Happy ending for Rowling-based film

15 January 2007

A hard-hitting film set in Yarmouth and financed by Harry Potter author J K Rowling has gone on to win an international award at a Hollywood film festival.

The 15-minute film about single mothers, which was rescued by the children's book writer after filmmakers ran out of money, won a “Deffie” at the High Definition International film festival.

Rowling funded the film, called Friday Night Shirt, which starred non-professional single mothers from Yarmouth, because she was a struggling single mother herself when she wrote the first Harry Potter book.

Suffolk-based production company Red Rose Chain, which made the short film about a young woman's battle against a physically abusive husband, worked with single mothers' charity GFS.

Director Jo Carrick said the young women had been fantastic and had brought their own experiences to the roles.

She said: “The women all had a sense that they had missed the boat because they were single mothers. They lacked confidence, but as the project went on they got better and better.”

Two of the women have since gone on to university and another is working as an actor as a result of the film, which won best dramatic short film at the ceremony.

Red Rose Chain has now secured £150,000 from the Big Lottery for its next film - a full-length feature starring disadvantaged children from the region. The story has not yet been written as it will be inspired by youngsters' own experiences.