"THEY always say 'never will something like this happen again' but it does. Even though this is based in late 1939, it's also a statement of what happened after that as well – and what keeps on happening."

Throughout history, there have been well-documented cases of what happens to those who do not 'fit in', according to those in power. Under the Nazis, millions of European Jews were slaughtered during the Second World War, as well as gypsies, people with disabilities, Poles and other groups who did not 'fit in' with the party's ideology.

Despite the horrors of that bleak time, there have been too many other similar cases in the 20th century – Cambodia, Rwanda, Darfur and Bosnia-Herzegovina.

It is that premise of not 'fitting in' and being persecuted for it, while others watch, that has formed the basis of a new short-film, written and directed by the co-founder of a Hereford theatre company, and filmed in the county's Haugh Woods as well as over the border in Cadwgan Forest Coal Pit in Abergavenny.

Called 'Witness', the 20-minute (ish) film follows one man, played by Dominic Graville, as he attempts to escape from not only a physical enemy but a metaphoric one too. His plight is overseen by 'the face', a mysterious, omniscient character. The story also features one other actor, a child soldier, played by Joe Armstrong, who holds the ultimate decision as to the fate of the man.

Antony Jenkins, co-founder of Exit Fool Productions and director of Witness, said the film combines two separate stories – one based on an interview with someone who survived the Holocaust and witnessed child soldiers, the second a true story that a friend brought back from Bosnia.

And though the film is based in late 1939, it does not specifically refer to the plight of the Jewish people and instead, Mr Jenkins said, could apply to anyone.

"Brainwashing and paranoia, that's still happening. And the child soldier, as much as Dom's character tries to show him the right way and this is wrong, he doesn't have it. He is stuck in his ways," he said.

"It's always the same thing. What we saw in the war or Rwanda we see and think 'isn't it sad' and when it's finished people always say 'I wish I could have done something about that' but it's always too late."

Interest in the film has come from the Auschwitz Memorial Museum, the Courtyard in Hereford as well as other institutions.

It is also hoped that the unique film will put Hereford on the map.

Dominic Graville, who plays the persecuted character and is also the film's producer, said: "It's kind of like a man's quest for freedom and at the end, what is freedom anyway – what am I doing here? I think it could be any one of us today, living in this time. Have we learnt anything?"

All those involved with the film are local, including the actors and production team. The cameramen have recently won music video awards in LA.

Filming is set to start in March, and it is hoped the project will be complete by the summer before a private screening.

Mr Jenkins added: "I would like people to walk out saying 'I get that, I understand that and I feel it and enjoyed it'."

Anyone, or any institutions who would like to know more or offer financial support for the project can email Grizly-jenkins@hotmail.com