Response to Niedermayer film 'absolutely amazing' says granddaughter

He had been kidnapped in an effort to force the government to transfer the Price sisters and other republican prisoners from GB to prisons in Northern Ireland.

The torment for the Niedermayer family was compounded by the refusal of the Provos to admit involvement, or to reveal the whereabouts of 45-year-old Mr Niedermayer’s body.

Unknown to wife Ingeborg and the couple’s two young daughters, Mr Niedermayer’s body had been dumped face down in the nearby Colin Glen illegal rubbish tip and covered over.

The family was plunged into a seemingly endless cycle of grief.

Ingeborg never recovered from her ordeal and, after years of personal turmoil, took her own life in1990 – ten years after the body of her beloved husband was recovered.

The couple’s two daughters, Renate and Gabriele, would both also take their own lives within four years of their mother’s death. The ripple effect continued with Gabriele’s husband Robin Williams-Powell killing himself in 1999.

A new film about the unspeakable trauma that has spanned the generations – ‘Face Down’ – is currently showing at the Queen’s Film Theatre in Belfast.

Within days of the opening night last Friday, it was announced that its run had been extended for a second week.

One of Gabriele’s two daughters, Tanya Williams-Powell, said both she and sister Rachel hope their story will inspire other Troubles victims to break their own cycle of grief, and that she doesn’t want Troubles victims to be forgotten.

"The response [to the film] has been absolutely amazing,” she said.

"Our aim was to make sure that the Troubles aren't forgotten, but that we can learn from them and work together to move on. It was a journey, and we have learned so much about our family from doing it.”

Intelligence from a police informer led to covert police officers, posing as workers from an environmental improvement organisation, discovering his remains – seven years later – under tons of rubbish.

Ms Williams-Powell said the film was around two years in the making, and that it has left a lasting impression.

"My first day back in Belfast was absolutely surreal. Sitting on that bench outside the door where Inga had herself returned so many times to just sit and contemplate what had happened to her life... it touched me in a way I wasn't expecting."

She said she hopes her family's story will encourage other victims to understand that you can break the cycle of despair following such a tragedy.

"If this film enables someone to reach out then it's all worth it. I'm really pleased that it's got such a positive response. It is so important to us that we can break that cycle, and that it doesn't have to define you or your descendants. You can learn from it and understand what's happened, but ultimately not letting it define your life for ever.

"It can stop, and that is what we want to happen for people. If this film enables someone to reach out then it's all worth it."

Produced and written by David Blake Knox, and directed by Gerry Gregg, ‘Face Down’ is showing in the QFT in Belfast until August 24.

• Ben Lowry page 11