Member Article

Historic Cinema To Have A Starring Role

An historic cinema on Tyneside is to get a starring role in a series of six films by local filmmakers.

Tyneside Cinema has commissioned a series of films – known as Tyneside Stories - to celebrate its place in the cultural life of the region and to let audiences know about ambitious plans to restore it to its former glory.

The cinema in Newcastle is the region’s only dedicated cultural cinema and last surviving purpose-built newsreel cinema in the UK. The advertisement length films will be shown at the start of films screened at the Cinema over the coming months and will give six local filmmakers the opportunity to display their creativity and skills. One of the chosen filmmakers, Andrew Wilton, of Once Upon a Tyne Productions, said: “This is a fantastic opportunity for me to have my films shown before the main screenings.

It will be my first film blown up onto celluloid – my other films have been digital – so it will give me a great training ground as well as the springboard to be really creative.“ The other filmmakers who have been commissioned are Emily Barber, Ian Cottage, Mark Elliott, Lucy Jolly and Ellie Land. Fiona Fitzpatrick, Projects Officer at the Tyneside Cinema, said, “This is a very exciting time for everyone at the Cinema. These ‘Tyneside Stories’ epitomise the very personal relationships so many people have with the Cinema. They also demonstrate our determination to restore the heritage of this magical cinema for future generations and to nurture the filmmakers of the future. We are grateful to Northern Film and Media, the UK Film Council and TyneWear Partnerships for their support of this project.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .