The kids are all right, say film experts
A video filmed in Leicester which challenges negative images of young people has won a national award.
Judges led by film producer Lord Puttnam gave Be The Change the community action award in the BT Big Voice competition.
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The five-minute film was directed by media production student Kieran Cassidy and featured students from Crown Hills Community College.
It was one of six short films to receive an award.
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Kieran, 23, who has just graduated from De Montfort University, said: "It was great to take part and really gave me a good experience of how to work with an external client, which is great experience for when I actually start working in the industry."
Be The Change was created by Kieran in collaboration with pupils from Crown Hills.
It explores negative stereotypes of young people and includes interviews with the police and volunteers who work with youngsters.
Young people are shown helping in the community by picking up litter, supporting charity shops and running errands for elderly people.
The BT Big Voice competition was for students aged 11 to 19 and gave young people the chance to have their say on issues that matter to them ahead of the Olympic Games.
Dozens of entries were selected from the initial applications and received a £1,000 grant to turn ideas into videos.
The videos were showcased online and a panel of judges selected the six best for prizes.
The overall winner was Go Green by pupils from Morpeth School in London.
Zoë Allman, lecturer in television production and BT Big Voice project co-ordinator at De Montfort University, said: "We are absolutely delighted Be The Change has been chosen to win an award.
"It's an excellent celebration of the high quality of video production here.
"To win an award is a great achievement for Kieran and the team from Crown Hills Community College and I know they have all learned a lot from the whole experience."
The university also helped two other films to reach the final stages.
The first was Love Community, Hate Racism by Athena Brown with Moat Community College, which explored racism. The other entry to be made into a video was Why Do People See Us As So Different? by Matthew Cox and the Enhanced Resource Base Saint Benedict Catholic School, in Derby, explaining more about the lives of students with physical and visual impairments.
You can view all the films at:
www.bt.com/bigvoice
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