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Films by Barking and Dagenham young people to be shown on Olympic screens

Sara Odeen-Isbister , Senior Reporter Thursday, June 14, 2012
4:30 PM

Eight short films made by young people from Barking and Dagenham will be shown on massive BBC screens across the UK throughout the Olympic Games.

The 12 participants worked with a group of organisations, including the Arc Theatre in Abbey Road, Barking, to produce photo stills representing moments of truce in famous films.

All the images feature the young people themselves and were shot in areas in Barking and Dagenham that they are familiar with.

The process of producing the photos was also filmed by the youngsters, resulting in eight short digital HD films. These films will be regularly shown on large public BBC screens broadcasting the Olympics.

The initiative is part of the Truce project, a youth arts initiative taking inspiration from the idea that a core part of the Olympic Games is competing countries signing-up to a truce during the competition.

Carole Pluckrose, artistic director at the Arc Theatre, said the project encouraged the young people to explore the idea of truce, while picking up a host of new skills.

“They were working with a professional media production company so learnt a lot about film making and photography,” she added.

“They also had a lot of fun and are very excited about the thought of their films being broadcast on BBC screens across the country.”

The young people received help and advice from artists Simon Grennan and Christopher Sperandio, The project was commissioned by a youth arts organisation called A New Direction.

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