholm after falling in love with his Swedish partner, Anna, who is now the mother of their three children.

But he felt like a fish out of water and joined a group of slightly overweight men in their 30s and 40s as part of the Stockholm Art Swim Gents synchronised swimming team as a way of creating a new social life over there.

He chronicled the experience in his award-winning 2010 documentary programme, Men Who Swim, which was shown in 80 different countries worldwide.

Eight years later the story was turned into a movie called Swimming with Men, starring the Welsh actor and comedian, Rob Brydon, playing the character based on Dylan.

According to Dylan, there are distinct parallels between the synchronised swimming team and his dad’s choir because both of them provide an important support network for their members.

So, he called the new documentary, Men Who Sing, which was shown on S4C. It was also to broadcasters in Sweden, Denmark and Germany.

It’s believed Cwmni Da, based in Caernarfon, was the first broadcast company in the UK to become an Employee-Owned Trust just over two years ago.

The move saw former managing director Dylan Huws, who remains on the board, sell his shares to the trust.

The company employs 53 staff and a host of freelancers and is based at a state-of-the-art production centre in the Goleuad building on Victoria Dock.

Their output includes some of S4C’s biggest hits like Fferm Ffactor, Noson Lawen, Deian a Loli, and Ffit Cymru, as well as award-winning international co-productions like Llanw (Tide).

But the news about being shortlisted for seven awards heralds a new high water mark for the respected company that turns over around £5 million a year, making a significant contribution to the local economy.

Among the programmes in line to be honoured is a touching documentary, Eirlys, Dementia a Tim (Eirlys, Dementia and Tim), that’s been shortlisted in two categories – for a single documentary and the blue riband Spirit of the Festival Award.

The programme tells the story of former care worker Eirlys Smith, 61, from Menai Bridge, Anglesey, who tracks down an old school friend, Tim Lyn, who’s now a famous TV director.

A documentary series, 47 Copa (47 Summits), that’s been selected in the sports category, features the successful attempt by endurance athlete Huw Jack Brassington, who hails from Caernarfon and now lives in Cockermouth, Cumbria, to conquer one of the world’s toughest mountain challenges.

Camera crews followed the former GB triathlete in treacherous conditions as he completed the gruelling Paddy Buckley Round, which sees runners covering a distance of some 100km and climbing 8,000 metres which it the equivalent of scaling Everest, taking in no fewer than 47 summits – all in 24 hours.

At the other end of the spectrum is the hit comedy series, Rybish (Rubbish), which was shot during the Covid-19 lockdown last year and set in a recycling centre.

A very different  lockdown show, Côr Digidol (Digital Choir) presented by talented tenor, Rhys Meirion, who hails from Porthmadog and now living in Pwllglas near Ruthin, is among the top tips in the entertainment category and showcases a rousing online performance of the famous Welsh hymn Calon Lȃn which went viral on social media with more than 190,000 views.

Meanwhile, at the other end of the age range the 2020 Christmas special of the hugely popular kids’ series, Deian a Loli (Deian and Loli, is also up for a gong in the children’s category.

Having so many of the company’s programmes shortlisted for awards at the Celtic Film and Television Festival was the source of “quiet” pride for Llion Iwan, who has taken over from Dylan Huws as managing director after originally joining Cwmni Da as director of content in 2019.

Llion said: “What stands out for me is that our programmes have been shortlisted in so many diverse categories which shows how multi-talented our team is.

“As a company, Cwmni Da has always punched well above its weight and this has gone to a whole new level after the company became an Employee-Owned Trust. Everybody is even more committed than before.

“We’re very lucky in that we have a core of highly creative and experienced directors and producers as well as younger people who are being mentored.

“By re-organising our schedules and changing how we work, we have been able to continue producing programmes through the pandemic and we’ve done as much as we can to support experienced freelancers in our area who have been faithful to the company. 

“We’ve also continued to contribute to the local economy and our turnover last year remained stable at around £5 million.

“I’ve been going to film festivals and similar competitions such as this one for many years and I know that they are worthwhile especially if you gain recognition in several categories.

“It’s an excellent shop window for us and it’s going to be good for business because it showcases what we can do.”

Pictured - Côr Meibion Trelawnyd singing at the mart in Ruthin when the documentary was shot.