O’r Ddaear Hen (From the Old Earth) | Dir. Wil Aaron | 1981 | 47m | DCP & Digital
Welsh language, with English subtitles
Synopsis
A woman has terrifying dreams after a curious stone head is unearthed in her council house garden. Studying the head, an expert in Celtic relics brings it home, only for the women in his house to be tormented with nightmares of a half-man, half-animal creature. One by one the archaeologist’s family are terrorized, leading to anguish, death and sacrifice to the ancient gods.
O’r Ddaear Hen (From the Old Earth) was one of the first horror films made in the Welsh language, produced by Bwrdd Ffilmiau Cymraeg (the Welsh Film Board). When it was released in 1981, school children were bussed to see it, thoroughly traumatising a generation. In 2022, Matchbox Cine, in collaboration with Abertoir Film Festival, translated the film into English for the first time, leading to its inclusion in Kier-La Janisse’s All The Haunts Be Ours Vol 2 box set, for Severin Films.
Now fully restored in 2K by Severin Films, with support from Matchbox Cine, from elements provided courtesy of the Bwrdd Ffilmiau Cymraeg/Welsh Film Board collection at the National Library of Wales Screen and Sound Archive.
Matchbox Cine has exclusive rights to the restoration of O’r Ddaear Hen in UK and Ireland. If you’d like to arrange a screening, please contact: distribution@matchboxcine.com.
Let your local cinema / screening space / festival / DIY exhibitor know you want to see O’r Ddaear Hen where you live.
Upcoming UK & Ireland Screenings
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Previous UK & Ireland Screenings
05/05/25 Cameo, Edinburgh with Folk Film Gathering
31/07/25 The Canopi, Cardiff, with Cardiff Community Cinema Club
25/10/25 Pontio, Bangor, with Gwaed Ar Y Sêr and Wil Aaron Q&A
31/10/25 Cellb, Blaenau Ffestiniog
Access
Descriptive Subtitles and Audio Description are available for all UK screenings of O’r Ddaear Hen, at the venue/exhibitor’s discretion and depending on their technical capacity. If you have any questions, please contact access@matchboxcine.com.
Press
The Film that Scared the Children of Wales (BBC, Welsh language)