Like Newcastle and Sunderland, Malmö, Sweden was once home to a world-leading shipbuilding industry and a masculine working-class identity. In the 1970s, Malmö’s industry collapsed and thousands began to leave the city. In recent years, Malmö has recovered, grown and been reborn.
Ken Loach’s latest film is set in Newcastle and stars Dave Johns as a traditional Geordie facing up to the challenge of living and getting by in 21st century England.
T. Dan Smith remains as one of Tyneside’s most controversial political figures. Hero or villain? Visionary or crook? Smith’s legacy distilled into four narratives.
With the migrant crisis looming on television screens and in the pages of newspapers – and in all the other places where news is now disseminated – it is surely about time that cinema will show us the side of the story we haven’t seen or read about yet. While politicians ponder the numbers (for… Continue reading Dheepan and the Refugee Experience
At the foot of Westgate Road, Newcastle upon Tyne, stands a bronze statue of Joseph Cowen (1829-1900), strategically placed to remind contemporary Geordies of his influence as they travel up towards the Tyne Theatre and Opera House which was designed and operated under his guidance. Cowen dominated Tyneside politics between the years 1850-1900: as editor… Continue reading Joseph Cowen: Geordie Entrepreneur, Politician and Radical
It would be easy to suggest that the major theme of Peter Flannery’s historical epic Our Friends in the North (1996) is corruption, as politicians, the police and seedy London gangsters are all seen to engage in dishonest activities, protecting themselves, bribing those in positions of power and selling out their friends in order to make a… Continue reading Toon on Television: Our Friends in the North
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