Cruel tyrant? Or maritime hero?
Twelve young people from St Ives Secondary School have researched and produced this documentary film that challenges the popular perception of Captain William Bligh as one of history’s great villains – the cruel tyrant responsible for the infamous ‘Mutiny on the Bounty’.
About the project
The Captain Bligh Film Project is an inspirational youth engagement programme linked to the National Maritime Museum Cornwall’s Captain Bligh: Man, Myth, Mutiny exhibition in 2017. The Maritime Museum, in partnership with The Pegasus Award and Dogbite Film Crew, worked with twelve young people from St Ives Secondary School to research and produce a documentary film that challenges the popular perception of Captain William Bligh as one of history’s great villains – the cruel tyrant responsible for the infamous ‘Mutiny on the Bounty’. For the museum, the project was an important opportunity to include these young people’s insights and contributions – their ‘voices’ – within the exhibition space.
The 2017 Captain Bligh: Myth, Man and Mutiny exhibition remembers a notable West Countryman and significant national figure, in the 200th anniversary year of his death. It tells a story that challenges the more commonly known Hollywood depiction and brings to life one of the greatest small boat survival stories in history featuring relics from the voyage and a specially built reproduction of the Bounty launch, giving a very real sense of the situation of the 18 men who sailed it over 3600 nautical miles across the Pacific.
The exhibition is at The National Maritime Museum Cornwall until 7 January 2018.
