Cymrodoriaeth er Anrhydedd i Ben Thompson o Ŵyl Tribeca

Y Gwir Anrhydeddus Arglwydd Thomas o Gwmgïedd, Changhellor Prifysgol Aberystwyth, yn cyflwyno Ben Thompson yn Gymrawd Anrhydedd

Y Gwir Anrhydeddus Arglwydd Thomas o Gwmgïedd, Changhellor Prifysgol Aberystwyth, yn cyflwyno Ben Thompson yn Gymrawd Anrhydedd

18 Gorffennaf 2023

Mae Prifysgol Aberystwyth wedi cyflwyno Cymrodoriaeth er Anrhydedd i Ben Thompson, gwneuthurwr ffilmiau ac Is-Lywydd Rhaglennu Ffilmiau Byrion yng Ngŵyl Tribeca, Efrog Newydd.

Mae Ben yn un o gyn-fyfyrwyr Aberystwyth a graddiodd o'r Adran Astudiaethau Theatr, Ffilm a Theledu cyn symud i Efrog Newydd ac ymuno â thîm Gŵyl Tribeca.

Mae ganddo ddiddordeb ysol mewn adrodd straeon ar ffurfiau byr a chyflwyno ffilmiau byrion i gynulleidfaoedd newydd, ac mae wedi gwylio dros 11,000 o ffilmiau byrion ar gyfer Tribeca yn unig.

Mae Ben Thompson hefyd yn wneuthurwr ffilmiau brwd ei hun, ac mae wedi cyfarwyddo a chynhyrchu dwsinau o ffilmiau byrion a rhaglenni dogfen, gan gynnwys The Yellow Balloon, a enillodd sawl gwobr.

Cyflwynwyd Ben Thompson fel Cymrawd er Anrhydedd gan Dr Greg Bevan, Uwch Ddarlithydd Cynhyrchu Ffilmiau a Chyfryngau yn Adran Astudiaethau Theatr, Ffilm a Theledu Prifysgol Aberystwyth, ddydd Mawrth 18 Gorffennaf 2023.

Mae’r cyflwyniad llawn ar gael isod, yn yr iaith y’i traddodwyd.

Cyflwyno Ben Thompson gan Dr Greg Bevan:

Ganghellor, Ddirprwy Is-Ganghellor, ddarpar raddedigion, gyfeillion. Pleser o’r mwyaf yw cyflwyno Ben Thompson yn Gymrawd Prifysgol Aberystwyth.

Chancellor, Pro Vice-Chancellor, prospective graduates, and supporters.  It is an honour and a privilege to present Ben Thompson as a Fellow of Aberystwyth University.

Ben graduated from Aberystwyth in 2002 with a Joint Honours degree in Film & Television Studies with Drama and Theatre. After a stint in London, he moved to the US and settled in New York. Soon after arriving, he joined the team at the prestigious Tribeca Film Festival, one of the world’s top tier festivals – rising up the ranks to become their Short Film Programmer, and recently to be Tribeca’s Vice President of Shorts Programming. When he isn’t programming short films, he’s making them. Including the multi-award winningYellow Balloon, which was selected as part of the Museum of Modern Art’s permanent collection.

Ben has always been interested in short form storytelling and, while at Tribeca, discovered a passion for sharing short films with new audiences. He also spent several years working in the United Arab Emirates at the Abu Dhabi Film Festival, and has acted as a programming consultant for many other festivals. He is fascinated by new voices and stories from different cultures and languages, and regularly travels to search out new stories from around the world. He’s watched over 11,000 short films for Tribeca alone!

Thanks to Ben’s generosity, and the support of his colleagues at Tribeca, since 2016 the Department of Theatre, Film & Television Studies, has been extremely fortunate to be able to send groups of students out to New York to experience the festival. They’ve attended world premieres and masterclasses with some people whose names may be familiar to some of you: Robert De Niro, Martin Scorsese, Jennifer Lawrence, Scarlett Johansson, Pharrell Williams – the list goes on. Jane Fonda, Bradley Cooper, Jamie Foxx, Ewan McGregor, Whoopi Goldberg - the list really does go on and on. These are genuinely inspirational and transformative experiences for our students. But more important than the glitz of the red carpet events, is the time Ben makes for us – his Aber contingent – while we are there.

He’s always curious about what the students are working on and what projects they’ve got coming up next. He’s shared his expertise with students here in Aber on numerous occasions, giving tips and insights into film festival submissions and strategies. At one masterclass, we learnt that to maximise your chances of getting your film accepted to a major festival, you should make a 10-minute comedy documentary…for children.

Since our very first meeting, his passion for giving a platform to Welsh voices and stories was clear. And we were all delighted when Heart Valley, a film shot locally in Ceredigion, won the short documentary category at Tribeca last year. We were even more delighted to be able to welcome Ben and the film’s director back to Aberystwyth for a special event, here at the Arts Centre, to celebrate Welsh films and filmmakers at Tribeca.

Ben, we are extremely proud of your achievements and immensely grateful for your generosity and friendship. We look forward, as a department, to continuing our very special relationship with you into the future.

Ganghellor, mae’n bleser gen i gyflwyno Ben Thompson i chi yn Gymrawd.

Chancellor, it is my absolute pleasure to present Ben Thompson to you as a Fellow of Aberystwyth University.

Cyflwynwyd Ben Thompson fel Cymrawd er Anrhydedd gan Dr Greg Bevan, Uwch Ddarlithydd Cynhyrchu Ffilmiau a Chyfryngau yn Adran Astudiaethau Theatr, Ffilm a Theledu

Anrhydeddau Prifysgol Aberystwyth 2023

Bob blwyddyn, mae Prifysgol Aberystwyth yn dyfarnu Graddau er Anrhydedd i nifer fach o unigolion nodedig er mwyn cydnabod eu cyflawniad a’u cyfraniad rhagorol.

Mae gwobrau Prifysgol Aberystwyth yn dathlu unigolion sydd â gwreiddiau neu gysylltiadau yn yr ardal, ac sydd naill ai: wedi gwneud cyfraniad eithriadol ac arbennig i ddatblygiad y Brifysgol dros gyfnod maith; wedi ennill cydnabyddiaeth am ragoriaeth genedlaethol neu ryngwladol mewn maes academaidd sy’n berthnasol i’r Brifysgol; neu wedi gwneud cyfraniad sylweddol i’r byd diwylliannol, academaidd, addysgol, proffesiynol, neu economaidd.

Dyma Gymrodyr er Anrhydedd 2023 (yn y drefn y’u cyflwynir):

  • Helen Prosser, Cyfarwyddwr Dysgu ac Addysgu yn y Ganolfan Dysgu Cymraeg Genedlaethol
  • Tina Evans, awdur y blog 'Human on Wheels', areithwraig lawn ysbrydoliaeth a chyflwynydd teledu
  • Ben Thompson, Rhaglennydd Ffilmiau Byrion yng Ngŵyl Tribeca, Efrog Newydd
  • Ann Griffith, Arweinydd Cymru a'r Byd yn Eisteddfod Genedlaethol 2022
  • Yr Athro Dato' Dr Rahmat Mohamad, Athro yn y Gyfraith ym Mhrifysgol Dechnolegol MARA, Malaysia
  • Kate O'Sullivan, milfeddyg gyda Mill Referrals, Cyfarwyddwr Milfeddygon Ystwyth a gwirfoddolwr gyda Chymdeithas Filfeddygol Anifeiliaid Bach Prydain
  • Phil Thomas, milfeddyg, Cyfarwyddwr Milfeddygon Ystwyth a Chyfarwyddwr Iechyd Da
  • Ian Gwyn Hughes, Pennaeth Cysylltiadau Cyhoeddus Cymdeithas Bêl-droed Cymru a chyn ohebydd pêl-droed BBC Cymru.