The Last Kill
The Last Kill is the second in a trilogy of films made between 2002 and 2007 on the subject of dying trades.
Sarah a friend called to tell me that the farm collective near Dumfries where she was living were going to slaughter their pigs and a bullock later that month. They would use an old itinerant slaughterer, Davey Kelly to do the job. If I was interested in filming I should come over and shoot (sic), because under new EU regulations this would be the last year that the practice of on-farm slaughter would be permitted. Come 2005, the itinerant trade was dead. I went over to have a look and talk to Davey and the people on the farm. Davey was extraordinary: 87 years old, almost blind from cataracts and a man of few words. This latter quality was not encouraging for the film maker, but as we talked Davey mentioned his music collection. Davey had never moved on from 78rpm records. He had a huge collection of these which he still played on his old wind-up. I felt that his music (mostly out of copyright) would speak well enough for him, and with the generous cooperation of the farm collective, made the film.
Adrin Neatrour. 2007, UK, SP dv, 43 mins.
