Cardiff, 5 September 2014: The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) in Wales, BAFTA Cymru, has today announced the nominations for the 23rd annual British Academy Cymru Awards, honouring excellence in broadcasting and production within film and television in Wales.
The ceremony will take place on Sunday 26 October at the Wales Millennium Centre, Cardiff, hosted by Jason Mohammad. A fluent speaker of Welsh, Jason is known for his recent coverage of the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games, the London 2012 Olympics Games, the Ryder Cup and the RBS 6 Nations as well as his broadcasting roles at the BBC (Radio Wales morning show).
Crime drama features heavily among the nominees this year, with dual-language noir drama Y Gwyll / Hinterland receiving nine nominations, including Actress and Actor for Mali Harries and Richard Harrington. Director Marc Evans and writer Jeff Murphy are also among the nominees, for Director Fiction and Writer respectively.
Following its recent Emmy success, detective drama Sherlock is nominated five times, as is murder-mystery series 35 Diwrnod. Historical fantasy drama Da Vinci’s Demons is nominated in four categories.
Joining Richard Harrington in the Actor category are Matthew Gravelle for his performance as a transgender nurse in 35 Diwrnod and Tom Riley for the lead role in Da Vinci’s Demons. Nominated alongside Mali Harries for Actress are Gwaith/Cartref co-stars Rhian Blythe and Siw Hughes for their performances in the school-based drama.
The Television Drama award will be hotly contested with Y Gwyll / Hinterland and Sherlock up against 2013’s winner, Stella. In the Writer category, Stella’s Ruth Jones is nominated alongside Y Gwyll / Hinterland’s Jeff Murphy and 35 Diwrnod’s Siwan Jones and Will Roberts.
Fly-on-the-wall television documentary The Call Centre is nominated for Factual Series, alongside *The Hill Farm and Taith Fawr y Dyn Bach.
The Presenter category features nominees Griff Rhys Jones for A Great Welsh Adventure With Griff Rhys Jones, Ifor ap Glyn for Pagans and Pilgrims: Britain’s Holiest Places, and Rhys Jones for Rhys Jones’ Wildlife Patrol.
The return of the Feature / Television Film category sees Gruff Rhys’ documentary film American Interior nominated alongside Wyndham Price’s feature-length biopic, Playing Burton, and Kevin Allen’s family-friendly TV film, Y Syrcas.
The nominations for the Gwyn Alf Williams Award, for the best programme or series of programmes to have contributed most to the understanding and appreciation of history in Wales, are Cofio Senghennydd, Fishlock’s Wales – Senghenydd and The Miner’s Strike – A Personal Memoir by Kim Howells.
To recognise emerging professionals who have made a significant impact in television or film in Wales in the past year, the ceremony features the Breakthrough Award.
The nominations are: Keri Collins, for directing his debut feature film Convenience; James Lusted, for presenting Taith Fawr y Dyn Bach; and Elin Jones, for her work presenting Cofio Senghennydd.
Special presentations of the Siân Phillips Award and BAFTA Special Award for Outstanding Contribution to Television will be made at the ceremony.
Hannah Raybould, Director of BAFTA Cymru, says: “It’s been an outstanding year for television and film talent working in Wales. Across all 28 categories we’ve seen an excellent breadth of programmes and individuals represented – in both languages, and from those starting out in their careers to the very experienced. We look forward to working with our partners and sponsors on another wonderful night of celebration.”
OB facilities company NEP Cymru returns as the Awards’ Primary Event Sponsor with post-production and facilities company Gorilla as Key Event Sponsor.
The ceremony will feature special guest performances and celebrity award presenters representing the best of the UK’s creative and media industries.
A limited number of public tickets are available for the ceremony, priced at £10.
Tickets can be purchased from the Wales Millennium Centre Box Office
(t: 029 2063 6464 / o: www.wmc.org.uk).
