A film about the river Rheidol by Aberystwyth artist Brian Swaddling returns to the big screen this month.

Following its launch at Ceredigion Museum last May, ‘Afon’ has since been seen at Aberystwyth Arts Centre and the Hanging Gardens in Llanidloes.

It has also been entered into the Madonie film festival in Sicily and Macedonia’s By the River festival.

Brian said the reception to his film “has been really rewarding”.

“I’ve been getting messages months after people see it saying how much they enjoyed it, and everybody seems to pick out a different aspect of it which is really fascinating to me.”

The film is a stop-motion photographic animation of the surface textures, reflections and refractions of the water, overlaid with interviews from land workers, local residents, historians, ecologists, geographers, poets, storytellers and more, all offering their unique perspectives on the river, accompanied by a soundtrack composed and performed by Brian, with some sections composed in collaboration with Delyth Field, a composer who hails from Wrexham and Japan.

The next screening of ‘Afon’ is on Saturday, 28 February at the Magic Lantern Cinema in Tywyn.

“I have really enjoyed presenting the film to the local communities who have shown a real enthusiasm for the stories that the river they know so well holds”, Brian added.

“As I’m now sharing with people who live alongside different rivers it’s even more intriguing to see how connected the experiences of all rivers and all people can be. Sharing it at such a lovely venue as the Magic Lantern will be a real treat for me!”

Events on the Rheidol happen across the world, sometimes on an enormous scale. The film is an attempt to encompass a topic that is very very large, in something quite small.

Tickets are available at The Magic Lantern website: https://tywyncinema.co.uk/MagicLantern.dll/WhatsOn?f=939188.