HEART VALLEY

Out now with The New Yorker

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“An absolute gem of a documentary; sensitively made, touching and tender.”
– David Nicholls, Bestselling Author of One Day

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“This quiet short sneaks in profound lessons about the importance of simplicity, doing the work we love, and what the meaning of life is.”
– Tribeca Film Festival Documentary Jury

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Winner of the BAFTA Cymru Award for Short Film, Tribeca Film Festival for Best Documentary Short and one of The Hollywood Reporter’s Top 23 Short Documentaries of 2022. Nominated for The Grierson Award for Best Documentary Short.

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Heart Valley follows a day in the life of Wilf Davies, a kind and inquisitive shepherd from the small village of Cellan, Wales. He has never left his valley, eats the same meal every day and works his farm alone, where his family of one hundred black-spotted sheep depend on him.

The film looks at the world through Wilf’s eyes, asking questions about what it is we should truly value.

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Directed, produced and cinematography by Christian Cargill, with original music composed by Scottish multi-instrumentalist Erland Cooper.

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After winning Tribeca Festival and huge international press, Heart Valley had its first TV broadcast on BBC Two Wales in July 2022. It went on to screen at over twenty film festivals across ten countries, winning awards in Germany, France, Mexico, The US, England and Wales. It was later nominated at Camerimage in Poland, the world’s leading cinematography film festival.

AWARDS

Winner – BAFTA Cymru Award, Short Film
Winner – Tribeca Film Festival, Best Documentary Short
Winner – British Shorts Berlin, Audience Award
Winner – Young Director Award at Cannes Lions, Silver Screen Award
Winner – Kinsale Shark Awards, Best Documentary Short
Winner – Bolton Film Festival, Best Documentary
Winner – Shorts México, Best International Documentary
Winner – South London Shorts, Audience Award
Winner – Wales Film Festival, Jury’s Award for Best Short Documentary

Nominated – The Grierson Awards 2023, Best Documentary Short
Nominated – BAFTA Cymru Award 2023, Best Factual Cinematography

Nominated – CAMERIMAGE Golden Frog 2022, Best Short Documentary
Shortlisted – The IDA Documentary Awards 2022
Finalist – The British Short Film Awards
Finalist – The Music+Sound Awards
Finalist – The South London Film Festival

FESTIVALS

PÖFF Shorts – Nominated for Best Live Action Short
RIFFA – Nominated for Best International Short
Meet the Press Film Festival at DOC NYC
GlobeDocs Film Festival
DCEFF Environmental Film Festival
AmDocs Film Festival
FrontDoc International Documentary Festival
San Diego International Film Festival
Shorts Not Pants Festival
Washington West Film Festival
Devour Food Film Festival
CineSol Film Festival