An Aberdeen director who won acclaim for a film about the Piper Alpha disaster has made it free to view.
Lee Hutcheon created The Men of Piper Alpha in 2011 as a tribute to those who lost their lives in the catastrophe.
To mark the 32nd anniversary of the explosion on board, which killed 167 men, Lee has temporarily waived the rights to the production and uploaded it to YouTube to allow as many as possible to see it.
He said he had been motivated by the fact the families of those affected would be unable to attend a memorial service due to Covid-19 restrictions.
And he hopes it will bring comfort to families as they remember those who were lost in the worst offshore disaster in terms of lives lost.
Lee said: “I made the film and devoted a year of my life to it as a tribute to the men who lost their lives and their families.
“During Covid-19, we won’t be able to have any memorials and families might not be able to gather to remember their loved ones.
“Piper Alpha was everyone’s tragedy. There wasn’t one person in the north-east who didn’t know somebody who had been affected by it at the time, and the effects of it are still being felt today. It has had a long-lasting impact on the area.”
Lee added: “I am extremely proud of the film and I want to share it with as many people as possible as a tribute to those who sadly lost their lives and their families.
“It just felt like the right thing to do to support them at a really difficult time.
“Money doesn’t matter when it comes to this. It is all about those men who died and giving their families the chance to pay tribute.
“It’s really important we continue to remember.”
The video can be viewed here
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