Rachel Duffett has been involved in providing historical advice to filmmaker, Matt Kennard, on a First World War short that he’s recently written, directed and produced. The film uses the title of Ernst Lissauer’s 1914 work, but has very different sentiments from that poem with its iterations of hatred ‘You (England) we shall hate with enduring hate; We shall not forbear from our hate’ are a typical couple of lines. Matt’s terrific film explores the universality of the conflict, the emotional and social connections that existed between German and British soldiers. The film has an exceptional cast, including Russell Tovey, and had its first screening at BFI Forever on September 18th . It now heads out on to the ‘short film festival’ circuit and no doubt those audiences will be as moved as those of us who were fortunate enough to view Hymn of Hate at its first outing.
