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“This film has set a picture on my suffering” - Lancastria survivor
SOLD OUT
Lancastria - The story of a secret sinking
A film by Christophe FRANCOIS
WINNER OF THE INTERNATIONAL MARITIME FILM OF THE YEAR 2004
In 2003 French film maker Christophe Francois began filming for a documentary which would tell the full story of the Lancastria from her birth on the Clyde in the 1920s through to her fateful and tragic demise in the estuary of the Loire river on 17th June 1940.
Christophe’s interest in the subject came when he made a short news report in June 2000 about the memorial service which is held in the French coastal town of St. Nazaire every year. Following this he decided to put together a proposal for commissioning chiefs at France 3, the local regional television company and Atlantic TV a commercial production company based in Nantes which specialises in documentary film making. Work commitments and time to research the project took months, then years.
In January 2003 he contacted Mark Hirst, grandson of a survivor, who at the time maintained the largest archive of Lancastria material available online. Hundreds of emails then followed between the two and slowly Christophe began to formulate how he would put the film together. At this time he also made contact with Yves Beaujuge who as Captain of the St. Nazaire pilot boat had built up his own archive of material drawing on the many French eye-witnesses who saw the disaster unfold and who helped in the rescue effort.
Initially the film had a proposed broadcast time of 30 minutes and would be shown on France 3, the regional channel serving Brittany and the West of France. It soon became apparent however that Christophe was building up enough material to produce an hour long documentary and after some negotiation was given the green light to proceed. 
In June 2003 he filmed and interviewed survivors during that year’s pilgrimage which proved an emotional event for some relatives who had never been to France before. One particularly moving scene was when the daughters of two victims were filmed out over the wreck site. As one of them went to drop a wreath into the water she broke down as her father’s body had never been recovered. It is one of many moving moments in the film. Both women had given permission for the filming.
“I was operating the sound equipment whilst we filmed that scene”, said Christophe later “but at that point, when she lowered the wreath into the water I had to look away. It was very emotional.”
In July 2003 Christophe and his colleague the respected and well traveled French cameraman Jean Christophe Cheneau flew to Orkney in the far north of Scotland to spend 3 days filming, interviewing Mark Hirst about his research into the subject.
The film powerfully brings together the research of Yves in St. Nazaire and Mark in Orkney as they try and highlight the story to a public which barely knows the name Lancastria or what it represents. Slowly it brings in the accounts of survivors, and relatives of victims and also French eyewitnesses to the tragedy. It has contributions from a number of very well known French historians and is linked together with music from Brittany and Orkney. The final result is an extremely powerful and moving account of what happened to the Lancastria.
In April 2004 Mark travelled to St. Nazaire to meet Yves for the first time and to attend the première of the film which was held in the main cinema in the city of St. Nazaire. Many people turned out including locals who had helped in the rescue. The event itself attracted a great deal of media interest. Jacqueline Duggan from the HMT Association was also present and the event was a great success.
Later in August the film went on to beat 100 other entries and was voted best international maritime film of the year at the documentary film awards in Toulon.
The film was then shown on the main French documentary channel Thalassa and has since been broadcast in 85 countries worldwide, apart from the UK where broadcasters at BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and even the History Channel have so far refused to show the film, claiming there are “too many war related documentaries”, although none examining Britain’s worst ever maritime disaster! Relatives of victims and survivors have made representations to producers at these channels but it seems that for UK audiences at least the silence surrounding Lancastria looks set to continue... That was until June 2008 when the English language version of the film went on DVD release in the UK.
The legacy and reach of this film is a lasting and memorable tribute to the victims and without the determination and professionalism of its film maker, Christophe Francois many more people would still be unaware of this disaster.
The premier of the English language of this outstanding film was shown on the 12th of June 2008 at the Scottish Parliament to survivors and relatives of the disaster.
Director: Christophe François
Cameraman: Jean-Christophe Cheneau
Sound: Yannick Bontemps
Editor: Stéphane Nicolle
Production: Atlantic Télévision,
11-12 boulevard François Blancho,
44200 Nantes, France
Tél : +33 (0)2 4035 2878
Fax : +33 (0)2 4035 3477
Email : [email protected]
Co-Production : France 3 West
Ventes : Atlantic Télévision,
11-12 boulevard François Blancho,
44200 Nantes, France
Tél : +33 (0)2 4035 2878
Fax : +33 (0)2 4035 3477
Email : [email protected]
Format : Betacam SP Digital. Colour
Duration : 52 minutes
Made in 2004
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