Based in London, the West Midlands, and Yorkshire and Humberside, SMILE supported asylum seeking and refugee separated children and children in families to improve their life chances by helping them to enjoy and achieve in education, and by raising awareness of their specific needs, through mentoring, befriending and school talks.
The documentary film project was commissioned in March 2009. The aim of the project was to enable young people to learn how to make a short documentary film from pre-production to post-production stages. They had complete creative freedom over their subject matter. The young people were put together in groups and supported to make their films. The end result not only gave them a visual portfolio but a voice and sense of empowerment as for once they have an interested audience. The workshops took place in in our catchment regions; London, Birmingham and Leeds. Each project was made up of six workshops and were designed and facilitated by a professional film maker and supported by dedicated volunteers. The workshops ran from July to November in London, Birmingham and Leeds. The end result is a series of short documentary films on subject matters such as journeys to the UK, the reality of being a asylum seeking teenager in a new country and experiencing education in the UK told with a unique and fresh voice.
Here are the videos made by the young people who have improved their prospects through working with volunteer SMILE mentors and befrienders.
