'Just Charlie' - a challenging, yet heart-warming drama

Date published: 10 April 2018


Film preview

Having won the prestigious Audience Award at last year’s Edinburgh Film Festival, along with numerous awards internationally and receiving worldwide critical acclaim, former Oldham-based writer/actor Peter Machen’s moving drama, 'Just Charlie' premieres on Sky Cinema from this weekend, April 16.

Football star Charlie has the world at his feet.

With a top club desperate to sign him, his future is seemingly mapped out, but the teenager sees only a nightmare.

Trapped in the body of a boy, Charlie is torn between wanting to live up to her father’s expectations and shedding this ill-fitting skin.

Charlie’s next move will tear the family apart and threaten everything they hold dear.

'Just Charlie' is no ordinary coming-of-age tale.

Charlie is a girl divided between the wish to live up to her father’s expectations and the overwhelming need to be true to herself.

An all-consuming desire to embrace her true identity gives Charlie the inner strength to stand up for what she knows to be right.

Shot entirely in The Midlands Market Towns of Tamworth and Lichfield and using predominantly regional actors, 'Just Charlie' is a small film that has gone on to do big things.

This is the debut feature for Seahorse Films which incorporates Producer Karen Newman, Director Rebekah Fortune and writer Machen, and they have been overwhelmed by the response the film has received by both critics and audiences around the world.

Gender Dysphoria, or Transgenderism, is a condition that challenges our generally held belief of self and identity.

It is the mismatch between our biological gender and the gender we identify with.

What we see outside is only half the story, but for transgender people, it is a very important story.

Every character in this piece has to challenge themselves, their fundamental beliefs and deal with the emotional consequences.

It is as much their transformation as the central characters, and we hope the audience's as well.

This is a story about identity, who we think we are and who we really are. It is about being true to one's self in the face of terrible adversity.

Just Charlie is a thought-provoking, heart-warming, coming of age drama that seeks to tackle a difficult subject whilst being accessible to all.

No one should feel alone and persecuted in this world just because they are viewed as different.