Pat Kenny is joined by Brenda Power and Donal Lynch to discuss the short film Detainment and whether or not it should be removed from the Oscar nominations.
Irish writer and director Vincent Lambe’s film Detainment has garnered a lot of attention following its nomination for an Oscar in the Best Live Action Short category.
Denise Fergus, the mother of murdered toddler James Bulger, has said she is “disgusted and upset” that the film about his killers has been nominated for an Oscar.
This is all I want to say at present. pic.twitter.com/GbyshtVoa9
— Denise Fergus (@Denise_fergus) January 22, 2019
The film is based on transcripts of police interviews with the two young boys convicted of murdering the two-year-old in Liverpool in 1993.
A Public or Private Matter?
Speaking to The Pat Kenny Show, journalist Brenda Power spoke of her belief that the filmmakers had done a disservice to the Bulger family by not consulting them or seeking permission to use their story.
"I wonder would they have been treated with better consideration had they been a well-to-do middle-class family, I think they would"
Brenda Power
However Donal Lynch disagreed, questioning whether the family own the story. He defended the filmmakers use of documents and transcripts that were in the public domain because the parents of James Bulger had "already reproduced [them] in books they wrote."
The paperback version of my book comes out on Thursday.
It has an extra chapter since the previous book and extra photos.Every book sold will make a donation to the charity in my son's name.@jbmt1https://t.co/6y4u8bFjKU pic.twitter.com/FUuLkLET9s
— Denise Fergus (@Denise_fergus) May 1, 2018
Controversy
Since its Academy Award nomination, the Irish short film has divided audiences over its use of the Bulger story. A petition was created in a bid to convince the awards to revoke their nomination, racking up over 250,000 signatures at the time of writing.
The petition has almost hit 100,000.Thankyou so much for the overwelming support for @Denise_fergus & family @TheAcademy needs to listen & REMOVE the nomination due to distress this is causing to the family of #JamesBulger please keep signing #Oscars https://t.co/GUQpPN7RJv
— Kymmy Rowlingson (@kymseygr1) January 23, 2019
Despite this public outcry, Detainment remains in the running for Best Live Action Short at this year's Oscars, which takes place on February 25th.
