Aberfan: The Fight for Justice - Bafta Cymru winner to give master class at Aberystwyth University

Aberystwyth University Theatre, Film and Television Studies graduate and BAFTA Cymru award winner Iwan England

Aberystwyth University Theatre, Film and Television Studies graduate and BAFTA Cymru award winner Iwan England

07 December 2017

Award winning documentary maker and Aberystwyth University graduate Iwan England returns to his alma mater on Friday 8 December to deliver a student master class.

Iwan, who studied at the Department of Theatre, Film and Television Studies at Aberystwyth, won the Single Documentary Award at Bafta Cymru 2017 for Aberfan: The Fight for Justice.

Produced to mark the 50th anniversary of the tragedy, the programme traces the story of Aberfan’s decades-long battle for justice after a coal tip crashed down on the village on 21 October 1966, killing 144 people including 116 children.

During the BAFTA Award Winners Masterclass, the Department of Theatre, Film and Television Studies, Iwan will talk to students about the process of making the documentary.

Open to all, the BAFTA Award Winners Masterclass takes place at 2:00pm on Friday 8 December at the R Gerallt Jones Studio in the Department of Theatre, Film and Television Studies’ Parry-Williams Building.

Dr Anwen Jones, Head of the Department of Theatre, Film and Television Studies said: “We are thrilled with Iwan’s success and delighted that he is returning to Aberystwyth this week to share his experience of making Aberfan: The Fight for Justice. It so happens that Aberystwyth University sponsored the Single Documentary category at the 2017 BAFTA Cymru awards, and it was wonderful to see one of our graduates win the category with such an important documentary film and a landmark in our understanding of the Aberfan tragedy.”

Fronted by BBC journalist Huw Edwards, the Aberfan: The Fight for Justice also picked up the Bafta Cymru award for Best Presenter.

It was one of three programmes centred on the tragic loss of life in Aberfan to win awards at Bafta Cymru 2017, held in St David’s Hall in Cardiff on Sunday 8 October.

Aberfan: The Green Hollow won Television Drama prize and Marc Evans won Factual Director for The Aberfan Young Wives Club.

Other winners at the awards included Hollywood actor Michael Sheen who picked up the Bafta in the News and Current Affairs category for The Fight For My Steel Town which looked at job losses in the area.

And Aberystwyth University Honourary Fellow Bryn Terfel collected the Entertainment Programme Award for Gwlad y Gân – Land of Song.

A full list of the Bafta Cymru 2017 winners can be viewed online.