Shooting Magpies
Amber Films 2005
Emma, a mother at fifteen, now in her early twenties, wants some kind of normality for herself and her two daughters. Local gold dealer Ray tries to steer an addict son back towards an interest in harness racing. Barry, single father and ex-youth worker, keeps an eye on the streets, fearful for his son Callum. "You used to come across the kids you worked with in the court round-ups," he observes. "You're getting them in the obituaries now." When, one last time, Emma tries to get her partner Darren off heroin, Barry is drawn into a chain of events that begins to threaten the relationship he has built with his son.
Whippets in union jacks turn out for a visit by the Queen, but the new wind turbines seem to mock the memory of the coalfield and the identity it gave. Beyond the edges of the mainstream economy, gold chains can be more useful than savings accounts and bad decisions have hard consequences. Heroin and the hopelessness it both feeds off of and inspires are just a part of an everyday landscape which has to be negotiated. And people keep going: trying to construct new lives; watching their children...
Set in post-industrial East Durham, in the North East of England, Shooting Magpies is a film about hope and survival.
Shot on digital video, Shooting Magpies is the third feature film in Amber’s coalfield trilogy. The Scar (1997) looked at the lives of women after the Miners’ Strike and the campaign against closures. Like Father (2001) explored men’s lives.
Location
Seaham, Easington, Thornley & Craghead, County Durham
Newcastle
The Breakies, Redcar
Credits
Music: Rick Taylor and Frank Gibbon
Made with the financial support of Northern Rock Foundation, Northern Film & Media and Channel 4.
Cast
Emma: Emma Dowson
Barry: Barry Gough
Cal: Callum Gough Jackson
Jade: Jade Bell
Shannon: Shannon Harker
Darren: Darren Bell
Rocky: Rocky Langthorne
Deano: Sanchez Coulson
Ray: Brian Hogg
Spike: Spike Bostock
Others: Diane McFarlane, Daniel Thompson, Andra Conn, Marilyn Johnson, Joe Armstrong, David Ord, Martin James, Kevin Buck and Wayne Buck.
Keywords
Coal, Durham, mining, Post-Industrial, Seaham, pit closure, heroin, Easingto
Reviews and Awards
Special Mention, Britspotting Festival, Berlin 2006
Fine performances and an unflinching gaze... New York Times
Digital Versions
Yes