The Green Hollow

The Green Hollow (or Aberfan: The Green Hollow) is a "film-poem", which was broadcast by the BBC on 21 October 2016 to mark the fiftieth anniversary of the Aberfan disaster of 1966.[1] Owen Sheers wrote the script of the screenplay using the words of survivors of the disaster whom he interviewed over a period.[2]

Sheers described The Green Hollow as “a film poem in the voice of Aberfan, both then and now”. The work falls into three sections: “Children”, “Rescuers” and “Survivors”.[3] Actors who participated in the film, reading in the authentic voices of those who witnessed the disaster, included Michael Sheen, Jonathan Pryce, Siân Phillips, Eve Myles, Robert Pugh and Iwan Rheon, and the film was directed by Pip Broughton. Sheers said that he had at first been doubtful about the project because he did not want to exploit the grief of the local community. He later concluded that "I realized that this small community had become defined by the disaster and I wanted to show what the place was like before that."[4]

The poem was published in book form by Faber & Faber in 2018. Sheers said that the incremental sense of menace in the book was "a feeling that’s got stronger with its eventual publication ... because of the physical entity of the book".[5]

References
  1. Owen Sheers (9 October 2016). "The Green Hollow by Owen Sheers – extract". The Guardian. Retrieved 19 June 2017.
  2. Owen Sheers (9 October 2016). "Aberfan 50 years on: how best to remember the tragedy?". The Guardian. Retrieved 19 June 2017.
  3. Tom Birchenough (24 October 2016). "Aberfan: The Green Hollow, BBC Four". The Arts Desk. Retrieved 19 June 2017.
  4. Nathan Bowen (20 October 2016). "The creator of the BBC's Green Hollow Aberfan drama on the need to remember the horrific events of 1966". WalesOnline. Retrieved 19 June 2017.
  5. Craig Austin (7 May 2018). "The Green Hollow: Talking to Owen Sheers". Wales Arts Review. Retrieved 29 October 2020.
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