Students' Jerriais film screened internationally

A short film created by Jersey students will be screened at international film festivals in Louisiana in the US, Galway in Ireland and the Italian island of Sardinia this year.

It was written by La Passerelle Year 10 and Year 11 students Cameron Crocker, 14, and Megan McKenna, 15, with local student Melissa Dean starring in the main role.

The piece, titled Lé Viage in Jèrriais, or The Journey in English, has already won an award for best original score at the Californian Best Shorts Competition and received an honourable mention at the UK Film Awards in November 2024.

Lé Viage is waiting for confirmation of selection for at least nine more international film festivals.

The film is about a young girl's connection with her horse which helps her to get through bullying and isolation at school.

Megan described the film's success as "shocking".

Cameron said: "It's kind of breathtaking to think that our work has gone so far."

Both said they were inspired by "personal experiences" in education and Megan's love for horse riding, which she began aged 13.

"We wanted this film to go far and wide to help people who were in similar positions to [us]," Cameron added.

La Passerelle School provides support to students struggling with education due to issues such as anxiety.

The piece was produced by local production company Green Eye Productions.

Green Eye CEO Julie Wallman said the students involved were "inspiring", having faced challenges at school.

She said: "I hope this will resonate with parents and children struggling with mainstream education."

She added that creative learning styles should be embraced to help engage every child in education.

Lé Viage is written and spoken entirely in Jèrriais, which Megan and Cameron said was a "special twist" to emphasise that communication could an take many forms.

The head of services at L'Office du Jèrriais, Ben Spink, said he was "heartened" and "proud" that Cameron and Megan chose to "shine a light on the language".

He said: "Without young people becoming interested in the language, then it won't survive, so I'm really heartened these two young people chose the language to make their film in."

He added that access to entertainment content spoken in Jèrriais helped more people learn and keep the language alive.

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