Teenager Sebastian Tuma met the Culture Secretary and his local MP from London’s East End at the House of Commons yesterday to talk about his passion for making films.

East London Advertiser: Sebastian Tuma on location filming his award-winning 'Let Me Dream'Sebastian Tuma on location filming his award-winning 'Let Me Dream' (Image: Eastside Trust)

He directed a short film, ‘Let Me Dream’, as part of the Youth Voices programme run by Eastside Educational Trust in youth centres and schools across east London.

The 18-year-old’s award-winning film won second place in the international Adobe Youth Voice awards earlier this year.

Sebastian, a member of Poplar’s Spotlight Youth centre, is passionate about filmmaking. He was invited to take part in Adobe’s film-making camp in the summer holidays, working with professional movie-makers to develop, shoot and edit a short film in only a week.

The parliamentary reception held to tell MPs about youth media and giving youngsters a voice also marked the 20th anniversary of Eastside, the educational charity that sends artists and producers to schools and youth centres teaching them film-making and animation using Aedobe computer software.

Sebastian met both the Culture Secretary Sajid Javid and Poplar & Limehouse MP Jim Fitzpatrick yesterday to talk about the Youth Voice programme and how technology and digital skills are transforming his future.

Eastside’s director Chris Enticott said later: “Seeing young people talking to their local MPs about their experiences, dreams and challenges they face underlines how important it is to give them the chance to find their voice and make it heard. We use the arts to help them develop their creativity and confidence.”

The charity based at Shoreditch helps youngsters by giving them confidence to develop their creative and digital skills using computer technology.