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Teenagers from across Greater Manchester have taken part in a film project exploring the issues around alcohol misuse and young people. The Amazing Dr Sober, made by young people for their own peer group, will receive an official premiere at the Odeon Cinema at Manchester's Printworks in October 2008. The film project has been developed and implemented by Manchester based Lime, an award winning organisation that uses creative activity to impact on individual health, and funded by Comic Relief.
The film follows the story of Curtis, a young man whose father has died and whose mother has turned to alcohol to help her cope. Curtis lives mostly in a dreamworld and he talks to his father in the hope that he might help him solve his problems. His 'cool' school friends drink in the park every night, picking on Curtis because of his mother's problems. When new girl at school Nicole becomes his friend, Curtis wonders if they'll ever have a chance to make it work when he can't invite her home because of his family.
The Amazing Dr Sober began life with the Lime team running a series of workshops across Greater Manchester , focusing on scriptwriting, acting and film making skills. Stories and ideas from the young people themselves were developed for the script and an open invitation for auditions and crew interviews followed. The actors and production team then rehearsed for several weeks before filming throughout last winter.
The Amazing Dr Sober has been made following the initial pilot Losing It, which was recently named as a model of good practice when presented exclusively to a parliamentary meeting on teenage binge drinking at the House of Commons, funded by Alcohol Concern. Over 70 attendees, including representatives from the National Union of Head Teachers and the Police Federation, learned about the Losing It project from two of the young people involved; where it came from and how it worked, watching excerpts from the film and asking the young people about their involvement in the project. Other presentations were given by the Home Office and by Alcohol Concern. The team at Lime and the young people involved are delighted that their project has received such high profile acknowledgement and at their further invitation to No.10 Downing Street where more of the young people involved will meet the Prime Minister in October.
'I am really proud of all the young people who have been involved in both the Doctor Sober and the Losing It projects; they've all worked so hard and been so committed and creative. To get recognition at a national level through the parliamentary conference and the invitation to No.10 is fantastic, and we've also had a lot of interest for the new Doctor Sober packs from agencies in all ten boroughs of Greater Manchester. It's been such a good project to work on, and if we can take that energy and enthusiasm out to more young people, agencies and schools across Greater Manchester through using the Doctor Sober and Losing It packs, then I hope to see creativity embedded more and more in health settings and used as a way to explore issues around all public health priorities" Kim Wiltshire Community Arts Project Manager, Lime
Lime has also created a Resource Pack which accompanies a copy of the film for use in appropriate youth settings and for schools with vulnerable groups. Activity worksheets in creative writing, drama and visual art follow the events of the film and can be used for other young people to explore the subject in a similar way. The script and storyboard are included along with resource information and worksheets to stimulate discussion for teachers and group leaders. Lime is also able offer training to staff who would like to use more creative methods to explore health and well-being issues.
For more information please contact Project Manager Kim Wiltshire kim@limeart.org tel: 0161 256 4389
