Denise Fergus, the mother of murdered toddler James Bulger, has said she would have liked to have met the Irish director of the film about the boys who killed her son before the film was made, and called for him to pull it from the Oscars.
'Detainment', which was written and directed by Irish filmmaker Vincent Lambe, recreates police interviews with James's killers, Robert Thompson and Jon Venables, using the original transcripts.
It also recreates the moments before and after the then ten-year-olds took James from a shopping centre in Liverpool in February 1993.
Ms Fergus called for the movie to be boycotted, and pulled from the Oscars nomination list, where it is in the running for best live-action short film.
Speaking on RTÉ's Claire Byrne Live, Ms Fergus said she would not have tried to prevent the film from being made, but wanted to know why the director had not informed the family in advance.
Denise Fergus: "James will always be in my mind"@Denise_fergus tells #cblive that the support she's received since the death of her son James has been overwhelming pic.twitter.com/SZyXcQ54u1
— RTÉ ClaireByrneLive (@ClaireByrneLive) January 28, 2019
She said the family were told about it just before last Christmas.
Ms Fergus said she could not watch the film as she could not watch another child portray her own, adding that she should have a say if any child was to play James.
She said she had watched the trailer for the film, and said it had brought back memories which "destroyed her".
James Bulger's mother Denise Fergus reacts to Irish film "Detainment".
— RTÉ ClaireByrneLive (@ClaireByrneLive) January 28, 2019
Denise Fergus and her husband Stuart give their reaction to the making of the Oscar-nominated Irish film about the murder of her son
Denise_fergus @stuartfergus https://t.co/MWE5SXKQH5
It was not fair that they had first learned of the film through social media, she said.
She said she still wants answers, but could not sit in front of Mr Lambe because she said "he done it behind our back".
Ms Fergus said she has written a letter to Mr Lambe and wants him to pull the film from the Oscars shortlist.
She said that Mr Lambe would be a better person if he pulled the Oscar nomination himself.
Mr Lambe spoke on the same programme last week, defending the film.
We need your consent to load this rte-player contentWe use rte-player to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content.Manage Preferences
We need your consent to load this rte-player contentWe use rte-player to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content.Manage Preferences
