The Making of Maps (1995)

Shot entirely in Welsh, Endaf Emlyn's wry and gentle film captures the magic and innocence of a young boy's imaginative world as he grapples with demons that haunt his family life. Set against the wild, windswept backdrop of the Welsh coast, The Making of Maps charts Griff's journey into adolescence and his attempts to cope with the strife with in his own family. Pulled in different directions by his philandering father, reclusive mother and unloved sister, he tries to learn the secret that eats away at the fabric of his family life. His mother ran a dance academy, but during a picnic the school's star pupil, the beautiful, ethereal Alis, vanished. Afterward, Griff's mother took to her bed, fearful of leaving her darkened room. Griff's way of dealing with his life is to draw maps outlining his own attempts to comprehend a situation that everyone seems to want to forget. -Piers Handling