Sarah O'Carroll of Mercy Secondary School in Mounthawk, Tralee, describes making a film with the help of an acclaimed director

When I first heard of Voice Our Concern, Amnesty International's film competition, I didn't know it would be such a big deal. I'd heard that Terry George, who directed Hotel Rwanda, had been in touch with our group and made some fantastic suggestions, and of course I'd known how important an organisation Amnesty International is, but I never thought our film, which is called Child of Our Time, would be so significant.

I'm not saying it's a must-see, but it was such an experience to watch something I had written turn into something so real. I didn't write it by myself. Mr Redican, our teacher, had the class suggest ideas, helped by Terry George. I wrote the script with a classmate, Leah Herrick; we helped each other to put the ideas in our heads into words, although we struggled to create the atmosphere of situations we had never experienced.

We each wrote our own script outline, then compared them. There were quite a few differences, such as how many people should be in the main family, whether the main character should be a girl or a boy and what the opening scene should be like.

Seeing the finished film, which is nine minutes long, was my favourite part of the job. Just catching glimpses of my classmates in the background, doing their best not to laugh during serious scenes, and noticing those tiny mistakes that made the film so real, made all our hard work worthwhile.

It was strange to see how much it had evolved in such a short space of time. Changes were made to the script in its transition from paper to footage. Some improved it, others took out some of my favourite parts, but all helped to develop it into the film it is today, a film I wouldn't believe had been made by a class of 15- and 16-year-olds had I not played a part in its creative process.

Amnesty International wanted Voice Our Concern to encourage young people to document some of the world's problems, in the hope that we could make a difference. I certainly found it an enlightening and thought-provoking experience, and I am grateful to Amnesty International for the opportunity.

Child of Our Time and the other films in Amnesty International's Voice Our Concern series were shown at Cork Film Festival last week. They are also being released on DVD. If you would like to contribute to My TY, e-mail a 500-word article to gfaller@irish-times.ie. Please include your name, your school's name and a contact number