After months of silence, Calon Films has publicly revealed the circumstances behind the delay to Iniquity – The People’s Film — and why the team is more determined than ever to bring the story of Dic Penderyn to the big screen.
For months, we have remained silent about one of the most difficult chapters in the journey of Iniquity – The People’s Film.
Today, we are ready to tell that story.
Years of work, personal savings and an extraordinary amount of commitment have gone into our ambition to bring the true story of Dic Penderyn to the big screen.
Following three investor evenings, Calon Films secured a signed £4 million investment agreement to finance the production.
It was a moment that appeared to change everything.
The investor joined us at our launch celebration and spoke publicly about supporting the film.
Six days later, the first scheduled payment was not made.
What followed had profound consequences for the production and ultimately forced us to pause a project into which so many people had already poured their time, talent and belief.
Why We Stayed Silent
Throughout everything that followed, we made a deliberate decision not to conduct this conversation publicly.
We wanted to give every opportunity for the situation to be resolved and for Iniquity to move forward as planned.
For months, we did exactly that.
But there comes a point when remaining silent no longer serves the people who have supported this project, believed in it and deserve to understand why it was paused.
That point has now arrived.
In the video below, we set out what happened, the sequence of events that brought us here and why we have made the decision to speak publicly.
Please watch the film in full.
Something Extraordinary Happened
We could have walked away.
There were certainly moments when doing so would have been the easier option.
But while we were dealing with one of the greatest setbacks the project had faced, something else was happening.
People were standing with us.
Thousands of people across Wales — and Welsh communities around the world — followed the journey, shared our work, offered encouragement and told us repeatedly that this story was simply too important to abandon.
Something had changed.
Iniquity was no longer simply our film.
It had become The People’s Film.
And that has fundamentally changed how we see its future.
The Story Is Bigger Than Any One Person
Nearly 200 years ago, ordinary working people in Wales stood together against injustice.
At the centre of that history is Richard Lewis — Dic Penderyn — a young man whose name has endured for generations and whose story continues to resonate today.
We believe Wales deserves the opportunity to tell that story on an international stage.
But we also believe something even more strongly now:
No single individual should determine whether that story gets told.
So instead of allowing what happened to become the end of Iniquity, we have decided to make it the beginning of something new.
Sunday 16 August: The Next Chapter Begins
On Sunday 16 August, we will launch the next chapter of Iniquity – The People’s Film.
Our crowdfunding campaign will give ordinary people in Wales, across the UK and around the world the opportunity to become part of bringing this film to the screen.
Not simply as an audience waiting for the finished film.
But as the people who helped make it possible.
There will be many ways to support the campaign, to share it and to help us take the story of Dic Penderyn far beyond Wales.
Because if the last few months have taught us anything, it is that the strength of this project has never rested with one person.
It rests with thousands.
Stand With Us
Today, we’re asking for something very simple.
Watch the video.
Watch it from beginning to end.
Understand what happened and why we have made the decision to speak now.
Then share it.
Share it with your family, your friends, your communities and anyone who believes that Welsh stories deserve to be told.
And on Sunday 16 August, stand with us as we begin the next chapter.
Nearly two centuries after ordinary Welsh people stood together, perhaps it’s time for us to do it again.
History belongs to the people.
And so does this film.
Iniquity – The People’s Film
Crowdfunding launches Sunday, 16 August.
To follow the journey, join our newsletter and find out more about the project; click here.