Documentary in Wales

de Dafydd Sills-Jones, Elin Haf Gruffydd Jones

"Contemporary Wales's emergence from the British context is relatively recent, marked by the appointment of Cardiff as Wales' capital in 1955, the launch of a Welsh language broadcaster Sianel 4 Cymru (S4C) in 1982, and the founding of Y Senedd/National Assembly for Wales in 1999. Documentary in Wales is conditioned by this historical context, with most of Wales' documentary output produced by the regionalized remnants of Britain's state/commercial broadcasting duopoly: BBC Cymru/Wales, HTV Wales and Sianel 4 Cymru (S4C). The documentary culture of Wales is also modulated by the enriching, but sometimes uneasy, question of the relationship between both national languages (Cymraeg and English). Wales has not been immune to recent international developments that have brought increased access to production technologies and internet distribution. In general, these developments have weakened the power of documentary's traditional gatekeepers, leading to the emergence of new developments in theatrical exhibition, transnational co-production, short form, user-generated content, grass roots activism, academic research and interactive futures. Despite these developments, the form and substance of Welsh documentary are still closely linked to traditional British documentary values of authority, objectivity and factual discourse. However, the Welsh context has a specific and complex effect on the way documentary development plays out, profoundly affecting the way documentary presents reality within Wales, connects with other parts of the world and projects notions of Welshness to the outer world"--