The Front Feature Film
Joe Lepper
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
Project: The Front Feature Film
Mission: To involve young offenders in Brighton and Hove in a creative project
Funding: £22,000 from Brighton & Hove Youth Offending Team, Arts Council and Screen South
In a bid to offer young offenders in Brighton and Hove a creative project in which to immerse themselves, one of the city's youth offending team's social workers, Jo Bates, came up with the idea of making a feature film.
Bates already had an interest in filmmaking and had a number of contacts among local filmmakers. So, after securing funding for the project, work on the film started last summer.
Involving young offenders from the outset has been vital to its success. The 15 young people involved in the project came up with the original story idea and took part in a range of activities - from camera work to acting - during the year it took to complete the feature.
The film, entitled The Front, charts the day of three young people in Brighton, whose stories interconnect, says Bates: "We wanted to show the everyday lives of young people and the problems they encounter, which included looking at the issue of youth offending."
She adds the project has two key aims: to involve young people in a creative project that increases their confidence and self esteem; and to show the wider community a positive image of young people.
The film will be premiered at local filmmaking event the Cine City Film Festival on 2 December and will also be taken to other UK film festivals. Already two of the young people involved have gone on to assist with other filmmaking projects since filming ended.
Bates says: "The aim is to do more projects like this and make filmmaking a regular activity that young people can get involved in."