20/04/2020
How we became Jiw Jiw Films
Greg and I came up with the name ‘Jiw Jiw’ whilst looking for a name which would reflect the channel’s ‘Welshness’, since we feel like that’s a central part of our project. ‘Wel y jiw jiw’ is a phrase that my Dad and Dadcu routinely use (along with ‘gwd ychan’ and ‘wel na ni te’), and the go to phrase I’d use to imitate either one of them.
We both think it’s important to create bilingual content, to demonstrate that Welsh as a language is very much alive and kicking in Welsh communities, and is something that we slip in and out of casually (as opposed to it being a political statement or a distinct way of life). Although there’s a definite increase in casual Welsh content online and on TV, we think it’s important to contribute to it in this format.
Although we’ve been hoping to start our channel for a long time, and have had various ideas on the backburner for months, these crazy times just happened to make a space in our lives to do so and gave us that push to bite the bullet.
So far we’ve been making vlogs because that’s all we’re really able to do during the lockdown, and it’s been a good starting point for us to practice working together on projects and develop different styles.
In the future, we’d love to produce a diversity of films documenting the world around us, sometimes highlighting social issues, sometimes making light-hearted vlogs and travel videos (although we’d love to promote sustainable travel), and sometimes making properly produced documentaries.
We are both avid travellers and love the idea of talking to people from across the world about their realities and histories, and broadcasting these stories amongst stories that affect us and our community first hand.
