CDP Somali Youth group - Short Film

WORK PORTFOLIO
DVCam Filming and Editing
Title: 'Unity' Event on 6th April
Client: Camden Youth & Connexions
Size: Short Film (20 mins)

Camden Detached Project (CDP) working with a Somali group of young people, decided to host an event to highlight awareness of their youth within the Somali community but realised it was a more universal youth theme of 'Bridging the Gap'. The recent death of one of their mates caught in the middle between gang wars also sparked some reaction in wanting to make a short film depicting the harsh realities of youths as well as the choices one can make that determine your own destiny.

Other outcomes:
1. Spanking new logo for the youth group.
Link as follows: Somali youth awareness logo)
2. Event promos : Flyer and Poster. Somali youth 'Unity' event promo)

When we started out, the boys found that the issues were difficult to tackle within a tight community of a relatively 'new' immigrant group in the UK. A few workshops with Jeremy Weller and Jenla from the Grassmarket Project, helped focus on the issues within the broad framework of the story that the boys wanted to tell. By the time we began filming, the boys narrowed down what they needed to say, and whose viewpoint was being portrayed. The boys went through a steep learning curve, in a process I think will help define their own identity as young British Somali men.

Filmed on the 29th of March, I was still editing on the morning of the event on April 6th. Usually I'd strip down the film into its bare necessities, however this time I let the street language slide, to do the talking. This film is done in a semi-documentary style, and has more words than I'd like but hey hence the street flava.

Reception for the film from both young and old generations, was very warm and encouraging. We split the film into two - 15 mins of story (bordering on 'controversy' but I think we nailed what we needed to say), and 15 mins of monologue where both the characters give an honest opinion about their own situations and issues that came up. No matter how much they can try live their own lives, they still had to face up to the facts and respect where each other was coming from.

The film brought to the table a few controversial issues and misconceptions about each other, I thought with a touch of humour. The young men wrote the story baseline and acted in it, and we filmed ad hoc with little planning. They mainly drew from their own experiences and that added to the honesty of the film. If you ever watch it, look out for the arguments in the community leader's office!

Monologue by Ahmed (AK)

Monologue by Ato