Four Southern Housing Group residents will star on the silver screen in October 2011 as part of a prestigious film festival.
The young people, who live at the Group’s Royal Arsenal Development in London, feature in The Abandoned Wand, a short film which has been selected for screening at the Co-operative Film Festival on 6-7 October in Bradford.
The three minute film features a young boy, played by Loyaan Mohamed, 11, who discovers a magical wand in a disused building. He experiments with the wand, eventually learning that with power comes responsibility. Craig Boyer, 10, Koshin Ahmed, 13 and Hassan Fazel, 10, also appear in the film.
Southern Housing Group Community Regeneration Officer, Andrew Parry, said: “The film project is part of a wider commitment to our Royal Arsenal residents which aims to provide positive activities for young people and to improve community cohesion.”
“I am delighted that the film has been selected for the festival. It reflects the high level of talent the young people have and their dedication to the project.”
The project was one of three jointly funded and managed by the Group and Charlton Athletic Race and Equality Partnership (CARE) – a community initiative made up of Greenwich Council and Charlton Athletic Football Club.
CARE Programme Manager, Dr Michael Seeraj, said: “The project provided an opportunity for the young people involved to explore their creative talents, and resulted in the impressive and inspiring The Abandoned Wand."
All scenes in the film were shot at Royal Arsenal before being edited by UK production organisation, Chocolate Films.
Chocolate Films Producer, Rachel Wang, said: “The young people were trained by one of our community filmmakers, Ben Clough, during a three day workshop in drama, filmmaking and stop-motion animation. They then used their new skills to create a delightful and imaginative short film. I am impressed by what they managed to achieve in a short timeframe.”
An exclusive screening of The Abandoned Wand was held for Royal Arsenal residents in April but October’s festival will be its first major broadcast.
The Abandoned Wand can be viewed online at www.youtube.com or http://chocoolatefilms.com.
