Fillm fame is plain sailing

Sep 11 2007 By Poppy Brady, Birmingham Mail

THE red carpet was being rolled out today as Birmingham hosted the premiere of a film based on one of the city's best-loved water landmarks.

Pogus Caesar, an award-winning film maker born in Birmingham, has created a mini-movie called Francesca's Key, which tells the story of a girl who runs away from home and embarks on a journey through Edgbaston Reservoir.

Pupils from Barford Primary School, in Edgbaston, helped to make the film at the reservoir, and were invited to the premiere today at the Odeon Cinema, in the city centre.

The event was designed to unite art and regeneration as the grand finale of an unusual consultation process for the development of Icknield Port Loop, the area surrounding the reservoir and one of the largest regeneration sites in the West Midlands.

Old factories and canalsides will be given a new lease of life as the area is regenerated through a mix of homes, bars and restaurants.

Pogus said: "Through working on the film we've unearthed the history of the area by talking to local residents, listening to their stories and working with the local history group to delve into the past and retrieve as many historical facts as possible."

The short film was commissioned by Midlands Architecture, based in Fazeley Street, Birmingham, and the Designed Environment and ISIS Waterside Regeneration.