Hywel Wiliam, Begw Dafydd Roberts, Eryl Huw Philips, Cian Dafydd Roberts, Gethin Cennin Williams, Hedydd Ioan, and Tim Hartley

"Sometimes the most inspired images can be created by chance", suggested director Eryl Huw Philips in a discussion with young film makers at this year's National Eisteddfod.  The ‘Directors of the Future’ event was held at ‘Sinemaes', a cinema in a tipi on the Eisteddfod field (left), which featured 50 events over eight days in a partnership which included RTS Wales, BAFTA Cymru, Film Hub Wales, BFI Net.Work, Chapter, Film Cymru Wales, Into Film, and the National Screen and Sound Archive of Wales.

Philips graduated as an actor but later moved into directing.  His credits include S4C’s political drama Byw Celwydd, The Indian Doctor, and Michael Sheen's The Gospel of Us.  He was talking to 13 year old Hedydd Ioan, producer of the short, Bywyd, a winner at this year's Zoom Cymru Festival, which was shown during the discussion.  Philips suggested that one scene, showing a red pepper being sliced, evoked images of a botanic garden seen later in the film, but Ioan admitted that this was probably a happy accident.  Both agreed, however, that the best way to learn about film making is to do it.

The other panellists, who were also members of the remarkable Nantlle Vale Film Club in north Wales, were Begw Dafydd Roberts (11), who worked on her own film about an alien invasion, Cian Dafydd Roberts (13), and Gethin Cennin Williams (13), who both took part in the three short films shown during the discussion.  The Group has notched up an impressive eleven awards and nominations over the past two years at youth film festivals.  In addition, at this year's Zoom Festival, Ioan took home two first prizes and a second place as well as the award for the youngster showing the most promise.  In a session that was billed as a featuring 'the directors of the future', film making in Wales appears to be in good hands.