Side Cinema
March on SideTV
Double Vision Boxing for Hartlepool on Channel 1
Boxing has always been one of the territories that has interested Amber in its documentation of the North of England and in 1986, with the help of George Bowes’ gym it made the film Double Vision: Boxing for Hartlepool (Amber, 1986, 60min). With Ray Stubbs as a journalist who is cynical about the sport and Sammy Johnson an ex-boxer challenging his assumptions, the blend of drama and documentary explores the motives for going into the ring and the contradictions that exist within the sport. Double Vision
It’s Not All Peachy on Channel 2
Emer McCourt’s documentary follows the trials of Rosie, a young homeless woman on Tyneside, as she tries to find somewhere to stay. Made as part of Northern Film & Media’s Capture scheme, it’s a moving and illuminating film, drawing an energy from the sheer difficulty of its subject’s life. (Emer McCourt, 2009, 13min) It's Not All Peachy
Ship Hotel – Tyne Main on Channel 3
Philip Trevelyan’s 1967 documentary about the Gateshead pub remains one of the best films ever made on Tyneside. Philip was friend of Amber’s Murray Martin and the film was a major influence on Amber, along with Philip’s cult classic The Moon & The Sledgehammer made in 1971 about a family living in a wood in Sussex. Also known simply as Ship Tyne Main, the film captures the sheer cultural richness of a Sunday lunchtime at the pub, the extraordinary singing, the dominoes, the crack, the carryings-on. Using minimal drama alongside the documentary, the film sees young Tyneside poets Tom and Connie Pickard in the mix of customers. (Philip Trevelyan, 1967, 30min) Ship Hotel
News From Durham on Channel 4
This ten minute discussion ‘trigger tape’ from the build-up to the 1984 Miners’ Strike combines footage of the 100th Durham Miners’ Gala, held in 1983, with extracts from an NUM weekend school that came together to discuss the issues that were facing the union and the mining communities. The video was a forerunner of the celebrated Miners’ Campaign Tapes that were developed by the Film Workshop Movement during the strike. (Amber, 1983, 10min) News From Durham
Laurie on Channel 5
Another one of Amber’s major early influences was the South Shields artist, photographer, modelmaker and general sage Laurie Wheatley. This gentle portrait of the man follows him as he fulfills a lifetime’s ambition to make a life size sculpture, dispensing wisdom and self-deprecating comments in the process. The sculpture of a welder still stands above the stairs in Side Gallery. (Amber, 1978, 25min) Laurie
Mouth of the Tyne: Episode 6 on Channel 6
When Amber made T Dan Smith in the 1980s, it videoed hours of interviews with the enigmatic, powerful and flawed visionary who drove forward so many of the changes in the North East during the 1960s. It also developed interviews with three other leftwing Newcastle councillors from that era. Episode 6, A Capacity to Visualise, sees the development of the City Plan in the early 60s. You can still see episodes 1 to 5 on this channel. The 12 part serialisation continues next month. (Amber, 2009, 16min) Mouth of the Tyne
SideTalks: Weegee the Famous on Channel 7
Amber holds one of the largest collections of Weegee’s photographs outside New York. Side Gallery organised the first UK tour of work by the great street photographer, whose images defined the mythology of New York in the 1930s, 40s and 50s. This month Amber is putting a selection of Weegee prints for sale on its website. To mark the launch of the Weegee Print Sales section at amber-online, SideTV is screening a new documentary bringing together interviews with Wilma and with the legendary New York printer Sid Kaplan, who knew Weegee, printed for him on one occasion and made most of the prints in the Amber collection. (Amber, 2010, 27min) Weegee
The Sausage Maker’s Kitchen on Channel 8
In the five episodes of Bosnian Kitchen that have gone out on SideTV, Amber’s Graeme Rigby has been watching Irena Carlton prepare the delights of corn bread, chickpeas & leeks and squid in red wine. This month Irena visits his kitchen to find out about home sausage making. How many facts do you know about sage, mace and the other ingredients of an ‘English-flavoured’ sausage? Is there something offensive about the meat as it is squeezed into the pig’s intestines? Why are sausages so beautiful? Find out in The Sausage Maker’s Kitchen (Amber, 2010, 19min) Sausages