Tonight I went to my first Auckland Film Festival movie, Blind Flight - the story of hostages Brian Keenan and John McCarthy, held captive in Lebanon in the late 80's early 90's. I wasn't really aware of these men (along with the many others, also held captive) until I was living in England in 1991. So easy to blindly live unaware of the suffering of others in so many ways. I remember going into St Brides, in Fleet St, to see the candles constantly lit, as a prayer for the release of these men. Brian had been released by then, but John and Terry Waite, among others, were still held. I so vividly remember my tears of joy and relief, later that year, as first John and then later Terry were freed, along with the others released in those months. People talk about defining moments, remembering "where you were when...", and I so remember where I was on both those occasions. The movie was a really honest, sensitive portrayal of the shared captivity of Brian and John. The story of the making of the movie is told beautifully here by John Furse, co-screenwriter and director.
I think this movie really moved me because of a number of things. It was about events which I had partially experienced (as in, they occured at a time and in a way that I felt emotionally involved). It revised for me the contents of their books, both of which I read some years ago (Some other Rainbow, by John McCarthy and Jill Morrell, and An Evil Cradling, by Brian Keenan), and enabled me to visualise with them what it must have been like. It reminded me of the time I spent living in the middle east, and the appalling conditions some people live in, and the vacant, burnt & bombed out houses which I witnessed first hand, often just down the road from palatial mansions (eg the beauty of the King's palace in Amman, virtually next door to a refugee camp). It reminded me there are people still captive today, and seemingly in ever increasing numbers. That in the thick of immense difficulty, faith, joy and beauty may be found within. These thoughts and more are captured beautifully in the "Capitivity" and "Freedom" windows crafted by a glassmaker called John Clark, which he was commissioned to create for a Broxted Parish Church, in Essex. They are really beautiful, and the symbolism used is explained here by the artist. For me, this is a beautiful melding together of traditional church art and contemporary events.