Sunday 30.10.22 | 12.00 | 57m | Scottish Premiere
A group of celebrities are scheduled to appear at a concert in a village hall. An elderly man and his choir of schoolchildren, fearing that the celebrities will steal their limelight, take drastic measures to stop their appearance…by murdering them.
Gwaed Ar Y Sêr (Blood on the Stars) was one of the first horror films in Welsh, produced by Bwrdd Ffilmiau Cymraeg, the Welsh Film Board. When it was released in 1975, the board decided that it would be a good idea to bring children from primary schools to see the film, thoroughly traumatising a generation. Now it’s screening for the first time with English subtitles, newly commissioned by Matchbox Cine.
“The problem with Welsh films at that time was that everyone assumed they were the kind of thing that was shown in Sunday School. Did anyone consider that there might not be a little bit of sex and a little bit of fear in them?” Wil Aaron (Gwaed Ar Y Sêr director)
Please note, both Gwaed Ar Y Sêr and O’r Ddaear Hen are presented as they were originally screened for the purposes of historical and cultural interest, but contain outdated cultural depictions/imagery which would be unacceptable to modern audiences.
C/w Blood
Screening in a double bill with O’r Ddaear Hen (1981), part of Weird Weekend’s Outwith strand.
Thanks to the Screen and Sound Archive at the The National Library of Wales and Wil Aaron