film still from 'BEHOLD THE LAMB' (2011)

The Irish film BEHOLD THE LAMB (2011) by writer/director John McIlduff walked away with the Golden Alexander for Best Screenplay at the 2011 Thessaloniki Film Festival (TIFF). As director John McIlduff had already departed the festival, the film’s producer Kevin Jackson accepted the award for him and carried it with him all night with it clasped tightly to his chest.

Well, it seems that this black comedy is so funny that audiences love it even when they don’t ‘get it’. At the awards party on closing night, a journalist asked producer Kevin Jackson, ‘The only thing I didn’t understand was why the lamb was laying eggs. Was that some kind of arthouse film surrealism?’ Kevin practically burst into tears laughing, exclaiming:‘Those weren’t eggs! They were drugs! The lambs in the film are caught in the modern form of drug mule trafficking.’ Well, the journalist was shocked at his having been so off. Nevertheless, the misunderstanding provided for some long and hearty laughing; after all, the film is a black comedy.

We (me and the other journalist) suggested Kevin and John produce a viral for the film with an image of two lambs sitting next to each other on a plane, sweating and shaking- reminiscent of the famous drug trafficking scene from John Marston’s MARIA FULL OF GRACE (2004) when two young Columbian girls (aka 'drug mules') sit next to each other on a plane to the US, sweating and shaking with terror of being caught. Well, replace the girls with the lambs in the same scene in a viral trailer and that way no one would mistake drug sacks for eggs. LOL.

Now this film, I cannot wait to see!

-written by Vanessa McMahon

**Stay tuned for an interview with BEHOLD THE LAMB’S producer Kevin Jackson coming soon!

  Director John McIlduff Producer Kevin Jackson

The Golden Alexander up close!