Sundance Film Festival

The word “cherries� may be an American Army slang term that refers to unused or untried military equipment and weaponry, but it is also the title of a digitally-shot short film from our neighbors across the pond. Funded by Film London and the U.K. Film Council, Cherries tackles a controversial statistic in Great Britain.

The country has the lowest deployment and recruitment age for soldiers in Europe and has been condemned by Amnesty International as the only European country that has routinely sent under-18s into armed conflict. And, according to the film’s press release, for the first time in its history, the Territorial Army has seen members compulsorily drafted into regular army units in combat zones.

Director Tom Harper and first-time Screenwriter Fiona Kissane set Cherries, shot in HDCAM SR, in the near future. A group of teenaged schoolboys mess around in the schoolyard, checking egos and measuring each other up. Their teacher has an unexpected announcement waiting for them inside that will change their lives forever. The story takes aim not just at the government for allowing this kind of thing to happen, but also at he youngsters, who carry on with their lives oblivious to the fact that the world they ignore may directly affect them someday. Read On at Scene-Stealers.com