GAME OF Thrones actress Kate Dickie and veteran performer David Hayman are to help the homeless with an online screening of their film Wasted.
Proceeds from the online streaming and a special screening in Glasgow on Wednesday will go to charity Social Bite.
Written and directed by Caroline Paterson and Stuart Davids, the 2009 film tells the story of two young lovers who reconnect on the streets of Glasgow after many years apart.
Wasted follows them into a world of drug and prostitution, with Dickie playing a heroin addict longing to bring up her daughter and Hayman a long-term addict who is frightened of the world outside. Gary Lewis plays a punter who is convinced that he doesn’t have to pay for sex.
Dickie said: “Caroline and Stuart researched and developed their scripts from a mixture of press stories and Glasgow’s City Mission service-users, some of whom we filmed with – real-life characters as actors. We were in improvisation-style rehearsals for approximately six weeks and would literally be waiting for some of the young male and female prostitutes to finish performing sex acts to get on the bus to go to night shoots.”
Lewis said the film focusses on an underclass that exists in the UK.
“It humanises those caught in a never-ending cycle of poverty, addiction, sexual abuse and clandestine sexual exploitation – both the men who buy sex and the ones that trade sex,” he said.
Hayman said: “It’s a love story of two young people clinging to each other for hope and survival, trapped in an under-resourced and overwhelmed care system that is forced to focus on key performance indicators and on defending itself, yet cannot help those who so desperately need it most.”
He added: “For many homeless people, being given a roof over their heads still does not combat the isolation they experience. Leaving an institutionalised care home to live independently is impossible for so many as they do not have and have never been taught the basic self-care and soft skills necessary for employment, or the financial management skills in order to support and organise themselves. It’s why the work of social enterprises like Social Bite do such important work.”
Social Bite was initially set up to sell food, with any profit going towards providing food for homeless people. The social enterprise has now set up the Social Bite Academy, which is aimed at helping people off the streets.
“We find them accommodation, provide training, qualifications and a whole process of support, work experience and ultimately a full-time job,” said Social Bite co-founder Josh Littlejohn.
“We do everything we can to help break the cycle of homelessness. We are eternally grateful for monies raised by Wasted. It’s a harrowing depiction and I am afraid the stories told within the film are an everyday reality to myself and my team.”
Watch the film from Thursday at socialscreen.co.uk/films/wasted
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