23 April 2010

 The powerful S4C film Martha, Jac a Sianco won one of the major prizes at the 2010 Celtic Media Festival which ended at Newry, Northern Ireland on Friday night 23 April.

The two-hour film, based on Caryl Lewis’ award-winning novel about family inheritance and heartbreak, won the ‘Spirit of the Festival’ prize awarded to a film or television programme wholly or substantially in a Celtic language.

Martha, Jac a Sianco, which follows the life of two brothers and a sister who live on a family farm in west Wales, won six awards at last year’s BAFTA Cymru Awards. Produced by Apollo, part of the Boomerang+ Group, it stars Sharon Morgan, Ifan Huw Dafydd and Geraint Lewis as the three central characters.

‘Spirit of the Festival’ was the fourth prize won by S4C in Newry.

An S4C series which took seven Welsh celebrities to work as cowboys on a ranch in Arizona won in the Factual Entertainment category. Hollywood star, Matthew Rhys joined the seven in the two-part series Y Saith Magnifico a Matthew Rhys produced by Boomerang.

The Channel won two awards on the festival’s opening day. The documentary Carwyn, produced by Green Bay Media, on the life of the rugby legend Carwyn James, won the award in the Sports category.

S4C’s other winner came in the Education category. The winning programme Trip yr Ysgol Gymraeg featured the rugby player Nicky Robinson following the story of Welsh medium education. The programme was produced by ITV Cymru.

Rhian Gibson, S4C’s Director of Commissioning, said, “Winning ‘Spirit of the Festival’ was a highlight for the creativity of S4C and the independent production sector. S4C’s programmes have once again made a big impression at the Celtic Media Festival. It’s a glowing tribute to the commitment and creative abilities of the production sector in Wales that they have succeeded in a competitive media event with more than 400 entries. We congratulate the programme producers on their success.”

Ends