A NEWPORT film student is looking for actors to star in his film tackling the issue of bedroom tax.

James Kilpatrick, 20, a documentary film and TV student at Newport University city campus has decided to take on the challenge of creating a film around the issue of bedroom tax to raise awareness of the problem affecting many people across Gwent.

The graduate film estimated to last ten to15 minutes, will see actors portraying a family struggling to cope following the welfare reforms to cut the amount of benefit that people can get if they are deemed to have a spare bedroom in their council or housing association home.

Mr Kilpatrick will act as the director of the film with fellow students Jack Morris, 22 as cameraman and Jo Burnett, 20 on sound.

Mr Kilpatrick, who is also head activist for the film said: “We hope to achieve awareness to the masses to understand the issue of bedroom tax.

“Most students are not aware of bedroom tax because it is not affecting them.

“I am pretty shocked about what is happening in South Wales at the moment.

“I want to make a film about bedroom tax as many people in South Wales are being affected by it.”

The students have already made a film on the issue, filming the bedroom tax protest in Cardiff on October 26 and plan to complete the film by the end of the year.

Mr Kilpatrick is looking for volunteers to star in the film and is hoping that people with disabilities may come forward to tell their stories through film.

“The film will focus on their house and they may have lived in it a long time but now may be evicted,” he added.

“I am hoping that people facing disabilities may be involved as we have heard quite a few stories about people who need their second bedroom for their apparatus but are unable to.”

Managing Director of Tenantiaid Cymru / Welsh Tenants Steve Clarke said: “We are concerned about the bedroom tax impacting on the 37,000 tenants impacted in Wales and in some parts of Wales we have seen a rise in empty properties as an unintentional consequence of bedroom tax.

“So we are very concerned about it.”