Peter Mullan Gutted By Orphans Loss

Director Peter Mullan couldn't believe his ears when he was told that FilmFour had accidentally destroyed 730 cans of material from his award-winning movie Orphans. The director, who had been hoping to put together additional material for the DVD version of the film, told today's Guardian that he considered the action 'a revolting act of vandelism'. FilmFour were quick to accept the blame for the destruction of all the cut scenes, negative and master soundtrack and attributed the incident to a 'systems error'. 'We are utterly distraught,' said Paul Webster, FilmFour's chief executive. 'We have apologised to Peter...he knows it was an accident.' Unfortunately, Peter doesn't see it that way. 'The preservation of film is a vital cultural service,' he said. 'If FilmFour don't understand this, they should never be put in charge of any form of filmmaking.'