10/12/10
Cameras Roll as Youngsters Make their Voices Heard
Two South Wales Valleys youth groups, who turned their frustration with life in the classroom and on the streets into eye-catching short videos, have scooped the top awards in an all-Wales contest for aspiring film-makers.
The groups from Merthyr Tydfil and New Tredegar also earned themselves a meeting with First Minister of Wales Carwyn Jones and Marc Evans, one of the country’s top film directors.
The LDS Church Group from Merthyr Tydfil created a fantasy in which ‘Superman’ was called in to lecture their sarcastic teacher on how to respect young people, and the New Tredegar Youth Group filmed a time-travelling story of how the formation of their group dispelled boredom and tackled anti-social behaviour on local streets.
Their work won them the top prizes of £1,000 each in the competition ‘Your Future Your Feature,’ which was organised to promote the Welsh Assembly Government’s new Pupil Voice Wales website.
The site is designed to help children and young people get their voices heard and become more involved in decisions that affect their lives.
Both groups received their prizes from the First Minister today (9th December) at the Pierhead Building in Cardiff Bay after which they took part in a film-making masterclass with director Marc Evans, best known for his films Snow Cake and My Little Eye.
Congratulating the youngsters the First Minister urged them to make full use of the new website for information and resources that will enable them to participate more in decision making.
He told them: “The Pupil Voice Wales site is your site and we would like children and young people across Wales to use it to share examples of how they have been involved in improving things for themselves, their friends and their classmates.”
Four other groups of young film-makers from around Wales received runner-up prizes of Flip film cameras. These were Barry Primary School, Lewis Boys School Pengam, Hengoed Youth Group and Portfield School, Haverfordwest.
Marc Evans gave all six prize winners feedback on their work and ran a workshop to explain how feature films are conceived, developed and produced. He said: “The best advice I can give you is to keep making films. These films you’ve made are the beginning of a journey. Each time you make something new you sharpen your ideas and move in different directions and learn more. Just keep making films.”
The New Tredegar group earned their award with a video entitled ‘Once upon a time in New Tredegar’ in which they were transported back in time to see how, before the group was formed, life was dull, and bored local youngsters frequently got into trouble.
Youth leader Emma Griffiths said: “The video was designed to highlight the way that, at times, through boredom, they used to take part in anti-social behaviour. Thanks to the group they changed and made more positive decisions.
“The group gives them somewhere to discuss their problems, if they don’t want to confide in a teacher or parent. It also acts as a voice. They can speak to the leaders about anything they like and the group can take if further for them,” she added.
Joshua Davies of the LDS Church Group in Merthyr Tydfil explained: “Our film highlighted the need for children and young people to have more of a say in decisions concerning their education. They want their voices to be heard and to have more equality between pupils and teachers.”
The two winning groups will use their cash prize to fund an educational day trip of their choice.
