The controversial Princess Diana documentary, telling of a conspiracy surrounding her death, will receive its first public outing in Ireland.
Funded by her lover’s father, Mohammed Al Fayed, Unlawful Killing rocked Cannes Film Festival, where it was first shown in May. And now, the mixture of archive footage, new interviews, graphics and reconstructions of scenes from the 2007 inquest into her death will be unveiled to the public at the Galway Film Fleadh Festival.
The original Cannes screening received mostly negative reviews, with The Hollywood reporter branding it a “dodo-headed documentary” while WhatCulture claimed it would “only fuel the fire of even more crazy global conspiracists than Allen”.
WhatCulture also noted that Princess Diana, after being hounded by the press all her adult life, “will never be able to rest in peace” because of this film.
There was further outrage over the film when it was revealed a shocking paparazzi photograph of the dying Princess, showing her blonde hair and features clearly visible amongst the crushed metal, was included in the documentary. The photo has never been publicly shown in this country, thus it is unlikely to make it to the final UK-approved version of the film.
A spokesman for St James’s Palace at the time declined to comment, but royal sources told The Daily Mail that Diana's sons would be sickened by the news. One said: “They rather hope people would treat this with the contempt it deserves.”
Despite the negative response and the fact that lawyers requested 87 changes to the documentary before a TV distributor could broadcast it in the UK, the film’s director Keith Allen insists: "I didn't want to make a sensationalist film and I don't think it is a sensationalist film.”
Speaking at a press conference in Cannes he said: “I think it reveals certain things which don't add up and they should be questioned. That's what the film is about - I believe the inquest was steered."
Allen will once again defend his film, alongside co-writer Paul Sparks and actor Richard Wiseman, when they attend the Galway screening and take part in a Q&A session.
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