Prior to the Oscar nominations being announced, Denise Fergus was not a supporter for Detainment.
The 30-minute-film is known for dramatizing the 1993 kidnapping and murder of James Bulger, her 2-year-old son.
They were murdered by two, 10-year-old boys near Liverpool.
Image via Change.org
And when it was officially nominated in the category of Best Live Action Short Film — Fergus let her true thoughts be known.
“I cannot express how disgusted and upset I am at this so called film that has been made and now nominated for an Oscar.”
“It’s one thing making a film like this without contacting or getting permission from James family but another to have a child re-enact the final hours of James’s life before he was brutally murdered and making myself and my family have to relive this all over again!”
“After everything I’ve said about this so called film and asking for it to be removed, it’s still been nominated for an Oscar even though over 90,000 people have signed a petition which has now been ignored just like my feelings by the Academy.”
Image via Facebook
Denise captioned the post with: “This is all I want to say at present.”
Written and produced by Vincent Lambe, Detainment is based on taped interviews as well as other records taken from the case.
James was with his mother when he was abducted from the grocery store.
Fergus, who did not attend the trial of her son’s young killers, as well as Jame’s father, Ralph Bulger, have each claimed they were not consulted prior to the film being created.
“The first I heard about the film was just before Christmas,” Fergus shared on Jan. 7 with Britain’s ITV. “They should have got in contact and let us know.”
Fergus continued to encourage folks to boycott the movie.
Image via Instagram
It has already won awards at multiple international film festivals.
“I don’t want to keep reliving the past. I haven’t watched it, and I won’t,” Fergus said. “It takes you right back to that day, and that’s not something I want to do.”
Fergus also promoted a Change.org petition to halt the film from being shared.
It has now been adjusted to have its Oscar nomination rescinded.
Over 103,000 people have signed it.
It reads:
“This petition is to stop James Bulger movie about his murders from being shown and the Oscar nomination taken away. It is a heartless thing to do, there was no discussion to James family about this movie being made and given the ok to go ahead. If any movie is being made that involves real life stories should always check with the victims families before they start filming and should be law. Victims and their families must come first.”
Image via Instagram
Lambe did apologize for not meeting with the Bulger family and consulting with them in a post dated on Jan. 6.
“I have enormous sympathy for the Bulger family and I am extremely sorry for any upset the film may have caused them,” Lambe shared. “With hindsight, I am sorry I did not make Mrs Fergus aware of the film. I would be happy to meet with her privately now to make that apology in person, to explain our reasons for making the film and offer my heartfelt reassurances that I never intended any disrespect by not consulting her.”
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