THE plight of refugees seeking asylum in this country is to be highlighted in a new film about to be shot in North Yorkshire.

York-based Risky Things Theatre and Production Company has received a Big Lottery Grant of £10,000 to contribute towards the project called Blue Moment.

The film is being made in conjunction with the Refugee Therapy Centre in London and focuses on a young woman from Africa who has arrived in Britain after being persecuted in her own country.

It follows her journey as she receives therapy for her torture-trauma, and help from well-wishers, while also facing suspicion, racism and abuse.

Risky Things is using locations in both York and London during the shoot in November. The finished film will be used both as training for those working with refugees and as inspirational drama available to the public online.

Director Cathy Denford said: “We’re very pleased to have been given this grant, which will help to make this very important film raising awareness of the plight of people stuck in our asylum system.”

The company still has to raise further money from private investors and have just launched a crowd-funding campaign on Kickstarter to pay for post–production and distribution.

Casting is now complete with a number of local and national actors set to start filming in a few weeks. The process of finding locations is currently underway.

Anyone who wishes to support the project as an extra, or with access to empty spaces for location filming, or who wants to contribute to the Kickstarter campaign should contact riskythings.co.uk/current-work/