Gogledd Creadigol Creative Jamadra — y pethau bychain
scroll for the storythe brief
The brief from Gogledd Creadigol was both simple and severe: write, shoot and edit a complete short film in 24 hours on the theme of Wales. No reshoots. No extensions. One day, one film
The Creative Jam is a North Wales industry showcase where every entry is made under identical time pressure. The only way to stand out is to make something genuinely resonant—not just technically competent. A polished nothing still loses to a rough something that actually means a thing.
the approach
Rather than trying to be everything about Wales in 90 seconds, we narrowed. The saying Gwnewch y Pethau Bychain—do the little things—attributed to Saint David on his deathbed, felt like the truest answer to the brief. Not an essay. A demonstration.
We decided early that the film would follow one person rather than cut a montage. A subject whose life already embodied the idea—whose daily rituals, hands, and ordinary routine could speak for themselves without narration explaining them to death.
the making
Ted Thomas — 85, first-language Welsh speaker from Anglesey — became the anchor. The shoot moved at his pace, not ours. A 50mm stayed on the Sony A7S III for the interior work: the focal length compresses the background, fills the frame with the subject, and keeps the camera a guest rather than a director. A COB light through a softbox gave the kitchen its single source.
The exterior plates were shot across Ynys Môn in heavy rain — South Stack and Mynydd Parys above Amlwch among them. We committed early to monochrome and a 1:1 frame: black and white strips the landscape back to shape and weather, the square crop holds Ted's face the same way a portrait does. Cinematography was Kurtis Wilkinson (Obsessed With Visuals) on Sony G Master glass. The film opens on Ted looking up into the lens, then settles into him talking about what he loves about living here. Shot through the day, edited through the night. The master went to M-SParc's archive the next morning.
the outcome
ADRA took 1st place in the Y Darlun Mawr (The Big Picture) category at the Gogledd Creadigol Creative Jam 2026. After the award, Jordan Eardley at M-SParc embedded the film on the Gogledd Creadigol website, where it was featured in both the official Creative Jam 2026 celebration article and the winners showcase page at gogleddcreadigol.cymru.
the meaning
Gwnewch y Pethau Bychain is the line attributed to Saint David, but it’s also how North Wales actually operates. Public-sector projects, community films, the unglamorous honest work—it’s the little things, done well, that compound into something worth making.
Ted’s hands. The kitchen light. The small rituals of a life lived in Welsh. The film doesn’t argue for any of this. It just shows it. That’s the job.
watch the reel
A short-form vertical cut of this project — designed for Instagram, TikTok and YouTube Shorts.
credits
- Direction
- Dafydd Weightman
- Cinematography
- Kurtis Wilkinson (Obsessed With Visuals)
- Edit
- Dafydd Weightman
- Featuring
- Ted Thomas
- Commissioned by
- Gogledd Creadigol Creative Jam, delivered through M-SParc, Anglesey
questions about this film
Who made ADRA — Y Pethau Bychain?
What language is the film in?
How long was the production?
Does Mona Digital produce Welsh-language films?
Who films short films and creative projects in North Wales?
