The Celtic Media Festival, formerly known as the Celtic Film and Television Festival, aims to promote the languages and cultures of the
Celtic nations
The Celtic nations are a cultural area and collection of geographical regions in Northwestern Europe where the Celtic languages and cultural traits have survived. The term ''nation'' is used in its original sense to mean a people who shar ...
in film, on television, radio and new media. The festival is an annual three-day celebration of broadcasting and film from Scotland, Ireland, Wales, Isle of Man, Galicia,
Cornwall
Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlantic ...
and
Brittany
Brittany (; french: link=no, Bretagne ; br, Breizh, or ; Gallo: ''Bertaèyn'' ) is a peninsula, historical country and cultural area in the west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known as Armorica during the period ...
. The festival was founded in 1980.
History
The festival was first held in 1980, on the Scottish islands of
South Uist
South Uist ( gd, Uibhist a Deas, ; sco, Sooth Uist) is the second-largest island of the Outer Hebrides in Scotland. At the 2011 census, it had a usually resident population of 1,754: a decrease of 64 since 2001. The island, in common with the ...
and
Benbecula
Benbecula (; gd, Beinn nam Fadhla or ) is an island of the Outer Hebrides in the Atlantic Ocean off the west coast of Scotland. In the 2011 census, it had a resident population of 1,283 with a sizable percentage of Roman Catholics. It is in a ...
. The 30th festival was held in March 2009 in
Caernarfon
Caernarfon (; ) is a royal town, community and port in Gwynedd, Wales, with a population of 9,852 (with Caeathro). It lies along the A487 road, on the eastern shore of the Menai Strait, opposite the Isle of Anglesey. The city of Bangor is ...
, Wales. The 40th festival was held in Aviemore, Scotland.
The festival presents the Torc Awards to the winners of 26 different categories.
The festival also presents a Gold Torc to the winner of Spirit of the Festival Award - a film or television programme wholly or substantially in a Celtic language that encapsulates the spirit of the Celtic Media Festival.
Chairs
The Celtic Media Festival has been chaired by representatives from the broadcasting industry:
Irish Chairs:
* Alan Esslemont ,
TG4
TG4 ( ga, TG Ceathair, ) is an Irish free-to-air public service television network. The channel launched on 31 October 1996 and is available online and through its on demand service TG4 Player in Ireland and beyond.
TG4 was formerly known ...
* Pádhraic Ó Ciardha,
TG4
TG4 ( ga, TG Ceathair, ) is an Irish free-to-air public service television network. The channel launched on 31 October 1996 and is available online and through its on demand service TG4 Player in Ireland and beyond.
TG4 was formerly known ...
* Neasa Ní Chinnéide,
RTÉ
* Bob Collins, RTÉ
* Con Bushe, RTÉ
* Muiris MacConghail, RTÉ
*
Cathal Goan
Cathal Séamus Goan (born 5 May 1954) was Director-General of RTÉ from 2003 to 2011. He also played a leading role in the launch of TG4.
Goan was born in Ardoyne, Belfast. He is an Irish language speaker. He studied Celtic studies at Universit ...
, RTÉ
Scottish Chairs:
* Donald Waters,
Grampian Television
Grampian Television was the original name of the Channel 3 service for the north of Scotland founded in 1961 and now named STV. The northern region's coverage area includes the Northern Isles, Western Isles, Highlands (except Fort William a ...
* Neil Fraser,
BBC Scotland
* Maggie Cunningham, BBC Scotland
* Domhnall Caimbeul,
MG ALBA
MG Alba is the operating name of the Gaelic Media Service ( gd, Seirbheis nam Meadhanan Gàidhlig). The organisation's remit, under the Communications Act 2003, is to ensure that a wide and diverse range of high quality Gaelic programmes is m ...
Welsh Chairs:
* Huw Jones,
S4C
*
John Hefin
John Hefin MBE (born John Hefin Evans; 14 August 1941 – 19 November 2012 , Wales Film Council
*
Owen Edwards, S4C
Festival Locations
Categories
* Documentary / Factual : Factual Series - Factual Entertainment - Single Documentary - History - Sport - Arts - Current Affairs - Feature Documentary
* Drama : Short Drama - Single Drama - Drama Series
* Further Screen Categories : Comedy - Animation - Children - Entertainment - Short Form - Live Music Programme
* Radio : Radio Station of the Year - Radio Documentary - Radio Music Programme - Radio Sports - Radio Presenter/Personality - Radio Comedy - Radio Magazine Show - Radio Drama
See also
*
List of Celtic-language media
The list below contains information on the different types of media available in the Celtic languages.
All languages
Only a handful of media contain all the Celtic languages. An example is ''Carn'' magazine, which has contained columns in all ...
*
List of television festivals
This is a list of notable television festivals.
Television festivals
* Cencrastus
''Cencrastus'' was a magazine devoted to Scottish and international literature, arts and affairs, founded after the Referendum of 1979 by students, mainly of Scottish literature at Edinburgh University, and with support from Cairns Craig, then a ...
'' No. 13, Summer 983, pp. 40 – 42,
*
Russell, Michael W. (1980), ''First International Festival of Celtic Film'', in ''
Cencrastus
''Cencrastus'' was a magazine devoted to Scottish and international literature, arts and affairs, founded after the Referendum of 1979 by students, mainly of Scottish literature at Edinburgh University, and with support from Cairns Craig, then a ...
'' No. 3, Summer 1980, pp. 8 – 10,
External links
Celtic Media Festival web site
Television festivals
Celtic Revival
Film festivals in Scotland
Celtic film festivals
Breton-language mass media
Scottish Gaelic mass media
Irish-language mass media
Welsh-language mass media
Cornish festivals
{{UK-festival-stub