Former Beirut Hostage at Charity Screening in Reading
Former Beirut hostage John McCarthy will attend a screening in Reading next week of Blind Flight, a film about the ordeal that he endured.
Blind Flight tells the story of how McCarthy, then a young television journalist, was kidnapped in Lebanon in the mid 1980's and held for more than five years.
The film centres on the friendship he forged with fellow hostage Brian Keenan and is based on a book subsequently written by Keenan about their captivity called An Evil Cradling.
McCarthy, now an author and broadcaster, will take to the stage to discuss both the film and his experiences, after the screening at Reading Film Theatre in the Palmer Building, University of Reading Whiteknights Campus, Shinfield Road on Tuesday October 12th. Also taking part in the discussion will be the film director John Furse.
After the screening, a collection will be taken for the Medical Foundation for the Care of Victims of Torture, a London based charity of which both John and Brian Keenan are patrons.
Set up in 1985, the Medical Foundation is the only organisation in Britain solely dedicated to the treatment of torture victims. Last year it accepted more than 2,100 new patients at its north London treatment centre, as well as a regional centre in Greater Manchester, from nearly 100 different countries.
Most people it treats are asylum seekers or refugees, but it also helps former British soldiers tortured in World War Two, and British citizens tortured abroad.
Since its doors first opened nearly 40,000 have been treated with a unique blend of medical treatment, practical assistance and psychological support.
Those wishing to become involved with the charity will be able to find out out more at the screening about a newly established Reading supporters group.
Blind Flight stars Linus Roache as John McCarthy and Ian Hart as Brian Keenan. It went on general release earlier this year and was described by The Daily Telegraph as "moving in the extreme". The Times described the two central characters as "vivid and convincing" while The Observer made it "Film of the Week" and hailed it as "full of arresting detail and memorable moments".
Further details from Medical Foundation Press Office 0207 697 7792
