Amber Films
The entrance to The Side gallery in Newcastle upon Tyne, looking towards the Quayside and Tyne Bridge
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| Collective | |
| Industry | Film, photography, exhibitions |
| Founded | 1968 |
| Headquarters | The Side, Quayside, Newcastle upon Tyne |
| Website | http://amber-online.com/ |
Amber Films is a film and photography collective based in Newcastle upon Tyne with an aim to capture working-class life in North East England. Often combining professional and non-professional actors, Amber has produced several documentary and feature films of varying lengths, sometimes blending documentary with fiction. Their productions have included Seacoal and Eden Valley, along with a drama-documentary about 1960s Newcastle City Council leader, T. Dan Smith.
Although Amber have received little national attention, scholar Mike Wayne suggests they are "possibly the most successful 'studio' -- in terms of sheer longevity -- in British film history".
The collective often host exhibitions related to their current projects at their base at The Side Gallery and Cinema, just off the Quayside in Newcastle.
Amber was founded in 1968 by film and photography students at London's Regent Street Polytechnic, and moved to Tyneside a year later with the aim of documenting life in North East England. Established to document cultural, political and economic changes in the region, Amber Films member Graeme Rigby said that the founders "may be [...] didn't realise the extent of the changes that were coming, but that is what has been captured."
The collective opened The Side Gallery just off Newcastle's Quayside in 1977 to serve as their base, and developed a relationship with many European photographers. Scholars David Crouch and Richard Grassick write, "Amber's work argues for a long-term commitment to communities, encouraging active participation in the production process by those being filmed." Along with similar collectives in other British cities, committed to working outside of the commercial industry, they were awarded grants from bodies such as the British Film Institute and the Regional Arts Associations. Amber benefitted from the Association of Cinematograph Television and Allied Technicians (ACTT) Workshop Agreement of 1984 gave financial and structural stability to filmmakers operating outside of the mainstream.
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