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24-853: The festival began as a three-day event in 2006, expanding since to a six-day programme of films and events. In 2014, Abertoir collaborated with the Wales One World Film Festival (WOW) for the UK premiere of the Argentinian supernatural thriller The Second Death ( La Segunda Muerte ). Abertoir the only film festival dedicated to horror films in Wales , and is a member of the European Fantastic Film Festivals Federation . The festival screens new big-budget horror films, along with classics and independent films . It also includes

48-611: A short film competition, screening entries from around the world. It often also features music concerts, stage productions and masterclasses. It maintains a partnership with the WOW Film Festival. Notable guests of honour have included: The following films were premiered at the festival before general release: Notable bands which have played at the film festival include: Wales One World Film Festival Wales One World Film Festival ( Welsh : Gŵyl Ffilm WOW "Cymru a’r Byd yn Un" ), also known as WOW Film Festival ,

72-536: A "high point in Southeast Asian horror" that does "a fantastic job of crafting ominous imagery from the film’s natural surroundings". Both NME and Variety singled out Roh 's cinematography, score and symbolism for praise. The Boston Herald gave it an overall rating of A− and compared it to the work of Ari Aster . Al Jazeera highlighted Roh as an example of a new wave of low-budget Southeast Asian folk horror films bringing international attention to

96-511: A legend about a restless forest spirit that is cursed to endlessly hunt animals and children but victims can save themselves by knocking two rocks together and chanting a mantra. The next morning, the family wakes to see Adik eating raw birds. She tells them that they will all be dead by the next full moon before slitting her own throat. The family leaves Adik’s body in a clearing in the forest. They return home to find an old lady who calls herself Tok looking at rocks that mysteriously appeared around

120-518: A standout in Malaysian cinema and part of a new wave of low-budget folk horror films from Southeast Asia . In the past, two children, Along and Angah, live in a ramshackle shed in the forest with their widowed mother, Mak. One day, they discover a dead deer hanging by its neck caught between branches high off the ground. On their way home, they see a young girl who starts following them. They take her in and call her Adik for little sister. Mak tells them

144-543: A way that "show[s] the stories people ‘over there’ are telling each other, what is important to them". In 2014 the festival screened at Chapter Cardiff, Aberystwyth Arts Centre, Theatr Mwldan Cardigan, and Clwyd Theatr Cymru Mold. In that year, WOW collaborated with Aberystwyth 's Abertoir (subtitled "The International Horror Festival of Wales") for the UK premiere of the Argentinian supernatural thriller The Second Death ( La Segunda Muerte ). Other films screened in that year included The Lunchbox ; Metro Manila from

168-515: Is a collaborative project between Dhaka DocLab in Bangladesh, and Wales One World Film Festival, focused on making films about climate change . The British Council is funding the project to the tune of £74,995. Four short films "on the theme of women building sustainability and resilience in response to climate change issues" will be selected from entries by filmmakers aged 18–35, two each from Bangladesh and Wales. The winning entries will be shown at

192-677: Is an annual film festival that takes place in the Aberystwyth Arts Centre in Aberystwyth , Wales , UK. It is the longest-running British film festival of world cinema . The Wales One World Film Festival was founded in 2001 by David Gillam, and in that year screened at three venues: Aberystwyth Arts Centre, the Taliesin in Swansea , and Chapter in Cardiff . His vision was to present world cinema in

216-758: The Singapore International Film Festival and Indonesia Jogja-NETPAC Asian Film Festival in November 2019. It had a theatrical release in Singapore and Malaysia in August 2020, but the reintroduction of the Movement Control Order during the COVID-19 pandemic later closed cinemas and disrupted local distribution. It was released on Netflix worldwide on June 1, 2021 and on October 29, 2021 in

240-511: The Welsh Government 's Cultural Recovery Fund. It is dedicated to world cinema, screening films mostly from Africa, Asia and Latin America , aiming to show under-represented national cinema industries. Its specialised programming allows for "visionary cinema" to be screened in a way that regular circuits do not allow. The artistic director as of 2022 is founding director David Gillam, who

264-529: The region's film industry , along with Belaban Hidup (2021) and the work of Indonesian directors Joko Anwar and Timo Tjahjanto . NME similarly suggested the film "announces newcomer Emir Ezwan as one of Southeast Asia’s premier genre filmmakers, standing alongside the likes of Indonesia’s Joko Anwar and the Philippines’ Mikhail Red ." British director Edgar Wright praised the film on Twitter, calling it "amazing". Roh won six awards at

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288-612: The 1974 Iranian classic The Deer . The festival concluded on 21 March, celebrating the International Day of Forests . The 2022 event, which ran from 25 February to 13 March, was the 21st edition of the festival, making it the longest-running festival of world cinema in the UK. Over half the films were UK online premieres. The festival is supported by Ffilm Cymru Wales , the BFI 's Festivals Fund (which provides funding from The National Lottery ), Arts Council of Wales , and(in 2021)

312-483: The 2023 WOW Film Festival. Roh (film) Roh , or known as Soul , is a 2019 Malaysian Malay-language independent folk horror film directed by Emir Ezwan in his directorial debut . Set in the past, a family living in a forest is visited by a strange little girl, who comes with a frightening prediction. Roh was produced by Malaysian production house Kuman Pictures, and filmed on location in Dengkil . It

336-565: The Philippines; Delight (one of a trilogy by Welsh director Gareth Jones ); Kenyan drama Nairobi Half Life ; and the Swiss documentary Winter Nomads . In 2015, the festival included films Argentinian film Natural Sciences ( Ciencias naturales ); the documentary Deep Listening , about Australian eco-communities; the international collaboration Jauja , starring Viggo Mortensen ; and films from India, Ethiopia, Mauritania and Brazil There

360-553: The United States. Roh received positive reviews internationally. On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes , 89% of 9 critics' reviews are positive. The New York Times gave the film a positive review, saying it "succeeds as a spine-tingling baffler, hitting at nerves we can’t quite articulate but feel all the same." A review in Variety was also positive, commending its "eerie, poetical simplicity". NME called it

384-460: The arms trade Shadow World ; and many others. The 20th edition in 2021 was presented online, owing to the COVID-19 pandemic . All films were presented free to view. Peter Wohlleben 's film The Hidden Life of Trees had its UK premiere at the festival. Other films included Bhutan documentary Lunana: A Yak in the Classroom ; feelgood comedy Arab Blues ; Malaysian horror film Roh ; and

408-572: The forest. The hunter, who is Adik’s father, finds her body and grieves. While her mother is out of the house, Along slams her head repeatedly into a sharp metal protrusion on the floor and dies. Now truly fearful, Mak prepares to leave the forest with Angah but the boy wanders off in search of food. The hunter finds that Adik’s body has gone missing. He goes to Mak to warn her that she and her family are in danger from evil forces. She refuses to believe him and accuses him of causing Along’s death and Angah’s disappearance. After he leaves, Mak follows him with

432-401: The house looking for Adik but Mak turns him away. That night, Along sleepwalks and wakes to find herself at Adik’s gravesite where she again encounters the apparition. The next day, the hunter finds a terrified Along in the forest and returns her to Mak, who is suspicious that he had abducted the girl and harmed her. An agitated Along tells the hunter about Adik and then urges Mak to move out of

456-412: The house the night before. Tok tells them the rocks are a bad omen and makes the children discard them. That night, Along encounters a specter that looks like Adik in the crawl space under their house. She develops a high fever and Mak goes to Tok for help. Tok conducts a ritual and instructs Angah to sacrifice two white pigeons but the boy secretly lets one of the birds go free. A hunter shows up at

480-659: The hunter that he has not managed to save Angah from his fate. The children’s spirits are seen roaming the forest. The film ends with Along burning down the family home with her mother, weakened by loss of blood from slit wrists, and dead brother inside it. Roh was filmed over two weeks in a forest in Dengkil , south of Kuala Lumpur . It had a budget of RM 360,000 ($ 88,500). It is the second film produced by Malaysian production house Kuman Pictures, following Two Sisters , and Emir Ezwan's directorial debut . The film incorporates elements of Malay folklore , Islamic beliefs and black magic . The film had its world premiere at

504-454: The intention of killing the hunter. In the forest, the hunter finds Angah and slits his throat before he himself is run through with a spear by Mak who has crept up behind him. The hunter wakes to find Tok performing a ritual over Adik’s body which is buried in a shallow grave. She reveals that she is an iblis that exists by possessing humans to gain control of their souls. Tok is using Adik’s body to carry out her evil deeds. The iblis taunts

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528-504: Was also a day of Iranian films to celebrate Nowruz (Iranian new year, celebrated on the northern spring equinox ). In 2017, the festival opened on 17 March in Cardiff then toured to Aberystwyth, Swansea, Cardigan and Mold , screening films from Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Mali, Palestine, Thailand and Nepal. Films included Pablo Larrain 's Neruda ; documentary feature Tomorrow ( Demain ) (2015, Cyril Dion ); feature documentary on

552-524: Was also inaugural director of Borderlines Film Festival from 2003 to 2013. The filmmaker Clive Myer, founder of three film schools, was a director of the festival as of 2012. The Abertoir festival, Iris LGBT+, and Native Spirit Festival are partner festivals of WOW. A selection of short films made by Welsh emerging filmmakers, under the banner of Ffilm Ifanc, are premiered in a section called Made in Wales. The Bangladesh Cymru Climate Stories film project

576-692: Was released theatrically on 6 August 2020 in Malaysia and Singapore, and internationally on Netflix in 2021. It was selected as the Malaysian entry for the Best International Feature Film at the 93rd Academy Awards , but it was not nominated. At the 31st Malaysia Film Festival , Roh won six awards, including Best Film. The film received critical acclaim internationally, with reviewers praising its symbolism, cinematography and incorporation of Malay folklore . Some outlets also highlighted Roh as

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