The Fugitive

From the collection of

Launched in 2000, Northern Ireland Screen’s Digital Film Archive spans from 1897 to the present day and currently contains an ever-expanding catalogue of 13,000 items. It comprises material from a variety of depositors including feature films, sport, documentaries, animation, amateur footage, light entertainment, and a significant proportion of broadcast material from the UTV Archive.

The Fugitive

Northern Ireland Screen's Digital Film Archive
Derry / Londonderry
1966-01-01
Sound
5m

There is a baby and a bandit loose in the streets of Derry, but which one is the fugitive, the robber or the runaway pram?

This delightful film by Terence McDonald is rich with references from Battleship Potemkin's Odessa steps to the US soap opera Peyton Place. The slapstick antics begin in Brooke Park, as local citizens enjoy a pleasant walk but perhaps not as the park's founders intended. A runaway pram and a robber on the run are pursued by through the city by a multiplying mob, even the 1927 statue of MP Robert Alexander Ferguson plays his part. As the storylines collide who will save the day?

Terence McDonald (1926 - 2001) was a teacher, film historian, film collector and a pioneering amateur filmmaker from Derry. He made 35 films in his lifetime covering a wide range of themes such as mental health, travelling theatre, and portraits of his home town, Derry. His playful fiction films often pay homage to classic cinema moments from Peyton Place to Potemkin, from Chaplin to Jacques Tati. Terence McDonald undertook all aspects of production - filming, sound recording and editing and produced a body of remarkably sophisticated work. This film is courtesy of his son, Peter McDonald.

Amateur Auteurs

Ever dreamed of shooting your own movie? These pre-digital cine-enthusiasts did - with all the passion and devotion of the true auteur.

These low- (or no-) budget creations reach beyond simple point-and-shoot, back-garden efforts towards something more ambitious and skilful, revealing their authors' passion for film and their often astonishing ingenuity with limited resources. No desktop editing software or digital special effects for these amateur auteurs. The films include fiction and documentary, competition prizewinners and private labours of love. They may be the work of cine-clubbers or individual enthusiasts. But they all show a devotion to filmmaking that far transcends hobbyism. So look out for the delightful handmade intertitles, table-top special effects and library soundtracks which decorate many of the quirky stories, ultra-local documentaries and painstakingly composed home movies featured here.