A BOLTON director’s new film opened a prestigious festival in London last night.

Lynne Harwood’s film — Big Society The Musical — is part of the London Labour Film Festival at the Odeon cinema in Covent Garden.

The film, which was produced by Merseyside based not for profit filmmaking organisation First Take, also features another Bolton woman, Paula Simms, as the leading lady.

Set in Liverpool in 2011, the film is played out against the backdrop of events such as austerity marches, the Royal Wedding and the riots.

Paula plays a woman in her late 40s who works with young offenders but loses her job, and risks her home and her relationship to help a disillusioned 14-year-old boy who has no one else to support him.

Ms Harwood, who grew up off Chorley New Road in Bolton, said: “It is our creative response to the cuts. Big Society The Musical is about standing up and saying this is who we are — the real big society — and our actions speak louder than their words.

“As one of the characters in the film sings, if they don’t see us march, then we’ll dance. And if they don’t hear us shout, then we’ll sing. And that’s what we’re doing with this film.”

For more information visit first-take.org/bigsocietythemusical