The Loch Long Monster

The Loch Long Monster

Directed by Ben Kempas
Nuclear disarmament, the Scottish way

Overview

Genre
Current Affairs, Environment, Human Rights, and Politics
Synopsis

"People come to Scotland to see the Loch Ness Monster," says the hotel owner on the west coast, "but the real monster is at my doorstep." He is referring to the British Trident nuclear submarines and their deadly nuclear missiles.

The peace movement has protested and petitioned for decades, but does not ever seem to get very far using these methods alone. The new option, according to activists from 'Trident Ploughshares', is "people's disarmament".

Any method used to "disarm" Trident is acceptable, as long as it does not endanger or harm anybody. Members of the 'Ploughshares' cut the fences of the submarine bases, they swim up to the submarines to dismantle test equipment, and they sink computers from floating laboratories into the sea.

They always wait to be arrested. In hundreds of court cases, they have justified their actions as "preventing the greater crime" - nuclear war. Some have resulted in groundbreaking acquittals.

Stage
finished
Running time
59 and 25 minutes

Credits

  • Ben Kempas ... Director, Co-Director of Photography
  • Eddie Schneidermeier ... Director of Photography
  • Eva Stotz ... Sound Recordist, Assistant Editor
  • Andrea Ferrando ... Sound Recordist
  • Jim Loomis ... Sound Recordist
  • Jo Jackson ... Sound Recordist
  • Stan Blackley ... Narrator, Production Assistant
  • Lara Celini ... Production Assistant
  • Gerhard Auer ... Sound Mix
  • Gerd Ruge ... Producer for HFF Munich
  • Irini Karistianou ... Producer for HFF Munich
  • Uwe Lothar Müller ... Commissioning Editor for ARTE Reportage

Production Details

Prod. Co.
HFF München/expressive.tv (59'), ARTE/expressive.tv (25')
Country
Germany
Years of Production
2000 to 2002
Locations
Faslane, Coulport, Helensburgh, Edinburgh, Glasgow (all in Scotland)

Distribution Details

Release year
2001
Festivals
Dok.Fest Munich, Cinemambiente Turin, D.C. Independent Film Festival, Hazel Wolf Environmental Film Festival Seattle, further screenings in Edinburgh, Glasgow, Munich, Salzburg
Awards
Three protagonists received the Right Livelihood Award (better known as "Alternative Nobel Prize") in 2001.
Broadcast (Prod.)
ARTE G.E.I.E (reportage version)
Broadcast (Acq.)
YLE Finland
Language
English with narration in English, German, or French
Subtitles
German

Photos

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