A GROUP of young Muslims from Bristol have made a film looking at Islamophobia in the city.

The film, called Islam Ain't That Scary, premiered at the Watershed on the anniversary of the 9/11 attacks.

The youngsters, aged between 13 and 18, covered all aspects of production with support of media industry professionals.

Bristol-based production company Zed Productions and local charity Integrate Bristol have worked in partnership to help them produce the film over a period of six months.

In the film, two young presenters, Shamil Ahmed, 18, and Nawaaz Hussein, 17, travel around Bristol to see how people feel about Islam – this includes walking around in full Islamic dress and talking to youngsters from the Southmead Youth Centre before inviting them to a Muslim rap concert in St Werburgh's, and interviewing an academic, the police, a local Imam and the producer of BBC Three's programme My Brother The Islamist.

Its producers say that the film, which is funded by First Light Movies and the Big Lottery Fund, encourages integration but also admits that there is more that the young Muslims can do to create better PR for their religion.

Nawaaz Hussein said: "I really enjoyed making the film, I wanted to see what people's responses would be and how I would feel. Also I loved filming with the professional crew, they were brilliant. We aimed to see if the idea of Islamophobia does exist in Bristol or if it is blown out of proportion by the media and individuals.

"We wanted to show if people's idea of Islam is the same as our idea and why it differs, if it does.

"We went around asking different people their views on Islam and the interviewees ranged from a police officer, an Imam, a university professor, a producer of a television show, children from Southmead youth centre and people on the streets of Bristol."

The managing director of Zed Productions said: "The young people chose a really challenging subject and have produced a great documentary."