Welsh language opera film to premiere at Edinburgh International Film Festival

A genre-bending Welsh language opera film will premiere at the 78th Edinburgh International Film Festival on 18 August, ahead of its nationwide cinema release this autumn.

Tanau’r Lloer /Fires of the Moon, commissioned by S4C and Channel 4, is inspired by scenes from the novel Un Nos Ola Leuad (‘One Moonlit Night’) written by Caradog Prichard and first published in 1961.

The film will be shown on S4C and Channel 4 in 2026.

Described as ‘fusing the emotional power of opera with vivid cinematic storytelling’, the film features a score by renowned Welsh composer Gareth Glyn. The libretto is written by Iwan Teifion Davies and Patrick Young with the music performed by the Welsh National Opera Orchestra.

Beginning in the 1950s, the film follows a writer who receives news that takes him on a melancholy train journey back home.  As he travels through the night, memories resurface, forcing him to reflect on events that led to his mother’s confinement in an asylum, some thirty years earlier.

Welsh talent

The film features a host of Welsh talent including tenor Huw Ynyr (OPRA Cymru, Mid Wales Opera, Wexford Festival Opera), Annes Elwy (Bariau, Y Swn ), Dylan Jones (The Red King, The Light in the Hall, The Way), with soprano Elin Pritchard (Opera North, Welsh National Opera, Grange Park Opera), baritone Emyr Wyn Jones (Scottish Opera, Opera North, Welsh National Opera), and acclaimed singers Rhys Meirion and Shan Cothi.

Tanau’r Lloer/ Fires of the Moon is not an adaptation of the novel nor does it reflect the life of the author. Described as a reimagining and a re-invention of the novel, the work maintains as the backdrop of the slate-quarrying landscape of North Wales, now a Unesco world heritage site.

A production by Afanti, OPRA Cymru and Severn Screen, with a screenplay by award-winning filmmaker, Marc Evans, the film is directed by Chris Forster and produced by Kirsten Stoddart. It has received funding support from the Arts Council of Wales and the Welsh Government via Creative Wales.

‘Haunting’

Gwenllian Gravelle, S4C’s Head of Film & Drama says: “With its lush visual language, haunting score, and luminous performances, this film reimagines opera and literature through a cinematic lens that feels both intimate and otherworldly.

“It’s precisely this kind of fearless and bold storytelling that S4C is known for and we are thrilled to be partnering with Channel 4 to bring it to screens at home and across the UK.”

Shaminder Nahal Head of Specialist Factual at Channel 4 says: “It’s so exciting to be collaborating with S4C and an extraordinary team on this utterly special and unique project. Not only is it a TV first, I believe this beautiful, haunting and mesmerising work will stay with people for a long time.”

Culture Minister Jack Sargeant added: “This production is a wonderful example of what can be achieved through collaboration. Tanau’r Lloer received support from the Welsh Government via Creative Wales and is the result of many talented Welsh creatives joining forces, both behind the camera and in front of it, to tell a reimagined story in a unique way. It’s very promising to know that it is already gaining a lot of interest among industry peers and I look forward to seeing how momentum builds ahead of its release in 2026.”