A Welsh language adaptation of the Dylan Thomas play Under Milk Wood has been selected as the UK submission for the best foreign language category at next year’s Oscars.
The film, which is also known as Dan y Wenallt, stars Rhys Ifans and Charlotte Church and centres on a fictional Welsh community who share their dreams via poetry. The play was previously adapted in 1972, starring Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor and in a BBC production last year with Michael Sheen and Tom Jones.
It was originally released in Welsh cinemas last December as well as being shown on television not long after. The English language version will also be released later this month.
If the film successfully gains an Oscar nomination, it will be only the third time that a Welsh language film has managed to do so. The first instance was in 1994 with Hedd Wyn and then in 2000 with Solomon a Gaenor.
“I’m absolutely thrilled to have Dan y Wenallt submitted as the official UK contender for a foreign language Oscar shortlist,” director Kevin Allen said. “It’s a shot in the arm for both versions of our back-to-back Under Milk Wood productions, and I’d like to thank Bafta for selecting us.”
Allen previously worked with Ifans in the 1997 breakout comedy Twin Town.
The film joins 80 other titles in the race for the best foreign language film, including Basque-language drama Loreak from Spain and controversial epic Muhammad: The Messenger of God from Iran.
