A season of events celebrating the past, present and future of Northern storytelling
Published:
14 Apr 2023
Film Hub North showcases new talent in a season of events all about Northern film and television.
Throughout April and May 2023, organisations across the UK are focusing on one of our favourite things: Northern creativity.
Northern Voices is a season of screenings and discussions celebrating Northern culture and creative talent, and their notable impact on British film and television. Naturally, we couldn’t help but get involved, and we’re proud to be showcasing filmmakers from the Film Hub North family alongside some of the best screen work the region has ever produced.
Read on for more details on the full season line-up and the filmmakers we're championing.
Northern Voices at BFI Southbank
The extensive Northern Voices programme at BFI Southbank forms the backbone of the season. Running throughout April, the programme takes in the work of essential Northern talent such as Alan Clarke, Terence Davies and Clio Barnard.
Special events include a compilation of performances and interviews exploring Scouse humour, and the Northern Voices Forum; a panel discussion event featuring Sunetra Sarker (Ackley Bridge), Christopher Eccleston (Our Friends in the North) and Frank Cottrell-Boyce (24 Hour Party People).
Highlights from the BFI Southbank programme are also travelling north of the M25, and will screen at HOME throughout April. And we’re pleased to be partnering with HOME to add a contemporary twist to their programme of Northern classics; each screening in the season will be preceded by a short film from a Hub-funded filmmaker.
Incompatible - a hard-hitting story of child loss directed by Maxine Peake and written by Hayley Standing - accompanies a double bill of Land of Green Ginger and The Pity of It All, which highlights the important outlet television plays provided for Northern stories.
True Colours - Suman Hanif and Milda Baginskaitė’s story of two teenage girls living next door, but worlds apart - complements John Schlesinger’s classic Billy Liar, and shares in its DNA the same potent combination of fanciful day-dreaming and razor-sharp satire.
One Like Him - Tareq Baconi and Caitlin McLeod’s exploration of repression, remembrance and redemption - precedes a double-bill of Roll on Four O’Clock and Kisses at Fifty, which both showcase the talents of Northern creative polymath Colin Welland.
And The Barber - a drama following an asylum seeker struggling to settle in Glasgow, by Dhivya Kate Chetty and Alysia Maciejowska - screens alongside another story of dislocation and local tensions: John Schlesinger and Colin Welland’s WWII epic, Yanks.
After the celebrations of past and present Northern storytellers have wrapped up, we’re asking “what next?”
Next Northern Voices is a panel discussion event exploring where the next big thing in Northern filmmaking might come from. Contributors will include representatives from Screen Yorkshire and Channel 4, plus Hub-funded filmmaker Oz Arshad (Expiation).
Join us at The Tetley (Leeds) from 16:00-17:00 on Tuesday 9 May. Tickets are free.
