AS the Wales One World film festival arrives in Newport, MIKE BUCKINGHAM talks to David Gillam, the man who made it happen.

David Gillam (pictured, left) has a deceptively languid appearance - but looks are deceptive. He is pure whipcord energy, a red-hot evangeliser when it comes to spreading the message about film in Wales, and for too long he says, Newport has been without its fair ration of serious cinema.

"It has been said that Newport is a cultural desert. The fact of the matter is that it is now a city and I know for a fact there are a lot of people among its 140,000 population who are looking for something other than the normal commercial blockbusters to view," he said. "Which is what Wales One World film festival is about. We are showing a series of films from different countries at the Metro Cinema in Bridge Street.

"Some of the films will have sub-titles, which should be no great problem. They are the sort of films people with an interest in the cinema and the cultural life of other countries will want to see. They are also completely enjoyable at the most basic level.

"It's a bit of a gamble devoting one screen at Newport's central cinema for four nights but I have every reason to think the people of the city will come back asking for more." Gwent is not uncharted waters for David Gillam. A few years ago he worked for Valleys Arts Marketing and helped open the cinema at the Miners' Institute at Blackwood and at Blaenavon. He said: "In Swansea and Cardiff we are expecting to do very well.

"But Newport is now a city and is therefore up there too. I want to attract the sort of people to the Metro who would normally have to go to Cardiff."

The films include Brazilian, Indian, Mexican, Bangladeshi, Argentinian, Iranian and Cuban offerings. WOW Film, of which David Gillam is director, is backed by the Arts Council of Wales which has sunk £17,000 into the project.

David said: "Monsoon Wedding, for instance, which runs Saturday night, originates from India, but it is a story about family loyalties and other real human issues which could just as well be Newport.

"If the festival is a success as I think it will be, we will come back with more." *WOW Film Festival at the Metro Cinema, Newport ( box office 01633 224040) until Saturday night.