On Thursday evening, activity in the 7th annual British & Irish Film Season (BIFS) moved to the Cinémathèque with the screening of the Luxembourg-England co-production Pater & Wendy and the documentary The Island and the Whales.
The first film is a re-telling of the Peter Pan story, this time in a modern setting of the Great Ormond Street children's hospital which has a statue of Peter Pan outside its walls.
The second screening of the evening was attended by three members of the Luxembourg section of Sea Shepherd, the environment protection organisation which was active in protesting against the killing of the pilot whales in the Faeroe Islands. Film-maker Mike Day joined via Skype for a post-screening Q&A in which the audience, including Kevin Schiltz from Sea Shepherd, acknoledged the impartiality of the documentary. Mike Day also confessed to a fear of heights when descending sheer cliff-faces at night-time to record the islanders in action catching gannets. While the population of pilot whales world-wide is unknown, and therefore are not on a list of endangered species, the film and the discussion also acknowledged that the health issues highlighted in the film are likely to go some way to easing the killing of pilot whales in the future.
Film synopsis (Peter & Wendy): This version establishes a dramatic connection with Great Ormond Street, the world famous children's hospital that has become irrevocably associated with Peter Pan. The story is retold through the imagination of a young girl named Lucy who is about to receive hospital treatment for a serious heart condition. This is Lucy's version of Peter Pan, the startling fantasy of a brave, imaginative and utterly modern young girl who fears her illness might mean that she, like Peter Pan, may never grow up. Lucy dreams this version of Peter Pan into existence after reading the novel late on the night before her operation, when her weakened heart is already beginning to fail.
Film Synopsis (The Island and the Whales): A delicate documentary that looks at the cultural heritage of the islanders in respect of hunting whales and other animals, and the views of environmentalists, specifically those of Sea Shepherd, and also health concerns from high levels of mercury. It uses interviews rather than narrative for the dialogue. The director was accepted by the community due to hid previous documentary on gannet catchers in Scotland, a practice which is also practiced in the Faeroes.
Next up on Friday are another two films at the Cinémathèque, firstly Bliss!, a drama set in NE England and the west coast of Norway - this film screening will be attended by the director Rita Osei and two actors, Freya Parks and Montserrat Lombard, who will participate in a post-screening Q&A. This will be followed by The Carer, a drama starring Brian Cox and Coco Konig.
For full details and ticketing, see www.bifilmseason.lu
Photos by Ali Sahib
