Courtesy of Clare Delargy, producer of Mercedes The Spirit Of A New Age.
Mercedes The Spirit Of A New Age, a documentary film on Mercedes Gleitze, will be broadcast this Christmas in the United Kingdom on UTV/ITV and UTV Ireland.
“It was shown earlier in Australia with Foxtel/Bio Channel and was also featured at the Galway Film Fleadh this summer just past,” explained producer Clare Delargy.
Music was provided by composer Michael Nyman and narrated by Hollywood actress Greta Scacchi. “Mercedes walked away from her celebrity when she was just 33 and never spoke again about her achievements and her former life,” describes Delargy. “However, she left a rich archive of press cuttings and photographs and along with home movie footage and historical archive we were able to re-tell her story – the first time in over 80 years.”
Her narrative was supported with interviews from her daughter and son along with contributions from key interviewees including veteran Olympic swimmer Duncan Goodhew and social and historical commentator Dr Helen Pankhurst. Also of special note were contributions from two eyewitnesses one of whom as a child followed her across the Strait of Gibraltar with his father, Mercedes’s pilot. Another eyewitness recalls seeing Mercedes on the beach in Northern Ireland as she prepared for her brave attempt on the North Channel.”
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