A film telling the story of one of the most important events in the 20th century history of Wales can be seen on television tonight, Sunday April 9, with a local actor in the lead role.

Y Sŵn has created a stir over the past few weeks as it has filled cinema seats all over Wales and beyond with its passioinate tale inspired by the events which led up to the establishment of the country’s first Welsh language television channel, S4C.

The leader of Plaid Cymru at the time, Gwynfor Evans, threatened to go on hunger strike to secure the new channel after Margaret Thatcher’s government reneged on their promise to deliver.

Taking on the role of Evans is Cardigan-born Rhodri Evan, who was raised in Crymych and now lives in Efailwen.

He said: "S4C has been part of my life for 40 years and it’s the channel that’s in the language we use mostly as a family.

"I've been lucky enough to work on a big range of productions for S4C - dramas, sketch shows, comedies, as well as when I played in a band during the early 90s.

"All this shows people that it’s possible to make a living in the Welsh language "

The idea of telling a slice of history that is relatively unfamiliar to many young Welsh today was the trigger for Y Sŵn author Roger Williams: “S4C was about to celebrate its 40th birthday, and I was interested more than anything else regarding the decisions that were made in Westminster.

“As a Welsh-speaking Welshman, I was aware of the story of Gwynfor Evans and Cymdeithas yr Iaith, but didn’t know why the Government had been so reluctant to provide a television channel - so that’s where the journey began for me creatively.

“It’s interesting that so many people under the age of 45 are unaware of the story, or don't know much about it, so it is important that we remind people of the sacrifice that was made, especially the sacrifice made by the young members of Cymdeithas yr Iaith who fought for over a decade to secure a Welsh language television channel.

"The story is one that hasn’t received enough attention over the years. So I wanted to bring it to a new audience and make them realise that people have fought for the channel and not to take what they gained for granted.

"I also wanted to make people think about the Welsh language, where we are today, the nature of the channel we have, the service, the platforms we have in Welsh, the way the channel is funded.”

Y Sŵn

Sunday,9 April, 9.00 S4C

English and Welsh subtitles

On demand: S4C Clic; BBC iPlayer and other platforms

A Swnllyd production for S4C in association with Joio