A young film-maker from Gravesend has attracted the interest of an award-winning cast and crew for her latest short film.

How to be Human is a short science fiction film inspired by the refugee crisis and is set in a dystopian London where people have to flee the country to find a safe place to stay.

The project was started by young producer and aspiring actress Louise Salter, 22, who was born in Gravesend and has been joined by actress Sophie Kennedy Clark, who won a Scottish Bafta best film actress trophy for her part in Philomena in 2014.

Director Bruno Centofanti, who has won awards for his video journalism work at the Sunday Times, is also part of the team.

Louise said: “Refugees are real human beings with real stories, and I hope this film is a gentle reminder of that to people who watch it. I want to show people the other perspective, get them to see the other side of the story, and film can be such a powerful tool.

“I want to use this film to show that it could be anybody – nobody chooses to be a refugee.”

Other cast members include Frances Ruffelle, who won a Tony Award for her performance as Eponine in the musical Les Miserables, and Michael Winder who has appeared in Channel 4’s Misfits.

They are now in the post-production stage and have even got Mark Hutchings, who worked on the Harry Potter and X-Men films, doing their visual effects.

Louise managed to raise more than £12,000 for the film after the fundraising campaign raised 121% of its goal. She said: “People just didn’t want to stop giving. I was honestly surprised and have been so lucky that the team has been willing to come on board.

"I always believed in this project and I had this sort of blind faith that we would get the right people, and it was such a rewarding feeling when we did.”

The film is due to be premiered in April 2017. Louise and the film’s team have been invited to talk at the BFI’s Future Festival in February.