One Mile Away

One Mile Away was directed by Penny Woolcock and produced by James Purnell, and documents what happens after two rival gang members; Matthias 'Shabba’ Thompson, 33, (Johnsons) and Dylan Duffus, 31, (Burger Bar Boys), make the decision to call a truce and campaign for peace.It was set north-east of Birmingham city centre, in an area of Aston known for violence among gangs and drug dealers. The older members teach younger members how to follow in their paths, imparting their knowledge to the next generation. This would mean those as young as twelve are being taught how to sell drugs and use knives.The film follows a group of rival gang members in Birmingham during the intense summer of 2011, as they fight for a truce after the best part of 20 years of gang warfare.Each of the characters present in the film have all been through a tragic experience in the 'hood life'. One of the characters was shot in the leg.




The film was funded by Channel 4, Barrow Cadbury Trust and Creative England, with development grants from PUMA (development grant) and Fallon (development grant) and  Influence Film Fund. Also distribution and the social impact work of the film is funded by Bertha Foundation as well as donations from the public.

The main promotion for this film is free social networking sites. This is because the budget for the film was very small and so had no money to spare for things such as advertising/marketing. Also social networking sites are so popular nowadays that words has the ability to travel quickly.

The work that Shabba, Dylan and Penny started didn’t stop when the film was released. A group of the gang members from both the Burgers and the Johnsons have formed a group to take the message of the film into schools and to bring about change in areas around the country most affected by gang violence.Their work will focus on engaging youth and gang members with the aim of stimulating a change in the mentality, which has held their communities in a state of destruction for the last twenty years.