Young people make show

Clare Wilkinson (pictured right) is one of the young people from Londonderry taking part.

BoldFace Productions which is producing the programme for UTV linked up with the Community Foundation for Northern Ireland Voices Initiative based in Londonderry and Belfast to give local young people the chance to voice their concerns on current issues.

Six groups of young people aged 14-25 worked together to produce the short films which make up the programme entitled: What is Gay; Travellers: We Are Not All The Same; I Am Homeless; It’s Not Joy-Riding; Don’t Shh… Domestic Abuse and The Beauty of Difference.

Peter Weil, Producer, BoldFace Productions, which provides film production training to young people and their communities, says: “I was immensely impressed by the high level of filmmaking the BoldVoices team showed. I’m thrilled that as a result of our partnership with UTV it will be possible to give these films a far wider audience than we had ever thought possible. All those involved were given specific training to develop technical and creative skills to make these short films.”

Jude McCann, Coordinator, Community Foundation for Northern Ireland says:

“The Voices: Participation for Social Justice Initiative was developed by the Community Foundation because we recognised that there were people in our society rarely heard, leading to greater disadvantage and exclusion.

“Working with BoldFace Productions proved to be an excellent partnership and greatly assisted us in producing these films.

“BoldFace brought all their expertise and skills to bear and their film professionals were inspirational to many of the young people involved in making films. This was an innovative concept which worked a treat demonstrated in the high quality of these thought provoking BoldVoices films which will be shown on UTV.”

Michael Wilson, Managing Director, UTV, says: “As a public service broadcaster UTV is keen to represent all sections of our community.

“We are delighted to give these talented young people the opportunity to show their films to a mainstream Northern Ireland audience.

“BoldVoices will give our viewers a real insight into the issues these young film makers are concerned about and we are proud to showcase their work and nurture future talent.”