大象传媒

The series where people recall their presence at a major moment. They can say, I was there. Mai Davies asks her guests to recall the time Welsh film Hedd Wyn made it to the Oscars in 1994.

This really was something special. Commissioned by S4C, written by Alan Llwyd and directed by Paul Turner, the film had already won the Royal Television Society鈥檚 Award for Best Single Drama and a clutch of Bafta Cymru Awards.

But becoming the first Welsh language film nominated for an Oscar propelled Hedd Wyn 鈥� and the culture and language of Wales itself - onto the biggest possible stage.

The story of the Snowdonia poet who was killed at Passchendaele before winning the infamous 鈥渂lack chair鈥� chair at the 1917 Eisteddfod, was made on a modest budget and only came to the attention of the American Academy when a Welsh film buff wrote to them and asked why no Welsh language film had ever been considered. It was an approach that paid off when Hedd Wyn took its place alongside the biggest names in world cinema.

Mai invites three people who can all say 鈥淚 Was There鈥� when Hedd Wyn went to Hollywood to recall the glitz and glamour of their night at the Oscars - and the fortnight of moving and shaking with the film industry elite that preceded it.

Recalling their experiences on the red carpet and beyond are Huw Garmon 鈥� then just 25 - who starred in the title role; Sue Roderick, who played Hedd Wyn鈥檚 lover Lizzie Roberts, and Mari Beynon Owen, who at the time was Chief Executive of the newly-formed Sgrin Cymru.

From tales of dancing with Clint Eastwood to gaining the respect of the industry's most famous directors and putting the Welsh language on a global stage, I Was There - When Hedd Wyn went to Hollywood celebrates a pioneering achievement in Welsh cinema.