Locals were dying to play dead in Black Death film
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A grisly film made by local people in Thanet about the horrors
of a medieval plague has proved an unexpected hit.
Film maker Norman Thomas said: "It seems that people really like
watching their friends and neighbours die in agony! We had two
sell-out shows and have decided to bring it back again."
Thanet and The Black Death began as an educational project to
recreate the impact the plague, which ravaged Britain in 1348, had
on a local village.
Shot on location around the district with a cast featuring many
residents, the film vividly recreates the life of the period and
the total inadequacy of the medical practices of the time to cope
with the disease.
Local make-up students created the swellings characteristic of
the disease and a plague pit was dug on a farm, which the
filmmakers filled with people playing corpses.
Mr Thomas added: "It was amazing how keen the people were on
dying. Several volunteered on condition they could die on
camera.
"The Black Death had a much bigger impact on the area than
previously thought. We discovered that most of the people in Acol
died in the plague, that there were plague pits in the tiny hamlet
of Woodchurch, and that the unusual shape of All Saints Church in
Birchington is a direct result of the shortage of labour caused by
the Black Death.
"The whole subject cries out for more research and we hope to
return to this theme."
Thanet and the Black Death will receive its final
screening on Sunday, March 21, at 5pm at The Palace Cinema,
Broadstairs. To book, contact 01843 865726.
Monday, March 15 2010
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