# Heart Valley

Heart Valley is a 2022 short documentary film about Welsh shepherd Wilf Davies. Directed and produced by filmmaker Christian Cargill, the film had its world premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival on June 9, 2022 where it won the award for Best Documentary Short. It first broadcast in the UK on BBC Two Wales and BBC iPlayer on July 26, 2022 and released online with The New Yorker on December 2, 2022. The documentary won the BAFTA Cymru Award 2023 for Short Film and was nominated for The Grierson Award 2023 for Best Documentary Short. The Hollywood Reporter named Heart Valley as one of their Top 23 Short Documentaries of 2022 and it was one of 98 films to qualify for the 95th Academy Awards for Best Documentary Short.

## Synopsis

Heart Valley follows a day in the life of Evan Wilf Davies, a shepherd from Ceredigion in West Wales. The film looks at the world through Wilf's eyes, asking questions about what it is we should value as a society. The documentary was composed by Scottish multi-instrumentalist Erland Cooper and was originally inspired by an article written by Kiran Sidhu in The Guardian newspaper.

## Reception

The film won the BAFTA Cymru Award for Best Short Film and multiple more awards including Best Documentary Short at Tribeca Film Festival. The jury, which included Amy Ryan, Shane Smith and A.J. Jacobs, described, "This quiet short sneaks in profound lessons about the importance of simplicity, doing the work we love, and what the meaning of life is." Director Christian Cargill was also nominated for a BAFTA Cymru Award and at Camerimage Film Festival for his cinematography on the film. The documentary received a variety of positive press, featuring on BBC World's Talking Movies with Tom Brook, The Guardian, BBC News, BBC Radio Wales, The i and S4C's Prynhawn Da programme. The author David Nicholls described the film as "an absolute gem of a documentary; sensitively made, touching and tender."

## Awards & Festivals

| Year | Festival/Awards Ceremony | Award/Category | Status |
| 2022 | Tribeca Film Festival | Best Documentary Short | Winner |
| 2023 | BAFTA Cymru Award | Short Film | Winner |
| 2023 | The Grierson Award | Best Documentary Short | Nominated |
| 2023 | BAFTA Cymru Award | Factual Photography | Nominated |
| 2023 | Young Director Award | Best Documentary (Silver Screen Award) | Winner |
| 2023 | British Shorts Berlin | Audience Award | Winner |
| 2022 | Bolton Film Festival | Best Documentary | Winner |
| 2023 | Kinsale Shark Award | Best Documentary Short | Winner |
| 2022 | Shorts México | Best International Documentary | Winner |
| 2022 | Wales International Film Festival | Jury's Award for Best Short Documentary | Winner |
| 2022 | Camerimage | Best Short Documentary (Cinematography) | Nominated |
| 2022 | PÖFF Shorts | Best Live Action Short Film | Nominated |
| 2022 | Regina International Film Festival & Awards (RIFFA) | Best International Documentary Short | Nominated |
| 2022 | IDA Documentary Award | Best Short Documentary | Shortlisted |
| 2022 | The British Short Film Awards | Best Documentary Short | Finalist |
| 2022 | The Music+Sound Awards | Best Sync In a Film | Finalist |
| 2022 | The South London Film Festival | Best Short Documentary | Finalist |