Support local creatives by attending Voices of the Valley film screening in Bega

Voices of the Valley was a collaboration that was established between RecLink, a non-profit that helps disadvantaged Australians to create socially inclusive, life-changing opportunities, and filmmaker Blake Kendall.

"We turned the Bega Valley into a film set, filming on the streets and different sorts of areas," Mr Kendall said.

The multi-day workshop which had five facilitators helped 12-to-25-year-olds to storyboard ideas, write scripts, rehearse with actors, interview, and successfully execute and edit their visions and creative storytelling, with a focus on the people of Bega Valley.

Alongside filmmaker Blake Kendall, actor Stephen Geronimos, and camera operators Ollie Birt, Daniel Fletcher, and Eloise Jones helped to assist participants.

"The idea is that we had a four-day workshop where we made films from start to finish with an open brief for all the participants so they could work in the genre or style of film they wanted - documentary or fiction films," Mr Kendall said.

Though it was a RecLink event, Bega Valley chipped in, with support from Bega Downs, supermarkets, Rabbit Content, and film equipment supplied by Sun Studios in partnership with Canon.

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One of the attendees, Ben Bowyer, 26, said it was a wonderful experience, and like cogs that kept turning, he continually voiced ideas in hopes to continue the storytelling process after the workshop.

"We've basically got a miniature production company here. We've got kids who are actors, who are editors, who know how to use a camera, it would be a shame if all those kids don't see each other again. I think it's an amazing resource," Ben said.

Ben jumped at the opportunity to speak with R U OK? ambassador Glenn Cotter, while Mr Cotter had nothing but praise for Ben.

"Naturally beautiful conversations, because it was absolutely from the heart, there was no pretext, and he just let it happen and it just went. It was really lovely," Mr Cotter said.

"I would put that as one of the highlights from the media I've done over the last five years."

At 7pm at Bega Civic Centre on Friday April 28 the community is invited to attend the free screening of the films, alongside the creators themselves.

"We had some real superstar young talent, a great selection of films and a really exciting program to share," Mr Kendall said.

"It is a celebration of local heroes. So we have many local heroes that were interviewed and shared their stories, but we've got the participants themselves for being brave enough to share their stories and for listening to others."

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