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Six films starring Richard Burton will be screened at Swansea’s Cinema & Co as part of a one-off festival celebrating the life of the Hollywood icon from Pontrhydyfen.
The films will be screened every Monday evening for six weeks, starting with Equus on 17 February.
Each screening will begin with an introduction from a leading Swansea University expert, including historian Professor Martin Johnes and film expert Dr Nicko Vaughan.
The other films to be screened as part of the festival include:
- The Spy Who Came in from the Cold (24 February)
- The Exorcist 2 (2 March)
- Cleopatra (9 March)
- The Taming of the Shrew (16 March)
- 1984 (25 March)
The festival is organised by Swansea University’s Cultural Institute and the Richard Burton Centre for the Study of Wales in partnership with the National Museum Cardiff ‘Becoming Richard Burton’ exhibition which opens this spring. The exhibition will feature Burton’s diaries, papers and personal objects – displayed for the first time – from the Richard Burton Archives held at Swansea University.
Professor Daniel Williams, Director of Swansea University’s Richard Burton Centre for the Study of Wales, said: “In celebrating Richard Burton this semester we’re also ranging widely across periods and authors: from Egypt to the Cold War; from psychological disturbance to totalitarian oppression; from Shakespeare to Peter Shaffer. Beyond the life and the diaries there is the body of work that Burton left us. I’m delighted that a number of my esteemed colleagues have agreed to introduce these films as we seek to assess that legacy, and keep it alive.”