THE Great Hall of the Maltings was packed with more than 200 people on Friday night, including the mayor and mayoress of Waverley, Lyn Jackson, head of Weydon School, representatives from youth groups and other organisations, for the premiere of a film made by around 30 Farnham teenagers.

The film, Friday Nights... Saturday Mornings, was made as part of the Bourne Children and Youth Initiative and included the controversial plea: "We just want to be with our friends but where can we go when it's cold and wet?"

In this part of the film, Michael Corfield, Sam Rush, Rosie and Alice Laird, Tom Dee, Richard Nesbitt, Holly Clisby, Ben Brown and Alex Browning looked at why so many of the town's young people hang around in large gangs on the town's open spaces such as Gostrey Meadow and Rowledge Green.

This provoked some robust discussion and heated comment from adults and young people alike during a question and answer session following the film.

When it was mentioned that the film had taken 18 months to make, it was remarked: "And have things changed in that time? No!"

The Farnham Youth Project and the Hub, a pilot drop-in centre run during the school holidays, were mentioned but the prevalent feeling among the young people present was that Farnham still had a long way to go.

"Why on earth was the cinema closed?" and "why is there so little live music to appeal to young people?" were typical questions.

Other short films within the film included "The Bullied" written and produced by Cara Potter, aged 15, and starring Mel Evans, Jo Cooper, Laura Schubert, Hayley Frizzell, Steph Walsh, Katie Lampart, Keely Cott and Becky Perry. This looked at the misery caused by bullying and gave positive suggestions of how to cope with it.

Fashion Victims returned to the Farnham theme. Laura Parrack, Laura Magee and Sam Spicer pointed out that most of the shops in the town are far too expensive for young people and took up the topic of anorexia amongst teenagers and the need to wear designer labels with fashion editor Corinna Slater.

The final short film Misuc, starring Madeleine Wilson, Kate Stockton, Melody Garrison and Sophie Parratt, looked at the way the type of music young people like affects how they dress and lamented the lack of live bands playing in Farnham.

It included and interview with Andy Fernbach, owner of the world renowned Jacobs Studio just outside the town.

Co-organisers Penny Snowball and Jenny Browning said that they were delighted by the response to the film and it had been intended to provoke discussion about provision for young people.

"Although the film is specifically about Farnham, we think it represents life in small towns everywhere," said Penny Snowball.

"The important thing is that we've given them a voice - to say what they think, what they feel and what they want."

"We know that young people have always said there's nothing to do," added Jenny Browning. "But today it's made worse by the fact that they don't necessarily have the benefit of an extended family nearby. To many of them, their friends are like their family.

"Adults tend to forget that when they want to see their friends, they often meet in a pub- even if they only intend to drink an orange juice. Obviously these teenagers can't do that."

They gave special thanks to ES Video, the Farnham facilities house which had been generous with advice and practical help especially in supplying equipment and help for the screening, and also to 16-year -old Ben Gear who had acted as assistant cameraman on the film.

Michael Goodridge, mayor of Waverley, addressed the audience saying that he had been impressed by the film team when they had come and addressed the council back in May and was equally impressed by their work.

"I'm going to take a video of this film and show it to the council so we can discuss where to go from here he said."

The screening was followed by a party with young bands Devil Drug Monkey and The Elements. Devil Drug Monkey - Fabian Holland, Tony Davies, Joel Sherman, Ben Kavanagh and Owain Thomas all aged 15 and from Weydon School played on the soundtrack of the film.

The film Friday Nights...Satuday Mornings is available on video at £10 including postage and packing from Penny Snowball (725794) or Jenny Browning (714740). Any profits go to the Bourne Children and Youth Initiative.