Six to Midnight (1974)

Newcastle City Council had wanted a film about what was going on in the city; Amber had thought they could maybe take the opportunity to make the film they wanted to make about Grainger Market. Nobody ended up too happy. Less than keen on the meat being unloaded on the pavement and the preponderance of ‘To Let’ signs in the city centre, the council rejected it. “It may be all right for the Straw Dogs generation,” one councillor commented. For its part, Amber left it unreleased on the shelves, determined not to get drawn into anybody else’s PR agendas again. Looked at many years later, it’s a fascinating and beautiful portrait of a day in the life of the city at a time of immense change.

Amber Films, 25 mins, 1974