Portrait of a Place: Cloud Factory
Dominating the landscape to the southeast of the Welsh town of Port Talbot is one of the largest steelworks in the world. Since the collection of villages opened its doors to industrial manufacturing in 1901, employment opportunities, economic forecasts, and the community's cultural fabric have been tied to the rise and fall of the “cloud factory.”
Making headlines in recent years for being one of the most polluted towns in the UK, Port Talbot is cast in a new light by Bafta-winning filmmaker Jamie Jones. Intrigued in the town and invested in the people who call it home, the Welsh director has crafted a cinematic profile of resilience, youthful ingenuity, and local pride.
Statement from Jamie Jones: “There is something about this town that captures everything I love about British culture–it's sense of humor, sense of community, and a desire to create art for the sake of art–and I wanted to make a film that celebrated that.
“I wanted to show the creative, eccentric, and diverse side of a community that is so often pigeonholed as a bleak and depressing Brexit-voting working-class town. My hope is this film shines a light on the things that unite us as a society as opposed to the things that separate us."