News
POLEGLASS SHORT FILM CHOOSE LIFE SCREENED AT CINEMAGIC
09 January 2012
Five teenagers from Poleglass, who are part of the Poleglass Bytes project, had reason to celebrate recently as their short film ‘Choose Life’ was screened at Omniplex Cinemas, Kennedy Centre, in conjunction with Cinemagic International Film Festival. The film, made during the ‘Let’s Learn Together’ project, funded by The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade’s Reconciliation Fund, was scripted, produced and edited entirely by the teenagers and it highlighted the issues that the young people face growing up.
The young people made the film, alongside teenagers from various parts of Belfast, over the course of six months and the aims of the project were to promote trust and tolerance on a cross community basis. It offered those involved an opportunity to forge cross community friendships and learn filmmaking skills that can be transferred back into their communities.
The young people from the different communities had never met before the project but had a shared interest in filmmaking and under the guidance a director, writer and director of photography, they began to devise the film’s concept and filming schedule.
Joan Burney, Cinemagic Chief Executive said “Through The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade’s Reconciliation Fund, Cinemagic has been able to provide a wonderful opportunity for young people to work together in a creative way that helped develop in them a new skill set in filmmaking and an understanding of each other’s traditions and culture. Through their film-making they also were able to demonstrate their learning and promote the values of tolerance and inclusion to a wider audience.”
The young filmmakers were also invited to the annual Coca-Cola Awards ceremony last month in Belfast City Hall, where the achievements of the young people were recognised among an audience of special guests including the First and Deputy First Ministers.
ENDS: // PRESS INFORMATION: Claire Shaw, Cinemagic Press & Marketing Officer, Tel: 028 90 311 900, Email: claire@cinemagic.org.uk