Not mincing their words
An Ealing-born film-maker tracked the fabled McDonald's Two throughout their three year trial to make a documentary no-one else would touch. On the eve of the film's first public airing, Franny Armstrong told Steve Morgan why.  

It remains the longest trial in English legal history. For three years Helen Steel and Dave Morris waged a war - swiftly dubbed the 'McLibel' case - through the highest court in the land against hamburger giants McDonald's.

McDonald's beef? That the pair had distributed libellous information accusing McDonald's of exploiting child labour and harming animals and the environment.

Neither Steel, a single father, nor Morris, a part-time bar worker (sic), were actually responsible for producing the inflammatory leaflet. They received no legal aid during the case, as none is available for libel actions. Every day Steel and Morris met on the tube, frantically swrotting up on what eventually amounted to 40,000 pages of background research.

Now a fly-onthe-wall documentarty following one of the most controversial and protracted legal battles of recent times is to be shown in public for the first time. On Saturday next week (June 20) - iroinically the day after the first anniversary of the case's conclusion - Riverside Studios Cinema, Hammersmith will screen Two Worlds Collide. Ealing-born and Hammersmith-schooled director Franny Armstrong and her team worked tirelessly following Steel and Morris, recording the stresses of their daily battle.

All involved were unpaid and worked with equipment that had been donated. The result weights in at a captivating 55-minutes, which besides frank discussions with Steel and Morris, carries interviews with key witnesses. Armstrong takes a deep breath when asked what it was like to involved in such an emotionally trying project.

Her story gives a whole new meaning to throwing yourself in at the deep end. "I suppose it should have been a more experienced team making it in some ways", she said modestly. "I'd only really done small videos before - social and political stuff really - but I thought this was the most fantastic story I'd ever heard." "Around eight production companies had already looked into making it - but none could get commissioned for doing it". Enter the intrepid Amrstrong and her team.

Around £20,000 in costs, an exhausted supply of favours from their contacts and notably, the expertise of fabled film-maker Ken Loach, who helmed the film's dramatic sequences, it is ready for public consumption.

I suggest Armstrong must be slightly nervous of a fresh action from McDonald's. However, she firmly believes the thought of more legal shenanigans couldn't be further from their minds. "We've obviously taken plenty of legal advice", she said. "I think it'd be the last thing in the world they'd want to have it all brought up again."

Despite Amrstrong's confidence, it has proved far from easy to get the film broadcast - such is the fear of reprisal "That's how the McDonald's strategy works," she added. Legal beagles at the BBC and Channnel 4 have declined to screen it - though there has been plenty of interest from abroad, where the libel laws are less of a minefield. Armstrong is delighted that Riverside has agreed to broadcast the film.

"They've stuck their necks out," she says, "because it's an important story." Riverside's cinema director Ed Leis agreed."It's a big issue and it's important to keep the debate for free speech going." he said.

Two Worlds Collide is at the Riverside Studios cinema, Crisp Road, Hammersmith, at 4pm on Saturday June 20. Helen Steel and Dave Morris will be present for a debate after the screening.

Tickets cost £3.50. For more information, or to book your ticket, call the Riverside box office on 0181 237 1111. If you would like to buy a copy of Two Worlds Collide, send a cheque or postal order for £14.99, made payable to 'One-Off Prodcutions' to BM Oops, London WC1N 3XX.

 
more reviews
back to home page