A FILM produced by a West Dorset man has been heaped with praise for its gritty take on the life of a child soldier.

Sixteen is produced by Bridport man Nic Jeune and stars Rachael Stirling, daughter of Dame Diana Rigg, who shot to fame in the TV adaptation of Tipping the Velvet and went on to star in Snow White and the Huntsman, Salmon Fishing in the Yemen and TV's The Bletchley Circle.

There will be a special screening of the independent film at Bridport Arts Centre on Thursday and at Lighthouse, Poole on May 5. Both screenings will be followed by question and answer sessions with the filmmakers.

British urban thriller Sixteen tells the story of an African former child soldier called Jumah (Roger Nsengiyumva) who was brought to London by Laura, an aid worker who he now lives with.

Jumah is about to turn 16 in two days and wants to leave his violent past behind him. Things seem to have taken a turn for the better with Jumah now; he has a sweet but tentative romance blossoming with a girl at school. But then Jumah witnesses a stabbing and the people involved want to make sure that Jumah says nothing to the police about what he saw that night.

Pressure mounts as violence forces its way back into Jumah?s life.

Sixteen debuted at the London Film Festival in 2013, picking up nominations for Best Debut Film and Rob Brown, the film's writer and director, was nominated for Best British Newcomer.

The film has very close links to Dorset - Rob studied at at Bournemouth University where he met most of the crew on the project.

Nic worked for many years as an assistant director since he was 1st assistant director on the BFI feature Stella Does Tricks in 1996.

The productions he worked on garnered more than 50 BAFTAs and other awards, most noticeably for his work with the director Peter Kosminsky with whom he made five films including Warriors (1999) and The Government Inspector (2005).

He currently works as an independent producer and also runs a masters in feature film making at Bath Spa University where he is Director of Artswork Media.

Sixteen is at Bridport Arts Centre on Thursday at 7.30pm and at Lighthouse, Poole on May 5 at 6pm.

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