A young actress from Perthshire has been chosen play the heroine in a new film which tells the story of the Highland Clearances and those who had to build a new life in North America.
Last Footsteps of Home has been inspired by the true story of Kate McPherson, who was forced to leave her family home in Sutherland in 1813 during the time of evictions, and board an emigrant ship bound for the New World.
Along with around 80 other passengers including Alexander her younger brother, she was bound for the Red River settlement where exiled Highlanders effectively helped found the city of Winnipeg, now the capital of the prairie province of Manitoba.
Eighteen year old Molly O’Brien from Blairgowrie is to play Kate in the short film. She said:
“When I first heard about the role of Kate McPherson I was very excited. The Highland Clearances is a subject that interests me greatly, especially in the light of the fact that although they took place hundreds of years ago, similar examples of people having to leave their homes and go elsewhere can be seen all over the world today.
“It is a privilege to be involved in a project that is telling Kate McPherson's story in this way. She really was an amazing woman – her life inspires me and symbolises the determination of we as Scots in the quest for a better life.”
Ms O’Brien started acting classes at the age of seven when she moved to Ireland for two years. She continued at her local theatre company back in Blairgowrie before going on to audition for a foundation acting class at the Scottish Youth Theatre in Glasgow.
The film’s writer and director, Robert Aitken, who was brought up in Sutherland, said: “Although separated by 200 years, Molly and Kate share a great quality - both are tenacious young women heading out to a new world hoping to make their mark."
Filming on Last Footsteps of Home starts in Sutherland and Caithness this month in locations, which include Brora, Golspie and the Strath of Kildonan, as well as the Laidhay Croft Museum in Dunbeath, a 200 year-old rushed thatched longhouse.
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