Rochdale teens make Jihad documentary

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Sameer Aboo, Mohammed Raj Hussain, Usman Masood were presented with an 'Oscar' by Waterloo Road actress Shannon Flynn

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A group of Rochdale teenagers have made a short documentary about Jihad and what it means because they were so fed up of all the negativity surrounding its meaning.

The group of black and Asian young men from the Rochdale Connections Trust were worried that people saw them as terrorists and didn’t understand what Jihad meant.

Sameer Aboo, Mohammed Raj Hussain, Usman Masood, Shabaz Shah and Abid Mohammed made the documentary called ‘…and, we’re not terrorists.’ It was screened for the first time at the trust on Drake Street today (Monday 21 June) and was very well received.

The fifteen minute film discusses what people think Jihad means, how the media portray it and how people can understand its meaning.

Those watching the film learnt that Jihad refers to a struggle.

The team of six young men aged between 14 and 17-years-old interviewed various people for their documentary including the Archdeacon of Rochdale, Cherry Van, Chief Superintendent John O’Hare and Ghulam Shazad OBE as well as members of the public.

Following the documentary’s launch the team were presented with an ‘Oscar’ from Waterloo Road actress Shannon Flynn.

Vivien Carter, chairwoman of the Rochdale Connections Trust is delighted with the short film, she said: “It is brilliant. It was all their idea and we just helped to put it into practice. Now we hope to look at going on to make longer documentaries and are hoping to use this one to help us get funding.”

Peace Effects Media were responsible for the editing of the film and teaching the six young men how to use the equipment, John Farrington from Peace Effect Media said: “They have done really well we helped them along the way but it was up to them to have a steady hand and without good footage I wouldn’t have been able to do good editing. I am very pleased with the end result, and if everyone else is pleased then so are we.”

Chief Superintendent John O’Hare featured in the documentary, he hadn’t seen any of the footage until today, he said: “It is a really professional production. I think the message is stronger when it is channeled through the eyes of young people.

“This is the best format in which I have seen this issue discussed and it is great to be involved. I thought it was genuinely really good it is an emotional subject and they covered it well.”

Rochdale Connections Trust, Trustee, John Kay said: “It was very brave to tackle this issue and they have done it very professionally.”

“I think a film like this can do a lot of good.”