M6 Theatre hosts film premiere Crossing the Line

The premiere screening of Crossing the Line at Rochdale’s Odeon Cinema last week.

The premiere screening of Crossing the Line, part of M6 Theatre’s film trilogy for young people, took place at Rochdale’s Odeon Cinema last week.

Written and directed by Rochdale’s Parvez Qadir, Crossing the Line is a monologue exploring issues of identity, belonging and exploitation for a character in a seemingly impossible situation. The film is the third in a series of resources created to support young people’s mental health and wellbeing.

The live production and accompanying workshop toured to local schools, funded by Home Office Building Stronger Britain Together, and reached over 1,500 young people.

The film and accompanying education resource will now enable thousands more young people across Rochdale and Greater Manchester to engage in the pressing and urgent issue of child criminal exploitation.

Agencies working with and for young people across the borough, including those involved in the commissioning and production of the film, were invited to the launch with representatives from Secondary Schools, Children’s Services, Community Cohesion, Public Health, Greater Manchester Police, the NHS, the Home Office, Youth Parliament, local Councillors as well as the Mayor Billy Sheerin.

Gilly Baskeyfield, Artistic Director of M6 Theatre said: “This was a fantastic event with representatives present from across Rochdale and highlighted the positive effect of multi-agency working and creative collaboration to support the holistic wellbeing of our young people.

“There was a very passionate response to what we presented, and we felt incredibly proud to contribute to such a rich tapestry of work for young people in the borough.”

Crossing the Line will be touring again to schools and community settings in October, funded by Greater Manchester Police.