Gwledd (The Feast) on track to become most successful Welsh language film of all time

Horror movie The Feast (Gwledd in Welsh) is set to become the most successful Welsh language feature film of all time ahead of its cinematic release across the UK and Ireland tomorrow (19 August).

The critically acclaimed film will be screening at over 80 sites in its first week of release, including every cinema in Cardiff.

Many multiplexes have also picked the film up and it will be playing widely across cinemas in London and in cities as diverse as Manchester, Cambridge, Liverpool and Aberdeen.

The movie, which was directed by Lee Haven Jones and written by Roger Williams, features a cast of Welsh stars, including Nia Roberts, Sion Alun Davies, Steffan Cennydd, Julian Lewis Jones, Annes Elwy and Rhodri Meilir.

Unfolding over the course of one evening, The Feast opens as a wealthy family gathers for a sumptuous dinner in their ostentatious house in the Welsh mountains.

The guests are a local businessman and a neighbouring farmer, and the intent is to secure a business deal to mine in the surrounding countryside.

Unravel

When a mysterious young woman Cadi ( Annes Elwy) arrives to be their waitress for the evening, the family’s beliefs and values are challenged as her quiet, yet disturbing presence begins to unravel their lives, slowly, deliberately and with the most terrifying consequences.

Roger Williams, writer and producer of the film says he’s delighted with its extensive release, and is urging people to buy tickets to see the chiller and show there is a market for Welsh language films.

“We always hoped the film would be widely available in cinemas and are delighted it’s playing most towns and cities across Wales,” he said.

“It’s great that every cinema in Cardiff is showing it and that it will also play at cinemas in towns such as Neath, Llanelli, Carmarthen, Aberystwyth, Bangor and Rhyl, alongside major Hollywood movies”.

“It’s been a long journey to reach this point and we now need to prove there’s a market for Welsh film by getting audiences through the doors to see it.

“Welsh language films don’t come along very often, and if we want to make more of them we need to demonstrate there’s an audience out there.”

The film premiered at the SXSW festival in 2021 and has won awards at festivals such as BiFAN in South Korea and the Neuchatel film festival in Switzerland.

Described by reviewers as “A carnivorously splendid horror” and “A gripping, grisly, remarkably assured feature debut”, Gwledd / The Feast has already been released in North America and is being released in the UK and Ireland by Picturehouse Entertainment.  The film was funded by S4C, Ffilm Cymru Wales, the BFI, Meliville Media and Fields Park.

The film’s Welsh premiere was at the Abertoir Horror Festival in November last year at the Aberystwyth Arts Centre.

Details about screenings at a cinema near you can be found at the film’s website here.