Young Roots
Beacon Hill Arts CIC is a North East based training and production company who support filmmakers with learning disabilities and autism to create and exhibit work.
Working with Newcastle Castle, the young filmmakers learnt about the castle’s history through guided tours and workshops, handling collections and archive sources. They chose three historical figures from the castle’s past to focus on and worked with project leaders through 17 days of creative workshops to write a script, compose a soundtrack, act in and edit the films.
The three films were launched at an event at Whitley Bay Playhouse The group also created a multimedia touchscreen exhibit for the castle’s visitor centre, which features all the films, soundtracks, ‘behind the scenes’ footage and further information about the historical characters.
Will Sadler, Development Director of Beacon Hill arts, said: "Disabled and autistic people are often written out of history so this project has been a brilliant opportunity for our talented artists to creatively regain some ownership of the city’s past, as well as developing on-going skills and creativity. We are amazed at how the team have creatively interpreted the characters they have chosen – who are all played by actors with learning disabilities and autism".