4REAL

In the 1990s Welsh musician Richey Edwards of the Manic Street Preachers carved ‘4REAL’ into his arm in an extreme act of self-harm to prove the band’s authenticity. The iconic photograph of his injuries and the subsequent media frenzy contributed to the band’s growing fame and transformed Richey’s life. As the band scaled new heights, Richey found himself on a downward spiral of anorexia and self-harm, and the young bandmates were brought to breaking point as they struggled to reconcile how their success was inextricably linked to Richey’s controversial act. 

4REAL is a film about Richey Edwards. It is a portrait of an artist as a young man, whose ambition drove him and his childhood friends on an epic journey from working class Wales to the London music scene. 

Our film aims to start a conversation about men’s mental health and it will focus on the emotional contrasts of light and dark.