October 2023 sees the second year of Cynon Valley Film Festival. It takes place at The Mezzanine, St Elvan’s Church in Aberdare, Cynon Valley, South Wales UK.
It's a festival run by a filmmaker with the emphasis on great visuals, great soundtracks and great storytelling. St Elvans in Aberdare will be home of the Cynon Valley Film Festival from October 13-14. Submissions are now open for short & feature length films, documentaries and music videos. There will also be awards for best director, best soundtrack and an audience choice award.
Our goal is to promote the work of independent film makers and embrace cutting edge digital techniques. Traditional film making is most welcome, of course but so are films made on smartphones.

This year, there will also be an award for the best screenplay or script.

Judges
Madoc Roberts - Director, producer,
Mike Kennedy - Welsh Connections
Candice Black - Candy Black Art
Colm Fitzpatrick - Fitzaudio
Phil Jones - Long Way Home Productions
Karin Mear - The Welsh Hat
Hywel Evans - Twf Media

The 2022 Awards

These are the winners from last year.

Best Welsh Film – Frank (dir. Jesse Briton & Buddug Jones) Wales
Best Cynon Valley Film – Dad: When A Man Loves A Woman (dir. Geraint Benney) Wales
Best International Narrative Short – Heavy Petting (dir. Brendan Prost) Canada
Best Experimental Film – Transmission (dir. Paul Williams) Wales
Best Director – Luke Walters (Wheels) Wales
Best Soundtrack – The Lights Of Dawn (dir. Sadie Duarte, composer Daniel Angelus) Spain
Best Documentary – Don’t Fence Me In (dir. Mary Elaine Evans) USA
Best Student Film – Midas (dir. Ben Meyer, Mav Vitale, Lisa Qingyi Liu) USA
Best Narrative Feature – What’s The Craic? (dir Lauren Hakulinen) France
Best Screenplay – Mersey Boys: A Letter From Al Moran (Dir. Paddy Murphy & Steven Gerard Farrell) Ireland
Festival Director’s Award – thoughtpolice 4891 (dir. Glenn Ibbitson & Melanie Davies)
Best Music Video – Elusive Dreams (dir. Rhys Davies (Furball Films))

Awards & Prizes

In 2022 awards went to:

Best Welsh Film – Frank (dir. Jesse Briton & Buddug Jones) Wales
Best Cynon Valley Film – Dad: When A Man Loves A Woman (dir. Geraint Benney) Wales
Best International Narrative Short – Heavy Petting (dir. Brendan Prost) Canada
Best Experimental Film – Transmission (dir. Paul Williams) Wales
Best Director – Luke Walters (Wheels) Wales
Best Soundtrack – The Lights Of Dawn (dir. Sadie Duarte, composer Daniel Angelus) Spain
Best Documentary – Don’t Fence Me In (dir. Mary Elaine Evans) USA
Best Student Film – Midas (dir. Ben Meyer, Mav Vitale, Lisa Qingyi Liu) USA
Best Narrative Feature – What’s The Craic? (dir Lauren Hakulinen) France
Best Screenplay – Mersey Boys: A Letter From Al Moran (Dir. Paddy Murphy & Steven Gerard Farrell) Ireland
Festival Director’s Award – thoughtpolice 4891 (dir. Glenn Ibbitson & Melanie Davies)
Best Music Video – Elusive Dreams (dir. Rhys Davies (Furball Films))

Best Narrative Feature
Best Narrative Short
Best Experimental Short
Best Documentary Short
Best Music Video
Best Drone Film
Young Animator Award
Best Local Film
Best Director
Best Actor
Best Music Soundtrack
Audience Award
Best Student Film

Rules & Terms

Cynon Valley Film Festival 2023 considers short films 45 minutes or less and feature films of 46 minutes or longer. Works in progress are accepted.

One entry per submission fee.

There is no premiere requirement, though it will be taken into consideration.

Films can not be publicly available prior to the festival dates.

Entries must be in English or subtitled/dubbed in English.

It is the responsibility of the filmmaker to clear all rights before your film screens at the festival. I shall indemnify and hold harmless Cynon Valley Film Festival from and against any and all claims, liabilities, losses, damages, and expenses (including but not limited to solicitor's fees, and costs of the court) which may be incurred by reason of any claim involving copyright, trademark, credits, publicity, screening, and loss of or damage to the screening videos entered.

By submitting you agree to grant the festival the right to use film images promotional purposes.

Fees: Submission fees are not refundable. The festival does not pay screening fees.
8 Reviews
Overall Rating
Quality
Value
Communication
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Networking
  • Glenn Ibbitson

    What a marvellous event to be involved in. Wonderful venue, well organised and showing a fine selection of movies for the public to enjoy -and a completely free event. Honoured to have had my work selected for inclusion. Here's to next year!

    December 2022
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  • Gerard Farrell

    Cynon Valley Film Festival is the best film festival ever. Nigel Evans and the folks in Wales sure now how to put on a grand event!

    November 2022
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    Response from festival:

    That’s so kind of you, Gerard! It was an absolute pleasure screening your film Mersey Boys: A Letter From Al Moran. I’m a big Beatles fan, so the subject matter was a pushover for me. However, it was down to our judging panel in the end! Here’s to CVFF23. Nige

  • Lauren Hakulinen

    This was a fun fest, set in the south of Wales - a place I love to visit. Nigel, a musician and filmmaker himself, did an amazing job, and from all accounts he selected the films and ran the fest all on his own. Well done!
    We were so surprised, and chuffed to bits to win Best Feature Documentary for our music based docy set in Ireland - "Where's the Craic?". It doesn't get better than that! And we were so happy to support a film festival that appreciates music, music docs, and the soundtrack.
    Thanks to Nigel and all the volunteers at the St. Elvans community center for putting on this fest, and making us feel part of the community. Wales - we will be back!

    November 2022
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    Response from festival:

    Thank you, Lauren! It was a pleasure to have you with us - and all the way from France - wow. WTC was a worthy winner of the documentary award. A real labour of love. Beautifully made. Thanks again for doing the Q&A too. (There were nine judges choosing the best films by the way!)

  • Paul Williams

    A terrific first year for this festival. An eclectic mix of films which was what was needed to keep it interesting. I was surprised and delighted to win Best Experimental Film. Standouts for me were Lauren Hakulinen's excellent "Where's The Craic?". Deserving of mainstream broadcast. And also Nika Agiashvili's monochrome 'Delilah' for it's cinematography.
    Looking forward to next year.

    October 2022
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    Response from festival:

    Thanks Paul! A pleasure to have Transmission. It was so different and original and ‘art house’. I had one conversation with someone after the three days citing your film as the most memorable piece screened. Thanks again.

  • Sadie Duarte

    Great festival!! My movie The Lights of Dawn won the Best Music Soundtrack Award (composer: Daniel Angelus). It's been an amazing experience and I'll submit my next projects for sure!! Congratulations to festival director Nigel Evans and all the team. Keep up the good work!

    October 2022
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    Response from festival:

    Thanks Sadie! It was a pleasure to have The Lights Of Dawn this year. The screening prompted conversations about James Dean and the fact that Alex Guinness has a career long before Star Wars. A fantastic, atmospheric piece. And a great music soundtrack!