An animated film made by children from a primary school in one of Dundee’s less advantaged areas, has been chosen to appear at Scottish Students on Screen at Dundee Contemporary Arts on 23 - 24 March.

Scottish Students on Screen is a showcase of the best work produced by students and schoolchildren throughout Scotland and competition to get work into the event is fierce. One of Scottish Student's main sponsors Mike Hambly, Chief Executive of Digital Animations Group, the Bellshill based digital technology wizards who created cyberbabes Ananova and Tmmy, is so impressed with how the film came about he travelled to Midcraigie Primary School to meet the young filmmakers and see the film for himself.

Teachers at Midcraigie were struggling to find ways of engaging the children’s enthusiasm for reading and writing, when Margaret Foley, an educational adviser in English, hit upon the idea of employing author - illustrator Nick Hesketh as Writer in Residence. Nick has a unique method of gaining the trust of children who have very little access to books or magazines in their home life. He doesn’t discuss books; he acts them, lampooning bad writing and generally reducing the children to helpless laughter.  He then encourages the children to create their own scenarios and stories, making them compare their suggestions with scenes from films they all know, and by this means, illustrating the importance of story, structure, pace and plot.

The Midcraigie children took to the storytelling like ducks to water and the result was a triumph. Entitled Mole Render, the story is about a boy who buys a Mongolian Jumping Spider from a catalogue. The creature grows at a frightening speed and a terrible relationship builds up between the boy and his pet. It is described as a black, sometimes gory, comedy.

The potential for turning the story into an animated film was clear for adviser Margaret Foley, who called on the skills of animators David Sandreuter and Bruce Husband. Within days two classrooms were turned into make shift animation studios, and pupils found themselves script writing, casting, model making and editing. Soon Mole Render -the Movie became a reality.

John Archer Chief Executive of Scottish Screen says of the project. "It is so encouraging to hear of successes like Mole Render as it illustrates how important the moving image is in catching children’s imagination and leading them seamlessly into other areas of education. It will be fascinating to see the range of work produced by schoolchildren of all ages as well as that of the students at Scottish Students on Screen."

Mike Hambly says. "We decided to support Scottish Students on Screen because we believe in encouraging creative talent in children of all ages. The work we have seen from the primary schools clearly demonstrates that there is a huge enthusiasm for the creative arts and that it can have a really positive impact on a child's broader education. Midcraigie Primary is a prime example. I think everyone who entered a piece of work should be congratulated and encouraged to go further."