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Wednesday 24 Sep 2014

Press Release

The Extraordinary Me season

Jasmine Wakefield-Burkitt and her mother Bev Burkitt in Small Teen Bigger World

This new season of programmes for ´óÏó´«Ã½ Three focuses on extraordinary young people with extraordinary stories to tell – from coping when your mum in prison, losing your dad to genocide, stepping out into the world when you have had severe facial burns, living with terminal cancer, coming out as a drag queen or getting to grips with life when you're 4ft tall. This season of programmes is a celebration of some extraordinary people who are living in Britain today.

Small Teen Bigger World
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Although she’s only 3ft 11, 17-year-old Jazz has never let her size get in her way. From the age of 13, she has cared for her mum who also has restrictive growth. Following last year’s remarkable ´óÏó´«Ã½ Three documentary, this follow-on series sees her embarking on a life-changing journey by leaving Colwyn Bay to study animal welfare at a residential college. How will she cope without mum who home schooled her, is the only person who can make her laugh and who truly understands her?

When Jazz was born, mum Bev asked her dad to stay out of their lives. While she was growing up, he was appearing in a ´óÏó´«Ã½ documentary about homelessness, begging and drug addiction. In the first episode, Jazz meets her estranged father for the first time. Every significant moment of Jazz's life is captured on home video and this warm and intimate series documents Jazz's journey into adulthood.

Roger: Genocide Baby
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At 16, Roger Nsengiyumva has already made a name for himself as the star of the football movie Africa United. But there's something else about Roger; he was born in the Rwandan genocide of 1994 and only survived thanks to the raw courage of his mother. She spent 100 days hiding her newborn baby from the murderous gangs, and then bravely escaped to Britain after seeing her husband, Roger's dad, shot dead.

This is the powerful story of Roger's return to his homeland to discover the harrowing truths of his family history and to find out whether he can share his mother’s remarkable willingness to forgive those who destroyed both their lives.

Jamie – Drag Queen At 16
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This moving and uplifting documentary follows teenager Jamie as he makes a bold statement about his transition into adulthood.

Growing up in an ex-mining village in County Durham, Jamie has already faced his fair share of difficulties after coming out as gay at 14. However, with supportive family and friends around him, Jamie has now decided that he is ready to share with his peers his dreams of becoming a drag queen.

The programme follows Jamie as he embarks on a journey to discover more about his future vocation. He meets an established drag artist and performs as his alter ego for the very first time to a large audience – but how will Jamie’s peers react when he reveals his future plans?

As Jamie has some frank and intimate family moments, the film explores his hopes and fears about leaving his small village behind for the bright lights of the city.

Josie And The Cancer Curse
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´óÏó´«Ã½ Three's new thought-provoking series follows Josie, a normal 18-year-old girl struggling with a potentially life changing decision.

Josie's grandmother and great-great-grandmother both died of breast cancer and her own mother and aunt have had preventative double-mastectomies because they carry a genetic fault which puts them at high risk of developing breast cancer.

Josie now believes she's ready to take the test which will determine whether she carries the same genetic fault as her mother and aunt. But whilst Josie is adamant she is mature enough to cope with the test, her entire family around her disagrees.

In a bid to help her come to a decision, Josie will embark on a three month journey where she will meet people that carry both BRCA1 and BRCA2 gene mutations as well as Britain's youngest preventative double-mastectomy patient. Josie will also look closer to home as she follows her 23-year-old sister taking the test and asks her other sister why she has decided against it.

But at the end of the three month journey – what will Josie decide and how will it change her life?

Kellie – The Girl Who Played With Fire
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When Kellie O'Farrell was two she was trapped in a car fire that should have killed her. Following the fire she went through years of painful surgery, but the accident has left her with severely deformed hands and a facial disfigurement.

Now 22, Kellie wants to carve out a life for herself all on her own. She's leaving the security of her friends and family behind to become a student at London’s Goldsmiths College.

But it’s not going to be all plain sailing. Though Kellie is happy with the way she looks, she has faced prejudice all her life and often people don’t know how to act around her. On top of this, she’s challenged on a physical level that her peers are not.

Kellie is an extraordinary young woman – vibrant, funny, feisty and full of life. Is she ready for the big city? And is the big city ready for her?

Prison, Mum And Me
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Relationships between teenage girls and their mothers are never easy. But how does it feel when your mum – the one person who's supposed to protect and nurture you – is deemed to be such a threat to society that she’s locked up in prison?

Filmed over a six-month period, Prison, Mum And Me follows the lives of three teenage girls whose mums are involved in the prison system to explore what life is like growing up with a mum behind bars.

With intimate access to the girls’ remarkable and often heart-breaking stories, this film discovers what it’s like to be a teenager – dealing with all the usual pressures of growing up and at the same time, having to cope with the stigma and stress of your mum being in and out of prison.

Alex: A Life Fast Forward
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Alex Lewis has a remarkable zest for life. Aged 21 he confronts death while falling in love and encourages his friends and family to join in the celebrations.

Alex was first diagnosed with bone cancer shortly before his 18th birthday. After three years of intensive treatment, he realises he is running out of options. He decides to cram as much life as possible into the time he has left.

On the first day of filming in June 2010 his only sadness is not being able to commit to a long-term relationship. That evening he goes to a party in Swansea, kisses a girl, falls in love and within weeks they are inseparable. In September Alex and Ali become engaged to be married. This is a story of the power of love, as a young man confronts his mortality in the most emotionally charged circumstances imaginable.

JL

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