Film star Rhys Ifans will join members of a youth-led film project in Blaenau Ffestiniog when they showcase “priceless” footage of Welsh music icons at a top festival.

The youngsters will show rare archive material from Wales’ Cool Cymru era at the British Film Institute’s Rip It Up festival at the Southbank Centre, London, on 3 May.

The group, part of the CellB youth programme, will screen rediscovered film of some of Wales’ most influential 1990s bands, including Catatonia, Ffa Coffi Pawb and the Super Furry Animals.

Hollywood actor Rhys Ifans, a long-term supporter of CellB, makes an appearance in one of the films, which features a photograph of him taken in the early 1990s. He will also be at the festival in person, and will take part in a discussion there.

He was briefly a member of Super Furry Animals before finding film fame in the cult classic Twin Town.

The film project, called Video Hud: Have You Seen Your Culture Baby, Standing in the Shadows?, forms part of CellB’s tenth anniversary celebrations, marking a decade since the community cinema was founded in a former police station in the heart of the town.

The film project, led by Gwenno Llwyd Till, Cian 'Clinc' Roberts, Yannick Hammer and Rhys Roberts, explores Welsh youth culture through film, music and life experience.

Gwenno, a freelance film director, said the 18 short films about late 20th Century Welsh language rock music features footage compiled from a wide range of formats shot by pioneering record producer Emyr Glyn Williams including Super 8, 16mm, 35mm, VHS-C and Digi beta.

Better known as Emyr Ankst to his many friends, he died in January 2024 from cancer, aged 57.

CellB founder Rhys said the invitation to participate in the BFI festival was a major milestone for the young creatives but also for CellB.

In his role as cinema co-ordinator at Pontio, Bangor, Emyr was responsible for bringing international and cultural depth to the city and was a leading light in the Wales One World Film Festival (WOW).

A 20-minute video shot by the CellB group will be shown in London along.

As part of the anniversary celebrations, CellB is also planning to recreate a 1990s art installation, creating a “time capsule” from before the Cool Cymru period.

"It would be like a living museum where you can go and sit down and listen to music from different eras and we would be very grateful if anyone can offer material to help create the room," said Rhys, the bass guitarist from the iconic Welsh rock-band Anweledig.

"As part of the celebrations, CellB will host a special premiere of Effi o Blaenau and an informal Q&A session in June. Based on Gary Owen's much lauded and widely performed monodrama, Iphigenia in Splott, the movie is director Marc Evans' cinematic interpretation set against the wide open landscapes of North Wales.

CellB Cinema is supported by Film Hub Wales as part of the BFI Film Audience Network, made possible through National Lottery funding. Additional support is provided by Ffilm Cymru Wales.