Film tells of hostages' struggle

A new film tells the story of former Beirut hostage Brian Keenan

A new film tells the true story of two former Beirut hostages who forge a deep friendship in their struggle to survive.

It took 14 years for Brian Keenan's idea to become a celluloid reality.

But in Dublin on Thursday, Blind Flight - the story of the imprisonment of Belfast-born Keenan and his friend, TV producer John McCarthy - had its premiere.

The two men were kidnapped separately by Arab fundamentalists in Lebanon in April 1986. They were held in a room together, blindfolded and shackled to a radiator, for nearly four and a half years.

They endured beatings, chains and incarceration. Together, they tried to help each other survive.

Keenan was finally released in 1990 and McCarthy was freed a year later.

That is how we survived - by trying desperately to understand what each other needed - even when we were at our wits' end John McCarthy

The film screenplay was written by both men and draws on Keenan's book about his captivity, An Evil Cradling.

But, speaking at the film's press launch in Dublin on Thursday, Keenan said that working on the film had not brought back haunting memories.

"I think what ever healing was needing to be done, was done on my own. It is the only way that healing works. It doesn't work in a collective atmosphere," he said.

"My view is the only way you heal is to go back into that place that you have come out of, on your own. That was done a long while ago in a little cottage at the back of Croagh Patrick in the west of Ireland."

Human survival

He said the film was not meant to replicate exactly what happened in a dark cell in Beirut 15 years ago, but rather to get at the truth of how people survive and grow.

"What it did tend to do was to address the various deep human truths by which we all grow and re-experience the value of ourselves and the value of others.

"That was the intention of the film and that is why the film works."

John McCarthy's mother died while he was held hostage. He said watching "Blind Flight" was very moving.

"I found it very powerful, particularly the scenes where Brian was comforting me after seeing a video of my mother - to remember how much we cared for each other.

"That is how we survived - by trying desperately to understand what each other needed - even when we were at our wits' end."

The film was made with the support of the Northern Ireland Film and TV Commission, The Irish Film Council and other funders. It was shot in Belfast, Glasgow and Tunisia.