David Lam in a surreal return to Kerry

Fergus Dennehy talks to director, David Lam, about his film ‘Misplaced’, the true story of David’s childhood when he and his family were abandoned by their father at a rural farm in Kerry during the 1980’s; David tells us the personal effect of reliving h

WITH two huge Stars Wars shaped notches in its filming belt, Kerry has already secured its place in another feature film soon to be released in Killarney cinema.

‘Misplaced’, a 40 minute length film, is an auro-biographical drama set in the 1980’s and tells the tale of a family torn apart by a gambling addiction; the father abandons the family during a trip to rural Ireland, leaving his wife and two children penniless at a derelict farm.

The movie is the real life story of the films director, David Lam who grew up in the Killorglin and surrounding areas during the 1980’s and 1990’s; speaking to The Kerryman on Monday, David said that there were times times during the shoot that ge he found himself right back in what he called the “extreme poverty” he and his family grew up in.

“If you wrote this story down and told someone to read it, they’d tell you it was too strange to believe,” David laughed, “I know it’s true though, because I lived it,” he chuckled again.

“I don’t want people to read the blurb of this film and think negatively about we experienced, what I’m trying get across in the film is the resilience and resourcefullness of the children, how we learned to adapt and survive,” David continued.

“My mother was from Ireland and my father was from China and so looking like we do, let’s just say that growing up in South Kerry was an experience to say the least.

“I sometimes think that we were the first ‘foreigners’ that some people saw,” he joked.

“There were of course a few incidents of racism growing up, that was to be expected, but for the most part, everyone that we got to knew were wonderful warm people,” he said.

The main body of the film was shot on location in a derelict farmhouse near Molls Gap, the interior of the shop was filmed in 4-5 Main Street in Killarney, while all aerial shots and view for the car scenes are from the the Gap of Dunloe, Beaufort, Killorglin, Glenbeigh and Ladies View.

Speaking about filming some of the scenes for the movie, David says that he and the crew were so exact in trying to replicate everything exactly as David remembered it, that he felt like he was right back in his childhood again.

“As a filmmaker, I tried to be as objective as possible when making the film, but there were some instances when the nostalgia and the feelings were too hard to ignore,” he said.

“We were filming one scene in the dereluict farmhouse we were using as my childhood home and then it hit me. I was sitting behind the camera, all the actors were in place and whemn it started rolling, it just felt like I was transported back to that room in that house with my brother and mother,”v he said, “It was very surreal and strange to say the least.”

When preparing for the film, David admits that he was shocked by how difficult it was for him to initially start talking about the experiences of growing up in the rough and tumble conditions of poverty and near homelessness.

“I thought I had dealt with it very well, but it was only when I presented the script and people

wanted to know more about my experiences that I realised how little I talked about it previously and dealth with everything,” he continued.

Having moved to London a number of years ago, David admits that he had forgotten about the raw beauty of the Kerry landscape.

“Growing up there, I took it [the scenery] for granted. I just assumed that everywhere was as beautiful and as stunning, but having lived on the outskirts of London for a while now, I now appreciate just how stunning Kerry really is,” he added.

“Coming over with the cast, I had told them to be prepared for how beautiful it was here in Kerry, but I don’t think they were fully expecting how beautiful it was - they were shocked at some of the scenery; the andscape is something out of a cinematograhers dream, it is so dramatic and powerful,” David continued.

Aside from the stunning scenery, David said that he and the resy of the cast and crew were left blown away by the kindness and genorosity of the Kerry people.

“We were on the way to film a scene with an old 1980’s car when suddenly it broke down half way to our shoot location. We were on a tight schedule so missing this shoot would have put everything in jeoprady so at that moment, we were prety stuck,” he said.

“Suddenly though, the teacher from one of the national schools there, he heard our story and actually lent us his car so that we could drive to Cork and get a replacement part for our 1980’s vehicle. Can you believe that? This complete stranger just lent uis is car out of the goddness of his heart - it was amazing to witness,”

“When even getting this new part for the car didn’t fix the problem though, another local, Tommy Randalls, he took the 1980’s car and spent 12 hours fixing it up for us and took no payment for his services,” he said.

David’s film ‘Misplaced’ will screen in the Killarney cinema on the night of March 23 and while this particular screening is by invitation only for investors in the film, he hopes to releas the film to a much broader audience in later months. TO BE INTERVIEWED FOR THIS SECTION, PLEASE EMAIL: FDENNEHY@KERRYMAN.IE