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Scaling new heights
By IAN STARRETT

THE first ever full length feature film to be shot entirely on location in the North West is to raise money for the dependents of the Omagh bombing tragedy.
The Northern Ireland premiere of Sunset Heights, already praised at the prestigious Cannes Film Festival, will be held in Londonderry's Orchard Cinema on October 23 and the proceeds will be donated to the Omagh Memorial Fund.
Stars from the film, shot in the streets of Londonderry and around Ballyliffin in Donegal, will attend the glittering occasion.
Dave Duggan, scriptwriter of this year's Oscar nominated animated short film Dance Lexie Dance which was made in Londonderry, has predicted that Sunset Heights could be in the running for the last Academy Awards of this Millennium.
Sunset Heights, set in a post-Troubles North West in the year 2007, tells the story of two rival gangs who are holding Londonderry to ransom.
One and a half hours long and costing £2 million to make the film stars Toby Stevens, son of acclaimed English actress Maggie Smith, who played the lead role in the Nick Willing movie Photographing Fairies.
Toby also played leading roles in Trevor Nunn's Twelfth Night, as well as the films Cousin Bette and Orlando. On the West End stage he starred alongside Jessica Lange in Peter Hall's A Streetcar Named Desire.
"I have high hopes that Sunset Heights could make it to the Oscars and that would be wonderful once
Again for the film industry in Northern Ireland." said Londonderry-based Dave Duggan.
Sunset Heights is the first Irish movie to be completely financed within Ireland. The European Union Peace and Reconciliation Programme, under its Cross Border Business and Cultural links programme, the Irish Film Board, as well as private investors have all contributed towards the making of the movie by Londonderry based Northland Films.
Also in the cast is ITV Soldier Soldier actor James Cosmo, who also starred in Mel Gibson's Braveheart, Newry actress Eimear McCourt and Londonderry actors Gordon Milton and Seamus Ball. In total there was a cast and crew of 80 and the Northern Ireland Film Commission played a major role in finding locations and crew.
Producer Denis Bradley, a former Londonderry priest turned moviemaker: said: "It's a very clever film with a good story about gun rule by gangsters rather than paramilitaries. If we don't solve our present problems politically this is the type of scenario we could be facing."
Mr Bradley said that the film made "good viewing" and that it is "very pacy and easy to watch."
Sunset Heights director/scriptwriter is Colm Villa, who originally comes from the Waterside in Londonderry. The movie goes on general release in the United Kingdom and Eire at the end of the month.