Tales of the Taffia

Mar 6 2008 by David Williams, Rhymney Valley Express

THERE was blood, sweat and tears but an aspiring film director has finally seen his most challenging project hit the big screen, writes DAVID WILLIAMS

Tony Evans’s short movie, The Legend of Don Williams: A Pontypridd Tale, premiered in the Muni Arts Centre after more than a year in progress.

The story, which centres around the Welsh Mafia – the ‘Taffia’ – took on extra relevance for Tony, aged 30, of Oak Street, Llanbradach, when his grandfather, after whom the lead character is named, died days before filming.

“The film had a bigger significance when he died,” said the Newport University MA student.

“He died 10 days before the first day of filming. I was a mess for a bit and whenever someone mentioned the film I broke down so it was hard.

“My grandmother came to the premiere and she said he would have enjoyed it.

“He was always really supportive of what I did and the main character was always going to be named after him.”

The 30-minute project, part of his Masters degree in Film, used locations across Pontypridd and featured the town’s very own Lost Prophets as the Taffia and BBC’s Roy Noble as narrator.

It follows a piano player who seeks justice for the murder of his singer.

The reaction so far has been positive says Tony, whose wife, Rhiannon, aged 28, co-produced, along with friend James Drane.

“The feedback so far has been good,” said Tony.

“A lot of people have said it was better than they thought it was going to be which has pleased us.

“We’ve watched it so many times and all we see is what’s wrong with it, but seeing it on a big screen at the premiere was encouraging.

“I’m proud of what I did. It’s nice to prove to myself I could do it. It lived up to everything I thought it would be like.

“Overall, I’m happy. There are things which are not quite right but if you speak to any filmmaker they’ll say the same and will always find something wrong.

“It’s a learning process for me and what we didn’t do right we can improve on next time.”

Tony, born in Trallwn, Pontypridd, is eager to get the film into as many festivals as possible, even taking it as far afield as New York.

The former Hawthorn High pupil has also written seven more tales and wants to take the next chapter of the Taffia to London.

Working together as a husband and wife is something Tony and Rhiannon feel was important to the product.

“We worked well together and didn’t shout or argue. We didn’t really have time to. We’ll definitely work together again,” said Rhiannon.

“Tony got very stressed because he was so ambitious about it. He went a couple of days without eating at one point.

“We didn’t realise how long things would take.”

“I couldn’t have done it without my wife,” added Tony.

“Whenever I was stressed she would sit down with me and try and come up with a solution.

“It would have been a lot harder too had it not been for the cast and crew who were great and worked 18-hour days and lost a lot of sleep.”

For more about the film go to www.pontypriddtales.com, or www.myspace.com/pontypriddtales