Red carpet joy for film-makers

BUDDING young actors, producers, and directors walked down a red carpet last week after creating their own short films.

BUDDING young actors, producers, and directors walked down a red carpet last week after creating their own short films.

Five months of writing, filming, and editing for nine students at the Elm Road pupil referral centre in Thetford culminated in a premier as part of the Norfolk and Norwich Festival.

Five short films were produced as part of the project, which was run by Creative Partnerships, and aimed to re-engage the young people into mainstream education.

The finished products, which were filmed at locations in and around Thetford, included a hard hitting and emotional film about teenage homelessness and a comedy animation about a boy who sleeps all the time.

Jennifer Holland, from the Creative Partnerships learning programme, said the scheme aimed to get the young people working together. She added that the youngsters had picked up new acting, editing and camera work skills and she hoped the films will be aired at the BBC Film Festival and at Cinema City in Norwich.

“There has been a huge transformation. It is in the area of working creatively and collaboratively and there has been a lot of development of self-esteem and confidence. They have done a fantastic job in a short space of time and the films definitely deserve a wider audience,” she said.

One of the filmmakers, Philip Carr-Burstow, 16, added that he had decided to start a media course at City College Norwich after excelling with a camera during the initiative.