Sam EmanuelA community film festival has brought people of all ages together to enjoy the creative talents of people in the community.Sam Emanuel

A community film festival has brought people of all ages together to enjoy the creative talents of people in the community.

Sprowston's fifth Community Film Festival hit the big screen last week. Students and film makers joined families and friends at the Hollywood Cinema in Anglia Square to watch the films they had been busily making over the past few months, based around the theme of fusion.

Organised by Sprowston Community High as part of their Arts in the Community programme, the festival screened contributions from primary schools and a heritage group.

This year the organisers were keen to expand the learning aspect for the young people involved, so each of the schools' projects were designed to fuse the art of filmmaking with the area of the curriculum the children were exploring at the time.

The Eagle class at Falcon Junior School explored 3D media through the use of clay, and made pots to contain short poems and stories they worked on during the sessions.

Badgers class at The Hall School looked at solving a problem through drama and also used clay, while the Art-X after school club at Sprowston Junior School learnt about photographic composition and created a short film to demonstrate to other pupils what they had learnt about photography.

White Woman Lane Junior School pupils worked on improving their writing skills and learning about their cultural environment, and their film was a documentary about what they learned, with a voiceover of the pupils reading some of their work.

Woodland View Junior School pupils used animation to learn about the water cycle, and the pupils made a model of mountains and animated clouds forming over the mountains to explain the water cycle to other children.

Sprowston Heritage, a local heritage group, looked at the theme of fusion through gatherings and meetings of

people in the village.

Margaret Quigley, arts director at Sprowston Community High School, said: 'The film festival was first launched in 2005 to encourage all sections of the community to get involved, be inspired, and create a short film.

'Since then it has grown to become a popular, annual event.'

Are you organising a community event? Call Sam Emanuel on 01603 772438 or email sam.emanuel@archant.co.uk.