Sixteen is an urban thriller about which stars Roger Jean Nsengiyumva as Jumah a former African child soldier, brought to London by Laura (played by Rachael Stirling), an aid worker who he now lives with.
Roger (represented by United Agents) starred in the CBBC Drama Postcode and prior to that the acclaimed feature film Africa United.
Jumah is about to turn 16 in two days and wants to leave his violent past behind him. Things seem to have taken a turn for the better with Jumah now; he has a sweet but tentative romance blossoming with Chloe (played by Rosie Day) at school. But then Jumah witnesses a stabbing and the people involved want to make sure that Jumah says nothing to the police about what he saw that night. Pressure mounts as violence forces its way back into Jumahʼs life.
The film is informed by a range of real life cases discovered by Rob Brown during the research process. Additionally, lead star Roger Nsengiyumva called on the knowledge of Emmanuel Jal, friend and co-star in Africa United, who was a child soldier and has published an autobiography, War Child: A Child Soldier’s Story on the subject.
Sixteen will also have a select number of screenings in the US from April, and the film will then be available on Video-on-Demand.