Cut Films project

The Isle of Man Anti-Cancer Association commissioned a Cut Films project which was delivered in the Island’s primary schools in 2017 and 2018.

Cut Films is an innovative prevention programme aimed at young people and discourages them to start smoking.

Instead of going into schools and preaching about the dangers of smoking, we offer a more interactive and thought-provoking way for school children to increase knowledge about smoking and shisha. It allows children to express their views in a creative format that is now part of their day-to-day lives – film.

Why do we do it?

Each year, an estimated 207,000 children aged 11-15 will start smoking and two thirds of adult smokers admit to taking up the habit before the age of 18. We therefore recognized a need for a prevention project aimed specifically at young people.

A Cut Films youth worker with professional film making skills helps groups of young people to create two-minute short films. The brief is simple: the film should persuade their peers not to smoke. The finished films are then entered into an annual film competition where the Manx public had the chance to vote for their favourite film.

In 2018, Onchan, Arbory and Anagh Coar schools took part in the project and were entered into the Isle of Man film competition. The winners were announced at the Isle of Man Cut Film Awards on Tuesday 12th June at the Broadway Cinema, Villa Marina in Douglas.

Pupils from Onchan School took the judges’ choice award for their film ’Death and Chemicals’, while the entries from Anagh Coar Primary, ’Don’t Waste Your Cash on That Trash’, and Arbory School’s ’The Smoking Cauldren’, were both selected for the national finals. Anagh Coar Primary took first place in the Under 11s category, with Arbory School narrow runners-up.

The project was so successful the Isle of Man anti-cancer association has recommissioned a further two-year project starting in 2019 in secondary schools.