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FINDING MY VOICE

By Arabella BURFITT-DONS

Drama - Completed 2025

When life crumbles around Melanie and her family, it's going to take strength, resilience and the dream of a better life overcome what lies ahead.

- Year of production
- 2025
- Genres
- Drama, Family, Musical
- Countries
- UNITED KINGDOM
- Languages
- ENGLISH
- Budget
- 0 - 0.3 M$
- Duration
- 130 mn
- Director(s)
- Arabella BURFITT-DONS
- Writer(s)
- Donna TAYLOR
- Cast
- Michelle RYAN, Nick MORAN, Kierston WAREING, Peter ANDRE, Rachel WARREN, Arafin PUTRA, Anais GARNESS, Junior ANDRE
- Producer(s)
- Donna TAYLOR (DT Films), Djonny CHEN (Silent D Pictures)
- Synopsis
- Popstar Melanie Kendall speaks out in an interview about a traumatic time she had in her teens before she became famous.
  
  At 15, Melanie lives with her three siblings and her alcoholic single mother Lisa on a council estate in North London. She has dreams of becoming a star and making it as a singer, and prepares for an upcoming scholarship audition at a top music college. One evening whilst babysitting for her mother, Mel’s baby sister Katy passes away from meningitis. As Melanie has been left to care for the siblings and Lisa is intoxicated at work, Melanie is moved out of her home and is forced to live with her Aunt Maria and Uncle Chris by social services.
  
  Maria seems to struggle with the adjustment, and ends up convincing her husband Chris to have her moved into foster care. In the foster home Melanie meets another teenager Freya who convinces her to get back to her singing and to apply for a talent show. When Melanie gets called to the live auditions in Edinburgh they’re in need of money to travel to the show. Freya convinces Mel to run away from the foster home to another house, called ‘the castle’ where she meets Kizzy, the owner, who seems overly generous.
  
  Melanie is convinced her life has finally turned around and she has found happiness once again in her music. But things turn particularly dark when it’s revealed that Mel is being groomed for prostitution and the house is a well known brothel for young girls. Melanie is now indebted to Kizzy, vulnerable and with no where to turn. Broken by the loss of her family and riddled with guilt and self hate, will she give in? Melanie escapes and reunites with her family but do we know what really happened at the Castle? Will Melanie find her voice not just to sing again but to speak out about the truth?