Amber, 1983, 53 mins

NOTE: The film aspect ratio of this film is 4:3. We have become aware that on some screens it is appearing as 16:9 (stretched). If this happens, clicking full screen should sort the problem - and it keeps to 4:3 when returning to a small screen.

When Amber film & photography collective moved to the North East of England in 1969, Finnish founder member Sirkka-Liisa Konttinen set up home in Byker, a working class district of Newcastle upon Tyne. She began to photograph the terraced streets and their inhabitants, her awareness of the impending wholesale demolition of the area lending urgency to her documentation of the community.

The seminal work became a book and an exhibition, and in 1981 Amber began work on the film which, drawing on Sirkka’s photographs and interviews, on documentary footage and dramatic reconstructions, evokes an entire era in British working class life. An intimate portrait of a community faced with redevelopment and a celebration of the richness of its culture.