Triler Dox

The Last Days of Peter Bergmann

Ciaran Cassidy
Screening time  
23.02. / Monday, 21:00 - 23:00 Theatre 1  
In the summer of 2009, a man calling himself Peter Bergmann arrived in Sligo Town. Over his final three days, he would go to great lengths to ensure no one would ever discover who he was or where he came from.

It is June 12, 2009, in Sligo, Ireland, and the security camera footage shows a middle-aged man walking into a hotel with a purple plastic bag in his hand. He checks in under the name Peter Bergmann. A few days later, he is found dead. When the local authorities attempt to find out who this man was, it turns out that Peter Bergmann didn’t exist. So who was this man, and why did he erase his identity with such cool precision immediately prior to his death? Director Ciaran Cassidy meticulously reconstructs the movements of the man who spent his last days as Peter Bergmann. Material shot by security cameras provides a grainy and jerky impression of this mysterious introverted man. Testimony from the last people to see him alive completes the factual reconstruction, but only increases the mystery. The suspense lies not only in the question of precisely what happened, but also in the why. Why did Peter Bergmann remove the labels from his clothing to ensure that no one could deduce his true identity? Why make so much effort to disappear?

Ciarancassidy_1

Ciaran Cassidy

Ciaran Cassidy is an Irish documentary filmmaker and screenwriter. His radio documentary The Runners won the 2010 Prix Europa. Collaboration Horizontale, won a prize at the Palm Springs International ShortFest. Cassidy’s first full-length screenplay, The Domestique is in development.

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The Last Days of Peter Bergmann

Ireland
2013, 19', DCP

Directed by:
Ciaran Cassidy

Screenplay by:
Ciaran Cassidy

Cinematography:
Kate McCullough

Edited by:
John Murphy

Music:
Jack Quilligan, David Cantan

Producer:
Morgan Bushe

Produced by:
Fastnet Films

Festivals & Awards:

IDFA 2014; Irish Film and Television Academy 2014 – Best Short Film; Nashville Film Festival 2014 – Grand Jury Prize; Melbourne International Film Festival 2014 – Best Documentary Short; Camden International Film Festival 2014 – Cartel Award for Best Short; Stranger Than Fiction Documentary Film Festival 2013 – Audience Award