SPOTLIGHT News on: scooters in the city, LGBT films and Welsh Baftas

SHOWCASE Croft Mawr in Dinas Powys is the host with the most

Absolutely dragulous inspiration

Film WHAT A DRAG BBC’s Keeping Faith star Eve Myles is turning a larger-than-life Cardiff drag fundraiser into an indie feature fi lm

The event, Dragged to Church, which took place in December 2018, was organised to raise funds for Cardiff church St Andrew’s URC in Roath, and saw drag queens do their sassy thing to save the church’s roof from falling into disrepair.

And now, St Andrew’s and the team behind Dragged to Church (who, by the way, won a Cardiff Life Award last year) will feature in the new project from Eve’s production company, Empty Room. The uplifting fi lm, due to be released in 2021, will be inspired by this true story of two very diff erent communities who came together in Wales to help save their beloved local church in dire need of repair.

And guess who was behind the original project? Only Cardiff Life’s own columnists: the radio presenters Nathan Wyburn and Wayne Courtney! For more: www.voxpictures.co.uk/empty-room-productions

Transport

Love is love at

THE SCOOT LIFE E-scooters are go for newly established Cardiff -based brand GOiA. Under new rules announced by the UK Government’s Department for Transport, e-scooters are now allowed on roads across the UK as part of a rental pilot scheme.

The business hopes to have the e-scooters in place within the city in the coming weeks as a key component of future micro-mobility. The technology chosen for the e-scooters is some of the best available; it includes a docking system and can be controlled via GPS, allowing speed limit restrictions on the product and the ability to Jarrad Morris, who heads up GOiA, disable it if needed, ensuring proving life’s a hoot

Wales can expect many international companies to try and capture the Welsh market so GOiA is hoping to take the lead and push forward with local authorities across the country. It has also ensured its docking stations are compatible for e-bikes in the future.

“Wales has a huge opportunity to lead the way in micro-mobility and build on excellent schemes such as Nextbike in Cardiff ,” says Jarrad Morris, who heads up GOiA. “We recognise the work that local authorities are putting into clean air strategies and improving micro-mobility in green, sustainable ways, and as a Welsh business we want to be part of that.” For more: www.goia.city

maximum safety. when you scoot Cardiff’s Iris Prize

LGBT

PRIDE AND JOY Thirty fi ve international fi lmmakers are set to compete for £30,000 prize money as the organisers of Cardiff ’s Iris Prize have announced the shortlisted fi lms in competition for the world’s largest international LGBT+ short fi lm prize.

In 2017, the festival, supported by The Michael Bishop Foundation, was promoted by BAFTA to A-list festival status, alongside Cannes and Sundance, and it continues to be the only LGBT+ short fi lm prize in the world which allows the winner to make a new fi lm.

UK audiences can join in the experience for the fi rst time in the festival’s history, by watching all the nominated shorts for free online, ensuring it reaches a wider audience than ever.

The Iris Prize LGBT+ Film Festival runs from 6 to 11 October, with all screenings, talks and events available online for free. For more: www.irisprize.org

Photography

PICTURE THIS Musician Steve Parry has travelled the world with his music; he’s currently in DuranDuranish (a Duran Duran cover band) and Higher-on-Maiden (an Iron Maiden cover band). But his other passion, although hobbyist, is photography, and during lockdown he started taking pictures of Cardiff on his regular once-a-day exercise breaks. He created an Instagram account – @Cardiff_covid.19 – to document the bare streets and sights. This has been the only time in our living history that the country has been ‘closed’, and Steve says it feels strange to have captured a moment in history.

“I’ve always loved apocalyptic movies,” says Steve, who lives in Cardiff Bay. “I thought I would like seeing the streets so bare, but it was a bit too weird. I sort of miss the calmness now though! I’m so glad I took the pictures; I have always liked documenting stuff with my photos, and now they will be online forever for future generations to see into these crazy times.

“It’s great to see local business bouncing back now though. Spillers – the oldest record shop in the world – is due to open soon, and also all the businesses within Cardiff Indoor Market are great.” For more: www.instagram.com/cardiff_covid.19

A very different ceremony format will be tried this year

Awards

ONTO A WINNER The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) in Wales, BAFTA Cymru, has announced the nominations for the British Academy Cymru Awards, honouring excellence in broadcasting and production within film and television in Wales.

The ceremony will be broadcast on BAFTA’s Facebook and YouTube channels at 7pm on 25 October 2020 and will be hosted by The One Show’s Alex Jones for the first time.

“The Welsh media industry continues to go from strength to strength and I am really looking forward to working with BAFTA on an exciting new format of ceremony to celebrate those creatives who are excelling in their craft, performance and production fields,” says Alex.

Angharad Mair, chairwoman of BAFTA Cymru, adds, “We are proposing a very different ceremony in terms of format this year, but when it comes to the creative work celebrated, this is the pinnacle of another fantastic year of production. This year has not been easy for the television and film industry, but we have continued to offer support for those working in our industry.”

TV series His Dark Materials leads this year with nine nominations, followed closely by BBC One drama The Left Behind, which was filmed in Cardiff, and BBC’s Keeping Faith. Among the actors and writers nominated are Rob Brydon, Anthony Hopkins, Ruth Wilson and Russell T Davies. For more: www.bafta.org/wales

Charity

CHAIN REACTION Over the past month, Oasis Cardiff has been running its Cycle Cardiff #ShareToRepair campaign. The main aim of the project is to work alongside refugees and asylum seekers to upcycle bikes and give them the independence to explore their new city and to help them integrate into the local community.

The majority of Oasis’ clients live in and receive support from organisations in one area of Cardiff, which means they are unlikely to explore and enjoy other areas of the city. This campaign aims to tackle the issue by providing free bikes and regular bike maintenance for the clients, giving them social mobility and independence as well as a sense of belonging.

The aim of the fundraiser, which will run until 30 September, is to raise £4,000 so that this project may run for up to 12 months. For more: www.avivacommunityfund.co.uk/cycle-cardiff

A wheely good idea

A welcome sight

Residents at a Cardiff care home are being reunited with their loved ones for the fi rst time in more than six months thanks to a newly-designed ‘Covid-proof’ family visitors’ area.

Staff at Tŷ Llandaff, an ‘all-inclusive’, residential, nursing, palliative and respite care home in Conway Road, Pontcanna, welcomed back visitors in emotional scenes at the home. A ‘Family Visitor Pod’ inside the home has been designed to defy the pandemic and allow its residents to have face-to-face contact with their families. The ground fl oor

Library Room has been converted to a dual accessible area with a large vinyl screen and partition.

Tŷ Llandaff has remained free of Covid-19 for the duration the crisis of the pandemic and there are strict infection control guidelines being followed, including use of PPE by staff. All visitors are required to wear face coverings and have to have their temperature taken on arrival.

Tŷ Llandaff was one of the fi rst care homes in

Cardiff to close its doors on March 13 because of the coronavirus outbreak before the national lockdown was introduced 10 days later. The home did so in order to create a ‘cocooning environment’ for its residents and keep those in their care safe.

Tŷ Llandaff family liaison offi cer Paul James said, “Residents and families who used the Family Visitor Pod really enjoyed the visits. There have been tears of joy and lots of laughs as some close relatives have not seen their loved ones for months and months. Many of the relatives and residents have complimented us on the pod itself, saying it’s a great addition, a lovely comfortable area and super that it is indoors and out of the rain or sun.”

“ THERE HAVE BEEN TEARS OF JOY AND LOTS OF LAUGHS AS SOME CLOSE RELATIVES HAVE NOT SEEN THEIR LOVED ONES FOR MONTHS AND MONTHS. ”

Tŷ Llandaff service manager Lisa Cristina said, “All the staff at Tŷ Llandaff have worked extremely hard to keep our residents safe and that is why we are so pleased to commence visits again in our Family Visitor Pod.

“We’ve been keeping things as normal as possible at Tŷ Llandaff and keeping our residents busy but we know the importance of family connection. Naturally, residents have missed their loved ones and it gave them so much joy to see family members in person after so long without seeing each other.” ■

Geoff Richardson in the Pod