Newport Film Lecturer Nominated For Two BAFTAs

A Film Lecturer and Director at the University of Wales, Newport has received two nominations for the forthcoming BAFTA Cymru awards.
Peter Watkins-Hughes has been nominated for his independently produced film 'A Bit of Tom Jones?' which was filmed in Tredegar and stars Gavin & Stacey’s Margaret John, Loose Woman Denise Welch, Soul Singer Geno Washington and The Mighty Boosh’s Matt Berry. The film received a London premiere after it proved to be so popular when it was screened in local venues - even out-performing some Hollywood blockbusters, including the hit Michael Jackson film 'This Is It'.
Shot on a shoestring budget in just four weeks, the plot centres around a wild 24 hours in the Valleys town and focuses on the misfortunes of a man who is approached by a woman in a late night bar, offering to sell him the severed "manhood" of Wales' greatest vocal entertainer.
Peter, who is a Senior Lecturer in Documentary Film and Television at the International Film school Wales (IFSW), is also nominated for a BAFTA Cymru award for Best Short Film for 'Cow', his hard-hitting piece on the dangers of texting and driving, which caused a sensation when it received millions of hits on YouTube. The awards ceremony takes place at the Wales Millennium Centre on 23rd May.
"This is fabulous news and I’m obviously very pleased," said Peter who lives in Brynmawr where A Bit of Tom Jones? received its world premiere at the Market Hall cinema in 2009. "I grew up watching films in The Market Hall - it's the place that inspired me to become a film maker. The success of both of these films has taken me somewhat by surprise. Cow is probably the most viewed video clip from Wales with millions of hits, and we hope A Bit of Tom Jones? will prove a big hit now it's been released on DVD."
Peter is just one of the many highly acclaimed film-makers who share their expertise as lecturers at IFSW. Others include the celebrated and controversial Director Ken Russell and BAFTA award-winning documentary Film-Maker Chris Morris, the Head of the Film School, who won a Gold Award for Best Current Affairs Radio Documentary at the 2009 Global Media Excellence Awards. IFSW is renowned worldwide for producing award-winning film-makers such as Justin Kerrigan, Director of cult movies Human Traffic and I Know You Know, and double BAFTA winner Asif Kapadia who scooped two trophies for his film The Warrior, which he directed and co-wrote.
The DVD of A Bit of Tom Jones? is now on sale. For more information about the film, visit its official website: www.abitoftomjonesthemovie.com
(BMcN/BMcC)