A FILM based on a North-East legend is being made by homeless people.

Charity Streetwise Opera is exploring The Legend of the Hartlepool Monkey as part of its new production, Fables – A Film Opera.

It will also include three other seven-minute films based on classic fables – The Boy who Cried Wolf, Oscar Wilde’s The Nightingale and the Rose and Shinishi Hoshi’s Hey Come on Out.

The production will be part opera and part film.

It is being created by four teams of professional composers and film-makers who are working around the country with more than 100 Streetwise participants who are either homeless or have been homeless.

Filming for The Legend of the Hartlepool Monkey took place at Hartlepool’s Maritime Experience yesterday.

The legend is probably the most famous story associated with the town.

During the Napoleonic Wars there was a fear of a French invasion of Britain.

Hartlepool fisherman kept watch as a French vessel sank in a bad storm.

The only survivor was a monkey dressed to amuse in a military-style uniform. Unsure what Frenchmen looked like, the fisherman came to the conclusion that it was a French spy and the animal was sentenced to be hanged.

Fables – A Film Opera will be premiered at Shoreditch Church, in London, on Friday, December 17, as part of the Spitalfields Winter Music Festival.

This production follows the success of a previous production, My Secret Heart, which has been seen by more then 150,000 people.

Matt Peacock, chief executive of Streetwise Opera, said: “It’s great to see our Streetwise Opera performers working yet again with some of the most exciting composers and film-makers in the country on a project that is of equal artistic and social worth.

“Our performers have been involved right from the start in a truly collaborative process, helping to create the pieces with the artists.

“We hope Fables – A Film Opera enjoys the acclaim awarded to its predecessor, My Secret Heart.”

The production is being supported by a range of organisations, including Middlesbrough Council and The Sage Gateshead.

To book tickets call Spitalfields Music Festival box office on 0207-377-1362 or visit spitalfieldsmusic.org.uk