A Bafta-nominated film by a director brought up in Medway and partly shot in the area is showing this week.

Aleem Khan returned to Gillingham to shoot Three Brothers, which is now featuring in a national screening tour that stops at Canterbury’s Gulbenkian cinema this weekend.

It follows the story of teenager Hamid, as he struggles to care for his younger brothers when their father abandons them for Pakistan.

Although not directly autobiographical, the film does include scenes shot at Mr Khan’s former school – the Howard in Rainham – and includes an event lifted directly from his childhood.

“We used to keep chickens,” he recalled. “One afternoon the fox got in and got all the chickens – only a cockerel and one hen survived. The hen was sitting on some eggs and my father brought my brother an incubator, so he took the eggs and hatched some chicks.

“He was really sad about the chickens but became the father of the chicks. I thought of that memory and thought it was an interesting way of looking at displaced grief – how when you grieve it comes out in different ways.”

As a backdrop, Gillingham also lent the film some added authenticity.

Aleem said: “We filmed a lot in Forge Lane – it was a place we used to play.

'There’s a visually interesting landscape: hills, terraced houses. It suited the look of the film. It was great shooting in Gillingham.'

“There’s a visually interesting landscape: hills, terraced houses. It suited the look of the film. It was great shooting in Gillingham.

“It became a family affair – my mum doing the catering, my dad doing transport. And it was great being at the Howard School. ”

Three Brothers was nominated in the British short film category but lost out to winner Boogaloo and Graham.

Three Brothers has been included in the Bafta Shorts tour which began in London in February and comes to Canterbury’s Gulbenkian cinema on Friday, April 10, at 8.30pm, and on Saturday, April 11 at 5.30pm.

A talk with Aleem follows the Saturday screening. Tickets cost £8 or £5 to students.

Visit www.thegulbenkian.co.uk