A TRIBUTE to a Mangotsfield teenager who died in a plane crash has had its premiere at a film festival.
My Friend Who Died tells the story of Jamie Clapp and the effect on his friends of his death in 2007, at the age of 13.
It has been made by Jamie’s friend James Harris, who now works as the head of the film department at a creative agency in Clevedon.
James put the film together using video he filmed of his friends skateboarding over several years before Jamie’s death, adding footage of news reports in the aftermath of the tragedy and newly-filmed location shots.
It was given its premiere at the Homegrown Shorts film festival at Clevedon’s Curzon Cinema in late March.
James has now released the 23-minute movie on YouTube, where it received more than 6,000 views in its first four weeks.
James said: “The premiere went brilliantly. The film received a huge round of applause and lots of support.
“The film has had a lot of positive feedback since it went online.”
Viewers who have commented on the film on YouTube have described it as “really beautiful”, “stunning” and “an amazing story of community and friendship”.
James got to know Mangotsfield School pupil Jamie through their shared love of skateboarding.
He started making hour-long skateboarding films, many of them filmed in Emersons Green, for the group after a broken arm that left him temporarily unable to skate.
My Friend Who Died starts at Clutton airfield, the scene of the light aircraft crash that claimed Jamie’s life. The plane was being flown by a family friend, Robert Gunter, 33, an inexperienced pilot who had taken ecstasy before the flight.
The film goes on to explore the effect of Jamie’s death on James and his other friends, the campaign they worked on with Jamie’s dad Gordon, who died last year, to create a skate park in his memory in Emersons Green, and how the friends meet up there every year to keep Jamie’s memory alive.
Its poignant closing titles feature a recording of Jamie singing a cover of Will Young’s song Evergreen that James kept on a CD.
The film can be found by searching for My Friend Who Died on YouTube or at tinyurl.com/yk6c84sd.