First look at S4C’s award-winning documentary Y Crwydryn

Presenter Wil Tân, known in Wales as a singer and champion of Welsh country music (his name translates as Will Fire; a nod to his past life as a firefighter), embarks on a pilgrimage to the small rural towns across Wales humming with country music and its culture.

We follow Wil as he chats and reminisces with his brothers-in-arms in places where chapels were once the heart of communities, now replaced by pubs where songs of love, loss, and heartbreak still thrive.

Prompted by his wife Ceri’s illness, his fading voice and the looming shadow of his best friend Pete’s mortality, Wil’s conversations with these fellow musicians and kindred spirits unfold like verses of a country song: exploring aging, loss, addiction and the fragile joy of finding love late in life.

Filmed in the widescreen spirit of a Western, the road becomes both stage and confessional, where music replaces words men cannot say.

Anchored by two haunting refrains — Carrickfergus with Pete, and Crwydryn for his mother — and much gallows humour, the film is a meditation on masculinity, silence and the ways song becomes both shield and surrender.

This slow-paced documentary was a hit among film festivals earlier this year, winning five awards, including Best Feature Documentary at Bournemouth International Film Festival and Rohip International Film Festival.

It was also a finalist at both the Folkestone Film Festival and the By the River Film Festival, a nominee at the Cannes World Film Festival and was selected at IndieLisboa International Film Festival.

Llinos Wynne, S4C’s Head of Docs & Specialist Factual said: “As it’s Men’s Mental Health Awareness Month, there is no better time to announce details of this beautiful and tender exploration of some of life’s biggest subjects.

“Older men can find it difficult to talk openly about loss, grief and love, but as this film so delicately shows, country music can  open doors to people’s most profound experiences.

“We are extremely proud of the worldwide critical response to the film, and are very excited to share it with audiences at home, this Christmas.”

Producer Gwion Tegid said: “We’re incredibly proud of the way Y Crwydryn has been received internationally. From the start, our aim was to make a Welsh film that spoke to universal themes — love, loss, friendship and resilience — and it’s been heartening to see those messages resonate so widely.

“I’m deeply grateful to S4C and to Llinos Wynne for giving us the time and trust to let this story breathe and find its own rhythm; that patience is what allows a documentary to truly come alive. And my heartfelt thanks go to Rhys Edwards, whose beautiful cinematography captures the soul of this journey so powerfully.”