The latter scenes, where the Mother is digging in the soil, were filmed at the Aberfan Memorial Garden. The Garden is located on the site of Pantglas Junior School, which was destroyed in the Aberfan Disaster on 21st October, 1966; killing 116 children and 28 adults. All of the children and the vast majority of the adult victims, were caught in a landslide of coal waste that engulfed the school.
The Aberfan Disaster forms the backdrop to the film's story.
The Aberfan Disaster forms the backdrop to the film's story.
The film's director, Craig Handley, has family living in Merthyr Vale - located just opposite the former Pantglas Junior School - and is related to a number of people involved in the Aberfan Disaster. His maternal grandfather, Merlin Davies, was a miner at the nearby Merthyr Vale Colliery (from which the coal waste, that would subsequently engulf the school, originated) and was one of the first responders, to the Disaster; attending at the site and digging for survivors.
A cousin - a schoolboy at the time - was trapped inside one of the classrooms.
A cousin - a schoolboy at the time - was trapped inside one of the classrooms.
Filmed over the course of three days between December 2016 and January 2017.
Although the poem, which the Mother recites, was originally written by Craig Handley; it received additional material and a number of amendments by the creators of the cult BBC Cymru Wales television comedy, "High Hopes"; Boyd Clack and Kirsten Jones.
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