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Festival to Host ‘Clones Cannibal’ Exclusive
16/10/2008
IT’S not too often that world exclusives come to Clones, but this
October, Clones Film Festival is bringing a world exclusive preview screening
of ‘The Last Confession of Alexander Pearce’ on Friday 24 October at 8pm.
Based on actual events, this BBCNI/RTÉ co-production has a local twist!
It tells the story of Alexander Pearce, who was deported from Clones parish to
Van Diemen’s land in 1819 for the theft of six pairs of shoes. Once there, he
experiences the barbarity of the most brutal penal colony in the world and
resolves, with some like-minded fellow convicts, to escape.
The film was shot on location in the stunning landscape of Tasmania and
encompasses brutality, cannibalism, murder and retribution. It is told from the
perspective of Alexander, who while awaiting execution, is persuaded to reveal
his crimes to Fr Philip Connolly, who is also a native of Monaghan.
Writer and producer, Niall Fulton, said: “For nearly 200 years various
authorities have tried to make Pearce disappear but he has escaped suppression.
People will come to the film expecting to be horrified by cannibalism and find
that the true horror is in the system designed to break men. I have never
thought Pearce was a monster, what he did was terrible, but what he endured was
to my mind more horrific.”
The local resonance of this feature is intensified by strong Fermanagh
connections of the cast and crew. Fulton himself hails from Enniskillen and the
cast includes fellow Fermanagh men Adrian Dunbar and Ciarán McMenamin as Fr
Philip Connolly and Alexander Pearce respectively.
Clones Film
Festival’s Geraldine Zechner told the Post “We are thrilled and excited to
bring this world exclusive to the festival. There has been a huge level of
interest in the event. Tales of the ‘Clones Cannibal’ have really caught the
imaginations of folk in his native town and we are expecting a full house on
the night of the screening.”
With her tongue firmly in her check, Geraldine added
“we would like to remind filmgoers from outside the town that cannibalism is
not generally practised here, so they are quite safe to join us for the
evening!”
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