Show my knife crime film in schools, says ex boyfriend of actress Brooke Kinsella

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A scene from his film Life Sentence

A former Eastenders actor who directed a hard hitting film on knife crime has called for it to be shown to all London’s schoolchildren in an effort to help tackle the culture of youth violence.

Actor and film-maker Ray Panthaki said the film was originally made as a tribute to Ben Kinsella, the brother of former Eastenders actress Brooke Kinsella, after he was stabbed to death in London.

Mr Panthaki, 35, who was dating Ms Kinsella at the time, today spoke for the first time about the devastation caused by the murder on the family of the 16-year-old who was stabbed to death in Islington in June 2008.

Ray Panthaki wants his knife crime film to be shown in schools

He said : “You do not expect anything like that to happen to someone you know, especially someone so close to you. The film reflects what I witnessed, it was a family, one of the most loving families I have ever met, falling apart one by one.

“In the film I am trying to get across the effect on that family, that they each lost a part of them that day and they will never be the same again. That is the harsh reality.”

He added: “Ben was like a brother to me at the time and this was a way of channeling my anger.”

His film Life Sentence, which highlights the devastating effects on a family of a fatal stabbing, won the best short film award at the East End Film Festival last year and was long listed for the BAFTA awards earlier this year.

Mr Panthaki, who co-produced Kidulthood, said : “It is easy to do a film saying put down your knives but I wanted to tell the story from a different point of view, from the view of someone’s sister or grandmother.

“I have seen the reaction the film has on young people and I want it to have a wider audience. I want to get it into schools and in prisons. The film’s ending in particular sparks a lot of debate. At first they say ‘what is going on’ but then they understand.”

The actor, who is co-starring with Line of Duty actress Vicky McClure in a new comedy film Convenience, was speaking after recent figures showed 850 young people under-25 suffered serious stab injuries in London last year.

Last year 12 teenagers were murdered in London, seven of them victims of knife crime.

In the last incident James Hunter, 18, was stabbed to death last month as he allegedly tried to break up a fight between two rival gangs in Sydenham.

Mr Panthaki said the film, shot on location in east London by cinematographer Pierre Aim who filmed the acclaimed French movie La Haine, need to reach an audience of young people.

He said : “I want the Standard to launch the film to a wider audience because of the campaigns and stories you continually cover on knife crime.”

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