Take a trip back in time with North East Film Archive
HOW important is our local and regional film heritage?
We’re not talking here about feature films or the cinema blockbusters - instead we’re turning the spotlight on to non-fiction material, local films shot by local people, cine club enthusiasts, local businesses advertising their wares, regional television news features or programmes where the focus is on people, places, events, traditions and everyday life here in the North East.
At first sight these collections might not seem to hold the same significance as the silver screen classics, but just step back for a moment and imagine how interested you might be if there was film of your family 30 or 40 years ago, or of the place where you live, the school you went to, where you, or your parents, grandparents or even greatgrandparents worked, where you went on holiday, or the venues visited on those first Saturday nights out.
All of this and more has, over the decades, been captured on film, and the North East Film Archive now holds tens of thousands of feet of film and video tape, revealing life across the North East of England over every decade of the last century.
The first job for the Archive is to ensure we find and preserve our regional film heritage, but equally important is the Archive’s commitment to making its collections accessible for everyone to see and enjoy.
Now, with an award of £323,700 from the Heritage Lottery Fund thanks to money raised by National Lottery players, there is an opportunity to do both – to preserve and digitise more films from the collections, and to deliver a whole series of screenings and events in communities across the region over the next 18 months through our new ‘North East on Film’ project.
Added to that, once the project is up and running, ‘North East on Film’ will be putting a call out for everyone – companies, libraries and museums, local cine and video clubs, amateur and home movie enthusiasts – to search out those forgotten film collections which could potentially reveal more hidden gems of life over the decades in the North East. Heritage Minister, John Glen said: “North East on Film’ will open up a treasure trove of social history, charting the lives of people and communities across the region over the last 100 years. Thanks to National Lottery players this unique archive is being protected and screened to more people so that the stories from the North East’s past are not forgotten.”
Sue Howard, Director of the Archive said: “North East on Film’ is all about re-connecting people and communities to their local and regional film heritage collections.
“We are hugely grateful to the Heritage Lottery Fund for their support – and of course to every National Lottery player, as they really are the people that make it all possible
Ivor Crowther, Head of HLF North East, added: “The North East Film Archive is a fascinating and often moving insight into life in the region. Not just the great events, but the everyday lives of the people who make it so great.
Thanks to National Lottery players our moving image heritage now has a secure future.”
North East on Film’ will begin work in earnest in the autumn of 2017, with film screenings and events starting in early 2018, and if you think there are opportunities for North East on Film to visit your community do get in touch for further information: www. northeastfilmarchive.com ■■In the meantime, take a quick peep at this little taster film for a quick glimpse of people and places around the region. Visit chroniclelive.co.uk