Welsh actress scoops top international award

Best performance award goes to Catrin Stewart

Welsh actor Catrin Stewart has been given the top performance award at the Edinburgh International Film Festival for a film based at the National Library of Wales. The Library Suicides is based on Fflur Dafydd’s bestselling novel Y Llyfrgell and marks award winning director Euros Lyn’s feature length debut.

The award is given for the best performance in a British Feature Film and the jury this year consisted of renowned international stars Kim Cattrall, Clancy Brown and Iciar Bollain. They all felt that Catrin’s performance merited high praise:

“We wanted to recognise the striking performance by Catrin Stewart in The Library Suicides. The complexities and subtleties of playing twin characters is challenging and she managed to achieve the rare feat of making each of the two roles she played truly distinctive.”

Having received its world premiere at the Edinburgh International Film Festival and playing to sell out audiences The Library Suicides has received rave reviews. It will premiere in Wales at a special event during this year’s National Eisteddfod at Abergavenny in August.

In the offbeat thriller Catrin, known to many following her roles in Dr Who and Stella, plays twin daughters Nan and Ana, who embark on a murderous quest at the National Library in Aberystwyth.
Catrin is currently appearing in the West End production of George Orwell’s 1984 but was naturally delighted with the news of the award,
“Thank you EIFF! I feel hugely honoured to be given this award. It was my first feature film role and a fantastic challenge to play two characters side by side. I loved working with the wonderful Euros Lyn and Fflur Dafydd’s exciting script. It was also very special for me to make a film in Welsh, and I’m very proud of what we have achieved. Diolch yn fawr!”

This is the first time a Welsh language performance has been awarded this prize and author Fflur Dafydd believes this highlights the growing confidence in the Welsh creative sector,

“Having originally written the book for the National Eisteddfod Daniel Owen Memorial prize it felt only natural that when adapting the screenplay that would be in Welsh also. Catrin’s success proves that any creative work, if it is of a high standard, can transcend any language frontiers. On behalf of all involved I would like to congratulate Catrin on her award – she is a true talent and it is richly deserved.”

After debuting at Edinburgh this week the film will be shown at the Abergavenny cinema on the evening of Monday, 1st August and tickets are on sale through the National Eisteddfod box office. It will then be shown at Aberystwyth Arts Centre, Chapter Arts Centre, Cardiff, and Pontio Arts Centre, Bangor from 5-11 August with other locations across Wales to be announced.

The Library Suicides is the third film from Ffilm Cymru Wales’ emerging talent scheme Cinematic. Cinematic was devised and developed in partnership with the BFI Film Fund, BBC Films, Creative Skillset, Edicis, Soda Pictures and S4C. The scheme supports emerging filmmaking talent from Wales, in creating contemporary, dynamic and distinctive features. The Library Suicides is the first of these to be filmed in the Welsh language. Soda Pictures have distribution in the UK and Ireland, and S4C will broadcast the film at a future date.

“Twin sisters do it for themselves in Euros Lyn’s outstanding feature debut The Library Suicides. The Welsh filmmaker’s wealth of TV directorial experience from the likes of Broadchurch and Happy Valley are evident in a dark, sordid tale of memory, legacy and grief…”
Cine Vue review