Wigan father and daughter produce film to spotlight the damaging effects of bullying

Justin Walker, a community support worker at Atherleigh Park hospital, produced Theirs Not To Reason Why with 11-year old Islien starring as the lead role to create awareness of the issue.

The 42-year-old realised that around seven out of 10 service users he comes across attribute a period of bullying to their mental health problems and reason they sought help.

Due to his daughter herself having to experience bullying for a short period, he wanted to demonstrate how it has changed over the years.

Justin said: “Obviously bullying isn’t something that’s new, it’s been around forever but as times change and technology has evolved it doesn’t end at the school gates anymore. I wanted to make a short film about how a young person might feel these days.

"My daughter was the catalyst for it and she brought a lot of personal experiences to it.”

Produced with no budget, it’s one of three short films focusing on mental health filmed and edited on a smartphone, making it an amateur production which took a couple of months to produce due to work and school commitments.

Another of Justin’s productions titled Only Human has also been selected to feature at the Tees Valley International Film Festival taking place in October.

This was after it gained attention online, particularly on Twitter, with UCLAN getting in contact to inquire about using the two-minute clip for their self-care sessions awareness. Only Human will also be featuring on BBC Radio Manchester on Saturday September 23 at 7.10pm prior to an interview with Justin himself.

Justin said: “I am planning on making another short film, involving bullying again but how that may impact someone as an adult and how they perceive the world following their experiences.

"Alan Whitehead helped with the music for the film, and did it for free, it was really kind of him to help me out with this so I’d like to give him a shout-out for that.”

All of the short films produced so far can be found on youtube on the Illy-Pheebs Productions channel.