But the group of 100 children, who mostly live in public housing estates in the Illawarra, still need some help putting the finishing touches on Protection, a film telling the story of their childhood.

The film has been developed with the support of a small team of filmmakers working for Beyond Empathy, a not-for-profit community, arts and cultural development organisation that uses the arts to build opportunities for young people who live in disadvantaged places.

On Wednesday, Beyond Empathy staff and mentors such as Phil Crawford joined the young stars to present a pop-up event of their film at the Music Lounge inside Wollongong Town Hall.

They unveiled a specially designed cinema cubby where children, parents, teachers and guardians converged to watch the film and talk about the importance of protective behaviours and respectful relationships.

‘’We are running a crowdfunding campaign,’’ Mr Crawford said.

‘’The kids are trying to raise some money so they can finish the film and tour it around the country and show it to other families because they feel like the stories in it are really important for other people to think about.’’

Three years in the making, Protection explores the raw themes of bullying, honesty, compassion, empathy and friendship and is made up of 32 storylines that have been drawn up through the children’s own real-life experiences and personalities.

They include an Aboriginal girl overcoming bullying in her dance class, a boy owning up to throwing an object from a freeway overpass and causing an accident to a group of kids keeping public housing landlords at bay to stop a friend from being evicted.

‘’These are the heartfelt stories of children wanting to be seen and heard and valued and protected,’’ Mr Crawford said.

‘’That’s why the film launch was aimed to coincide with Child Protection Week (September 3-9).’’

Teachers, students and Barrack Heights Public School principal Sarah Rudling were also in the crowd supporting the event.

‘’We have been working with Beyond Empathy for more than two years to support the kids they are working with outside and within the school,’’ Ms Rudling said.

‘’Some of my staff are going to create some lesson plans and ideas so when this film is released and it’s able top go into schools, then educators have got a start point.’’

A peer education tool, Protection raises discussions around feelings, trust, challenges, obstacles and identity and shows how even in complex situations, children are naturally trying to act as positive agents of change.