Tryweryn dam bomber film wins Bafta award
THE founder of a former Welsh nationalist movement has said that he is delighted a film documenting his life has won a Bafta Cymru award.
The Welshman is a documentary about the life of Owain Williams, who was one of the founders of Mudiad Amddiffyn Cymru/MAC (Movement for the Defence of Wales).
The film was created by Angleseyborn director Lindsay Walker and producer Enlli Fychan Owain, who is Owain Williams’ daughter.
Mr Williams, alongside Emyr Llewelyn and John Albert Jones, were convicted and jailed for planting an explosive device on an electricity transformer at the Tryweryn reservoir project near Bala in 1963.
Dozens of people were forced to leave their homes in Capel Celyn when they village was flooded to create a reservoir to provide water for
Liverpool.
Owain Williams, now a councillor and the former chairman of Gwynedd council, spent a year in prison.
On hearing about the film’s success in the short film category of Bafta Cymru, the councillor has said that he was “over the moon”.
“The idea came from my daughter, Enlli,” he said. “She asked me one day if I would be keen to share my story for a documentary her and Lindsay were working on. I had written an autobiography before – and although my story has been told many times before, I knew this would be different.
“And it was very different this time round because I was sharing my experience aloud. In some ways, it
brought the memories alive.”
Even after his release, Mr Williams was hunted by the police’s Special Branch for other bombing campaigns.
Williams was suspected of blowing up a Caernarfon nightclub.
He was also accused of trying to blow up a pipe used to ferry water from Lake Vyrnwy.
The 1960s saw a growing number of Welsh nationalist movements and Prince Charles’ investiture came at a time when swift social changes were happening across the country.
In the build-up to the royal ceremony however, Williams claims he was “hounded” even further by the Special Branch and fled to Ireland where he lived in a tent for six weeks on an Irish beach.
He recalls the experience in The Welshman.
“It was a very troubling, worrying time – I feared for my life,” the council
lor explained. “But then again, it was a very exciting time because things were changing. Welsh nationalism was waking up and was on the up.”
According to the councillor, the film was created on a zero budget, but believes the film has already made its mark in Welsh filming scene.
“This film isn’t about me – it’s about the history of Wales,” he said.
“The reason I decided to do it in English rather than in Welsh was for exposure – for the people that didn’t know about our history. One thing I have found very promising over recent years is the rise in support for YesCymru and the fact that people from non-Welsh speaking backgrounds are supporting the idea of Welsh independence.
“I’m so pleased that the film has won a Bafta. I can’t take any credit for the girls’ hard work. All I did was sit on a chair and spoke about history.”