OLD film footage opens a window on the way the world used to be, right back to the early years of the 20th Century.
But you don’t have to go back quite that far to be in a place that looks extraordinary.
The documentary Launch, made in 1973 by Amber Films in Newcastle, shows the massive World Unicorn apparently sliding into the Tyne down a terraced street.
A sight that used to be relatively commonplace is now part of our cultural heritage – although it struck me, looking at the still image on this page – that those yellow bollards could have been laid out last night.
Launch is one of many films now accessible through a new initiative called Screen Heritage UK (SHUK), set up with more then £22.8m from the Government.
A collaboration between the British Film Institute and regional film archives, it includes improved public access, via a new facility called Search Your Film Archives, and a new national archive centre in Warwickshire.
The project was launched last night with the start of The Reel History of Britain, a 20-part series presented by Melvyn Bragg which draws on archive film held around the country.
Heather Stewart, SHUK programme director and creative director of the BFI, said: “Film is an integral part of British culture and SHUK will ensure that we not only safeguard our film heritage for future generations but that everyone in the UK gets the opportunity to enjoy and benefit from it.”
Amber and the Middlesbrough-based Northern Region Film and Television Archive (NRFTA) both collaborated in setting up SHUK.
Its Search Your Film Archives facility will be integrated into and accessible from both of their websites, www.amber-online.com and www.nrfta.org.uk
From Thursday to Sunday, as part of the national Heritage Open Days, Tyneside Cinema in Newcastle is providing a bank of computers in its Tyneside Bar from which you can access the new facility and browse the films on offer.
It is also programming free screenings of some of the films involved including Amber’s Maybe, from 1969, Launch, Quayside (1979), Last Shift (1976), Glassworks (1977), Byker (1983) and its Byker Revisited companion piece, Today I’m With You (2010).
An hour-long programme of films from the NRFTA will be shown on Friday and Sunday and on Sunday there will be an evening screening of The Pursuit of Happiness, a 2008 film about the late Murray Martin, Amber’s founding visionary. The screenings are free but it’s best to book on 08452 179 909.
NRFTA in Middlesbrough will be open on Saturday, 10am-4pm, with guided tours throughout the day. Book on 01642 384022.