February at paulcarvill.com, the home of Paul Carvill on the web 2009 at paulcarvill.com, the home of Paul Carvill on the web

I was lucky enough to be invited to watch a screening of the short film In The Pod by the New Horizons Youth Centre, a charity based in King’s Cross who I will be working with as we develop their website.

The film is on the subject of gang culture and knife crime, and was created by young people from the Youth Centre itself, using broadcast quality equipment provided by them.

The film is moving, enlightening, funny, sad and shocking.  One of New Horizon’s patrons, Channel 4 news anchor Jon Snow, features in the film, and was also in attendance at the screening, having cycled to The Scala directly after reading the news that evening.

The film covers subjects such as how safe people feel on the streets, if they would ever carry a knife or other weapon, what they understand by Postcode Wars, and how we might go about stopping young people killing each other on the streets.  One of the most poignant moments in the film comes when a man dressed like a pearly king, looking back on his life of crime and gangs, says,

“You don’t need guns!  You don’t need knives!  In my day it was just these,”

and holds up his two clenched fists, to much loud laughter around the room.

Also on display at The Scala, who had donated the venue free for the evening, was the original pod, a painted, wooden construction made by the Women’s Group a the Centre, and a photographic collection made by the Men’s Group.

New Horizons will be using their film as an educational tool, taking it around schools and colleges.