Martin Murray
2021T. Dan Smith: A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Utopia
Amber Collective
T. Dan Smith, Dennis Skinner
An experimental mix of thriller and documentary exploring the scandal centred on the one-time Newcastle Council Leader, aka The Mouth of the Tyne, who was sentenced to six years imprisonment in 1974 for corruption. A dynamic and visionary politician, Smith collaborated closely as Amber unpicked the story of a leftwing group of ex-war resisters who took control of the city council in 1960, the socialist and civic ambitions and the betrayals; the claims of MI5 involvement, of ministerial cover-ups and the unseen role of the Privy Council. With Smith appearing as himself and filmmakers Murray Martin and Steve Trafford as two journalists, the film interrogates the interviews and archive footage, weaving them together with a fictional scandal unfolding on the streets around them…
T. Dan Smith: A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Utopia
Seacoal
Amber Styles, Corrina Stubbs
Betty and her daughter Corinna are introduced to the harsh seacoaling way of life by Ray, an ex-seacoaler returning from a job with ICI. His offer of a caravan on a cliff top and promises of the Klondyke that awaits them at least seem preferable to the violent marriage she has left behind. The film sets Betty's struggle for survival against the wider struggles of the seacoaling community, surviving on the fringes of capitalism. Despite the exploitation by a local entrepreneur, run-ins with dole snoops and School Board men and the ever encroaching regulations of a hostile council, their lives retain a kind of anarchic romance, which is reflected in the film's lyrical style.
Seacoal
