Martha, Jac a Sianco
Martha, Jac a Sianco is the film adaptation of Caryl Lewis' modern classic, Martha, Jac a Sianco. A powerful story about family inheritance and heartbreak, the novel won the Welsh-language Book of The Year award in 2005. Caryl herself has adapted the novel for the screen, while Sharon Morgan, Ifan Huw Dafydd and Geraint Lewis star.
John Hardy won his fourth BAFTA Cymru award for Best Original Music Soundtrack for this film.
Two middle-aged brothers and their sister live on the family farm, Graig-Ddu. Nothing has changed for generations, but their mother's death and her decision to leave the farm equally between the siblings starts a chain of events which leads to tragedy.
Mae 'na ddisgwyl mawr wedi bod am y ffilm hon, addasiad o glasur modern Caryl Lewis, Martha, Jac a Sianco. Enillodd y nofel bwerus, sy'n adrodd hanes dau frawd a chwaer ganol oed, wobr Llyfr y Flwyddyn yn 2005. Mae'r tri yn byw ar y fferm deuluol, Graig-Ddu. Mae marwolaeth eu mam a'i phenderfyniad hi i adael y fferm yn gyfartal rhwng y tri yn cychwyn cadwyn o ddigwyddiadau sy'n arwain at drasiedi. Sharon Morgan sy'n chwarae Martha, gydag Ifan Huw Dafydd a Geraint Lewis yn chwarae'r ddau frawd, Jac a Sianco.
In an interview for S4C one of Wales' best-known actresses Sharon Morgan spoke about her down-to-earth character Martha.
“I’ve waited a while for a role like this one... I honestly felt it was a privilege to play Martha, I also feel the film is culturally important. It’s a superb story which will pull at the heart strings, but it’s a also a strong and sensitive portrayal of agricultural life in Wales. Martha’s story will resonate with many viewers.”
Martha, Jac a Sianco won six BAFTA Cymru awards in 2008, for Best Original Music Soundtrack, Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Director of Photography: Drama, Best Design and Best Make-Up. It won the Atlantis Award for Feature Narrative Film at the 2009 Moondance International Film Festival and the Spirit of the Festival award in the 2010 Celtic Media Festival. The film was first broadcast by S4C on Christmas day in 2008.
The two-hour film, produced by Teledu Apollo, was filmed almost entirely on location at Cribor Fawr, Pont-siân, in rural Ceredigion.
See programme info at the BBC website.
“The response to the film over the Christmas period has been immense... with many (both professional and members of the public) voicing special praise for your haunting score. The most common response to the film has been ‘stunned’ and sobering!
Your contribution to this project has been immense John – not only in the amount of music needed in the film but in the stunning soundscape you’ve created to colour the world and lives of our threesome! Projects like this do not occur very often, and we do feel blessed ourselves to have been able to work with such talent - author, cast, production crew, and post production, all having produced and attained such a high standard of work. We look forward to working with you again John and your team in the not too distant future I hope! Please pass on our regards and remarks to your team and musicians…”
“Just a short note to congratulate you on producing such a lovely score for Martha, Jac and Sianco. I’ve been listening to the final mix and the whole thing sounds wonderful - your score has really brought another dimension to the work and completes it. (I’ve been humming pieces of it to myself all week!) It was really nice working with you and your team, and I hope we get to work on another film soon!”
“Bergman-esque, musically captivating and beautifully-shot drama.”