Cleddyf ym mrwydr yr iaith? Y Bwrdd Ffilmiau Cymraeg

This volume will trace the history of the Welsh Film Board (1971-86).Census figures of 1961 and 1971 illustrated the steady decline of the number of Welsh speakers, and the establishment of the Board was an effort to invigorate the language through cultural means. In Part One, the research field will be considered in the light of a number of cultural theories, and by exploring the historically complicated relationship between Wales and film. The conceptual framework will be introduced, which focuses on 'power' as a means of understanding the hegemonic structures within cultural institutions. In Part Two, the establishment of the Board will be traced as a natural progression of the early film pioneers such as Ifan ab Owen Edwards and John Roberts Williams. The battles with the funding bodies - the BFI and the Welsh Arts Council - will be analysed, demonstrating the many tensions between the Board and its metropolitan funders. Part Three will focus on a successful production 'purple patch' between 1978 and 1982, and will analysing the films, their influences, and audience responses to them.