Pupils at Merton schools have created a short film for Wimbledon BookFest which encourages audiences to challenge the stereotypes they hold.

Ursuline High School students, all of which are in year 12 and studying either drama, humanities or English, took a trip to the University of Roehampton to collaborate with media students as part of the joint project.

They filmed on the morning of Thursday, July 16 having scouted out locations across the campus for different scenes.

Wimbledon Times:

As well as Ursuline, pupils from St Mark’s Academy in Mitcham and Rutlish School in Wimbledon also took part in the filming project. All three teams were set the challenge of making a film on the theme of Through the Looking Glass by organisers of the Wimbledon BookFest Young Film Makers Programme.

Ursuline’s film was titled Shattered Sight and was based on changing and challenging the stereotypes commonly held about different people.

The film featured a pupil acting the role of a thug, who in fact turned out to be an undercover police officer, as well as a homeless man, a businesswoman and a biker, all of which had unexpected stories.

The theme is one which celebrates the 150th anniversary of Alice in Wonderland.

A young writing competition with the same theme saw hundreds of entries from school children across Merton and Wandsworth turn traditional fairytale stories around to create new versions.

The winners will be announced at the book festival in October.

Star-studded Wimbledon BookFest line-up revealed ahead of ninth festival

Lisa Thefaut, Ursuline's director of extended learning, said: "Coming up to the University and creating a film has been an excellent experience for them and brilliant enrichment for their CVs and personal statements."

"They have created, written, organised and recorded their film as a work experience project, and spending time on the Roehampton campus with students has given them a good idea about university life as well."

The team’s director, pupil Laura Holliday, said: "We’ve found out how much work goes into making even a short film and it’s really made us appreciate the time it takes, and how much goes into making a feature film. It’s been a great experience."

All three schools’ films will be shown to audiences during Wimbledon BookFest in October, and they will be available to watch online closer to the time.

Visit www.wimbledonbookfest.org. for more details on the festival.