2 weeks Ago By [email protected] (Sophie McLaughlin)
Two pupils from a special educational needs school in Ballymena attended a special screening of their short film at Universal Pictures in London. Claudia and Samuel from Castle Tower School were accompanied by their teachers to showcase their short film, Anna and the Ninja, created by 14 young people from the school which focuses on bullying and not being afraid. They spoke to UK film industry leaders at the one-year anniversary celebration of Into Film initiative, ‘Every Child a Filmmaker’.
Read more: Jodie Comer pictured exploring NI sights during break from filming The group participated in this inclusive filmmaking project that supports young people across the UK to make their own short film, learning every element of the filmmaking process along the way - from idea generation, storyboarding and scriptwriting, right through to camera operation, sound recording, and editing. It is particularly aimed at bringing new perspectives and unheard voices to the screen. Alongside Claudia, Samel and their teachers, attendees included figures from across the UK film industry including Disney, Warner Bros Discovery, Paramount Pictures UK, Universal Pictures, The BFI, EON Productions, Working Title Films, 72 Films and Pinewood.
The Ballymena pupils produced their film with the guidance of two professional independent filmmakers, Michael McBroom and Will McConnell, as part of the project funded by Amazon MGM Studios. Their teacher, Cherith Knipe, explained that the students learned a great deal from the process, working together and taking responsibility for their creative film. She said: ''Our school is focused on building skills for life and this project has really fitted into that brilliantly in terms of active listening, contributing, refining ideas, coming back with solutions to problems and the big one was respect for other pupils’ ideas.
"They can take collective pride in that, building independence, resilience and tolerance and the work they’ve achieved.” Anna and the Ninja tells the story of a schoolgirl who is bullied by other children and by teacher Mr Awful who has created a long list of random rules including No Sneezing, No Blinking and No Imaginary Friends. One day, Anna meets a mysterious ninja on the school grounds and he tells her she must not be afraid to stand up for herself.
The ninja confronts Mr Awful and the two settle their differences with a game of rock, paper, scissors. When the ninja wins, all the rules are abolished and replaced by just one rule: No bullying. Samuel, who played Mr Awful, said: "I never thought I would ever work on a film.
We know that we put a bunch of effort in and it will mean a lot to us that when we leave school we can look back and say we worked on this film and I’m so glad to have been given this opportunity." Claudia added: “Anna is a girl who has bullies bullying her and she gets all upset. We did learn new experiences and it was amazing being part of the film.
" The film team from Ballymena travelled to Belfast on Wednesday to watch their short on the big screen at QFT and to wish Claudia and Samuel well for their trip to Universal Pictures in London. Into Film, CEO, Fiona Evans commented: “At Into Film we believe every child has the right to learn how to make film. Last year, we launched Every Child a Filmmaker to give children across the UK the opportunity learn quality filmmaking skills to support their futures.
"This is a celebration of our very first year. Thank you to all our partners across the industry and beyond for your support, and congratulations to all the talented young people who have made their first ever films. Together we are bringing new voices and new perspectives to the big screen.
” The Every Child a Filmmaker inclusive filmmaking programme was launched in November 2023 as part of Into Film’s 10th anniversary and as part of an ongoing commitment to give every young person the opportunity to bring their ideas to life through film. The first year of funding supported and enabled 250 young people from across the UK to experience the transformational power of filmmaking. Join Belfast Live Social on TikTok Belfast Live Social on TikTok will be jam-packed with food reviews, concert announcements, vox-pops of all the important questions and more - giving you handy NI-centric What's On news at your fingertips.
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