Mother of murdered child 'disgusted' over Oscar nomination for movie about his death

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Mother of murdered child 'disgusted' over Oscar nomination for short-film about his death

The mother of a murdered child was 'disgusted' over an Oscar nomination for a short-film about his death.

A mother says she’s “disgusted” that her 2-year-old son’s 1993 kidnapping and murder is not only the subject of the movie “Detainment,” but that the film was just given a nomination for best live-action short film at the Academy Awards.

“Detainment,” written and produced by Vincent Lambe, uses records, taped interviews and more from the case of James Bulger in order to create a dramatized version of the interrogation of the two 10-year-old boys responsible for Bulger’s death.

Denise Fergus, James’ mother, has been an outspoken critic of the film as she says neither she nor James’ father were contacted about its production. Following the Oscar nomination, Denise posted a statement on Twitter deriding the filmmakers and the Academy for making her relive her son’s tragic death.

“I cannot express how disgusted and upset I am at this so called film that has been made and now nominated for an Oscar,” she wrote. “It’s one thing making a film like this without contacting or getting permission from James family but another to have a child re-enact the final hours of James’s’ life before he was brutally murdered and making myself and my family have to relive this all over again!”

Since finding out about the film around Christmas time, Fergus has started a Change.org petition to stop the film from being shown. Since then, it has been updated to include a call to revoke the Oscar nomination. As of this writing, the petition has garnered more than 117,500 signatures.

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The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences did not immediately respond to Fox News’ request for comment on the matter.

However, on Jan. 6, the film’s writer and producer, Lambe, tweeted a statement on the controversy surrounding the film. In it, he argues that his goal was to use the cold-hard facts from the public records to help audiences understand how two boys could commit such a heinous crime without simply dismissing them as “evil.”

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“I have enormous sympathy for the Bulger family and I am extremely sorry for any upset the film may have caused them,” Lambe wrote in part. “With hindsight, I am sorry I did not make Mrs Fergus aware of the film. I would be happy to meet with her privately now to make that apology in person, to explain our reasons for making the film and offer my heartfelt reassurances that I never intended any disrespect by not consulting her.”