Source Programme of Events Spring 2019 The Source Arts Centre Programme Spring 2019_Layou | Page 6

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With ‘Peterloo’, Leigh expands once again
with an even broader canvas. He says of the
film: “A long time ago, I remember reading
about it (the massacre), thinking, ‘That would
make a good film’, but that’s in the days
before I thought I would make a period film
at all. So I didn’t really think I would do that.”
He also points out that the events in his
home city of Manchester have been
somewhat forgotten: ‘’We did it for four
seconds for O-level, in 1959, but there was no
sense of “it happened here.” And when we
were making the film, a lot of people ranging
from their early 20s to my age didn’t know
about it. Where I grew up in north Salford,
you could get to where it happened on the
bus in 15 minutes and I never knew about it.
My dad, a socialist, never mentioned it. My
primary school could have taken us down to
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The Source Arts Centre
where it happened, marched us around and
got us back to school by lunchtime, it was
that close.’’
With strong reminders of current issues and
movements such as ‘Black Lives Matter’ and
#MeToo, the expression of marching for
ones rights has become a topical matter
again.
The broad sweep of ‘Peterloo’ and the
various forces opposing each other depicted,
sets a context for all such marches and
manages to reclaim a forgotten history for
this generation.
Peterloo screens as part of The Source’s Spring
Film Programme on Wednesday 30th January.
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