Penny Woolcock returns to the site of her 2009 fictional feature film, 1 Day, for this powerful documentary (and winner of the Michael Powell Award for Best British Feature at this year’s Edinburgh Film Festival) about feuding gangs in Birmingham. Using the connections she garnered when she cast real gang members in her earlier film, Woolcock attempts to intervene in violence that has continued for close to 30 years.

Filmmaking could be seen as an unusual form of conflict resolution, but Woolcock’s combination of otherness and talent for gaining access makes it a possibility. Up-close-and-personal documentary footage is interspersed with rap performances by gang members, serving to illuminate the creative potential that will be lost if the marginalisation of this generation is not addressed. It makes for a compelling combination.

Winner – Best British Feature – Edinburgh International Film Festival

“Woolcock has a talent for gaining trust and giving a voice to those marginalised or demonised by the mainstream media” Screen.

Official trailer for One Mile Away documentary.

The film will be followed by a Q and A and performance with cast member Zimbo

This film is showing as part of the IFI Stranger Than Fiction Festival 2012, Dublin’s Documentary Festival