The North East Film Archive is one of a network of regional film archives established to collect, preserve and show film made in, or about the North East of England. Our collections are non-fiction, and date from the early 1900s to the present day, providing a rich record of life in the region over the 20th century. Many of our films are available to watch, free of charge, on our website.
This film is part of Free
09:00
On a morning like any other, the random destinies of a cast of characters unfold over one fateful hour in Newcastle.
From the collection of:
Overview
From playground to prison, the paths of a fragmented ensemble of characters are mapped onto the city of Newcastle one morning. The malaise of a condemned man’s final hour casts a shadow over vignettes of the everyday lives of a child and a fashion model. This amateur drama weaves a masterful web of ‘hyperlinked’ storylines through the use of casual visual threads and gestures; the lighting of a cigarette, the shifting of a chair in a room, a letter, arrivals and departures.
This is a beautifully constructed film produced by a talented crew from the Newcastle and District Amateur Cinematographers Association (ACA). It was awarded a gold star in Amateur Cine World’s 1967 ‘Ten Best’ competition, an annual event that ran from 1936 to 1986 and was the highlight of the year for amateur moviemakers who referred to it as ‘our Oscars’. The film made use of various city locations, including Newcastle Magistrates Court, the Turk’s Head Hotel on Grey Street, and West Denton Primary School. The last execution (by hanging) took place in 1964, only two years before this film was made. Capital punishment was fully abolished in Great Britain in 1969.