There were two big Welsh winners at the eighth annual National Film Awards last night (July 5) as true-life drama, Save the Cinema and acting legend, Anthony Hopkins, walked off with awards.
Save The Cinema picked up the award for Best Film Drama and the Sky Cinema Original film, which stars Samantha Morton and Tom Felton, highlights the true-life story of Elizabeth Evans, known as ‘Liz the Lyric,’ who began a campaign in 1993 to save the Lyric Theatre in Carmarthen from closure.
Liz’s determination in getting Steven Spielberg to allow Jurassic Park to be premiered in the town’s local cinema paid off and the 1993 blockbuster was screened simultaneously with the glitzy premiere in London.
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To make it happen, Liz, with the help of the Mayor, Richard Goodridge, sent a fax to America, which was followed up with a phone call to Steven Spielberg’s secretary. The then hairdresser and leader of the theatre, created ‘a night at the cinema’ for people all over west Wales to watch the blockbuster in an independent.
Years later, Welsh scriptwriter Lorraine King, with the help of Liz’s son Mark, came up with a treatment for the story, which she sent to Sky who asked for a full script to be written. That’s when Save the Cinema, which also stars Jonathan Pryce, Keith Allen and comedian Rhod Gilbert, was created.
“I am delighted that we won the British National Film Award for Best Film Drama 2022. This is a celebration for Liz Evans and her legacy at Carmarthen Youth Opera," said the film's director Sara Sugarman, after the announcement of the film’s success at the National Film Awards.
"Thank you to Liz’s three boys Mark, Wynne and Huw, Mike and Mrs Hughes, who run the Camarthen Youth Opera now, the great children, the maxing talent and the amazing adults who support the talent, the guys who run the Lyric and the people of Camarthen for having us. It is a fantastic place and I am proud to bring the story to the screen with all the amazing creatives and crew with the actors and the Camarthen choirs.”
Sir Antony Hopkins, Kate Beckinsale, Anita Dobson, Ben Miller, Lily Collins, were among the big winners at last year's 8th annual National Film Awards. This year, over 3.5 million film and television fans voted via the official National Film Academy website.
This year's Global Contribution to Motion Picture award was won by one of Wales' most recognisable and prolific actors, Oscar winner Sir Anthony Hopkins.
The Port Talbot-born star of Westworld, Silence of the Lambs and The Father, commented: "I would like to thank the National Film Academy and the film fans nationwide for voting for me for the Global Contribution to Motion Picture award. This is one that I am really humbled by."
The ninth annual National Film Awards 2023 returns on the 4th of July 2023. You can watch last night’s broadcast here.
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