Their film, ‘Dear World Leader’, was shown online as part of the Youth Climate Film Awards to a select audience to stimulate discussion about climate change, with its message ‘Act Now’ aimed directly at world leaders, urging them to take action to tackle the climate emergency.

The short films are being celebrated nationally during April and May by Keep Scotland Beautiful and Screen Scotland and are also being featured in the Take One Action Film directory.

The young people involved responded to an advert looking for people interested in joining a new youth climate change group. The film making project was their first task and, remotely, they discussed a range of topics which were then developed into a script. 

Hazel (13) from Coatbridge loved being part of the project. She said: “Being involved in the climate film project was great because it gave me a chance to get my voice heard and speak up about the important issues that affect me, I think it’s important that all young people get an opportunity to raise awareness on situations that affect them." 

Two council development officers, Kirstin Thomson and Amy Reynolds attended film making training to support the group and help them create their movie. Kirstin, explained: “One of the most unusual aspects of producing the film was that, due to the pandemic, everything was shared via whatsapp.

The group spent time talking about the main issues and how these could be tackled. We allocated lines and roped in our friends from the ‘Acting up’ drama group to help out. We think we did pretty well considering we never got to meet one other and hope our film’s strong message has a positive impact on people coming together to tackle climate change.”

Des Murray, Chief Executive of North Lanarkshire Council, watched the premiere and said: “I’m proud of the drive and passion our young people have in raising awareness of, and offering solutions to tackling our climate emergency. They have produced such a thought provoking and powerful piece of film and it deserves a wide audience.

“As a council we’re making real progress in tackling climate change, having already significantly reduced our carbon footprint. We’re also championing sustainable growth and ahead of the Conference of Parties (COP26) event we are planning a series of events to address key issues around climate change, involving partners, businesses and communities.

"Only by everyone coming together, raising awareness and taking action can we protect our environment for future generations.”

The YCFP is delivered by Keep Scotland Beautiful with funding from the Scottish Government and The National Lottery through Screen Scotland.

You can view the film here  Youth Climate Film Project | Keep Scotland Beautiful