Pembrokeshire talent, faces and places are to feature on big screens this summer in the culmination of a project inspired by the Sea Empress disaster.

The film Go Tell the Bees, which recently had its premiere at Manorbier Castle, is the triumphant result of a four-year project driven by National Theatre Wales TEAM and involving the people of Pembrokeshire.

Co-created by Naomi Chiffi, Di Ford and Sita Thomas, it was funded by the Paul Hamlyn Foundation and Arts Council Wales, with the intention of creating a large-scale, live event to celebrate the project.

Although Coronavirus restrictions meant that plans needed to change, it was decided that the creation of a film would be the safest way to share the work, whilst still achieving the ambition of featuring as many people and places as initially hoped.

The film was projected onto a large screen at the castle, where amongst the audience was the chair of the Pembroke Ladies Lifeboat Guild, Daphne Bush who said:

“In a word – incredible! What an advert for Pembrokeshire and the importance of sustaining what we have. I hope there are plans for future shows when larger audiences are permissible.”

Taking the 25th anniversary of the Sea Empress disaster as its inspiration, Go Tell the Bees is the story of a young boy, Dryw, who is drawn to bring the community back together again to help share their stories with the bees in order to keep the planet alive.

Featuring a cast of 400 - including people from across Pembrokeshire and beyond who submitted their own footage to feature in the film - Go Tell the Bees stars a variety of local talent including Molara Awen, Phil Okwedy, Abigail Beck, Ivan Black, Jon Foreman, David Pepper, On Your Toes School of Dance, Samba Doc, One Voice Choir, Guy Manning, Harry Cromwell and many more, with original music by John Lawrence and Jess Ward and animation & design by Gemma Green-Hope and Tom Frost.

The film also features a number of local community groups including the VC Gallery, Get The Boys a Lift and St. Davids’ Bluetits Chill Swimmers.

Sian Richardson of the Bluetits said she 'felt honoured to be a part of this truly stunning film'.

The Torch Theatre’s Pembrokeshire Stories was broadcast alongside the film, which was anccompanied by an exhibition created by over 500 school children and 35 artists, including Mena Evans, Sand Palace Arts, Lloyd the Graffiti and poet Kerry Steed, with support from teachers and staff from across the county.

There is also an app, featuring stories created by the pupils of Manorbier School with local storyteller Phil Okwedy - http://gotellthebees.org/

National Theatre Wales TEAM are hoping to share the film again in locations throughout Pembrokeshire over the summer as lockdown restrictions continue to ease.