Invermay students debut short film at QVMAG

As part of the City of Launceston's Asset Based Community Driven Effort (ABCDE) Learning Site program, Invermay Primary School and St Finn Barr Catholic Primary grade five and six students premiered their 10-minute feature 'A Bright New Day in Invermay' on Tuesday, May 30.

The short, made with assistance from filmmaking mentors at Action Crew, is a key element of this year's ABCDE Learning Site program which works with a different Launceston suburb each year to facilitate community-driven projects.

City of Launceston community connector Sarah McCormack, who heads the program, said students at Invermay and St Finn Barr's Catholic Primary Schools' short film was an integral part of "making a stronger community".

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"It's a wonderful way to go into schools and hear from young people what they love about where they live and what's important to them," Ms McCormack said.

In recent years the program has been hosted at Rocherlea, Ravenswood, Mowbray, Youngtown and Kings Meadows.

Content for A Bright New Day in Invermay was "entirely led by the students" and includes shout outs for local businesses - "Fraggles has the best fish and chips in Australia," one student said in the film - and interviews of their favourite person in Invermay.

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"We asked them for their favourite people in their life and those people came along to be a part of this project," Ms McCormack said.

"So it is really the students' voice here."

Invermay Primary School grade six student Maggie Spencer, who stars in and worked behind the scenes on the short, said she was so excited to have something she was a part of on display in the Museum.

"I've never had that happen before," Ms Spencer said.

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"The whole process of getting to use the cameras and learning how to use them was cool enough before this."

City of Launceston Councillor Lindi McMahon presented each of the 20 students with a certificate of appreciation for showing their love for Invermay.

"I think we can all take a lesson from how connected their communities are, how much they love their community," Ms McMahon said.

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"I think it's important to connect with our young people to learn what's important for our future.

"We may have our future movers, shakers and policy makers here."

The film will be available on the ABCDE Learning Site and screen for visitors in the Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery's Inveresk auditorium until Tuesday, June 6.

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