Northern Film Archive – ‘Social Cinema’

Sat 24 Feb | 5.00pm | Screen 2
Sun 25 Feb | 12.30 (Subtitled) | Digital Lounge
All Tickets £5

Our moving image heritage can be like looking into a mirror from the past, what we see reflected can shine a light on the cracks that we see in our world. This programme of short films produced by the Yorkshire and North East Film Archives explore social and political issues including gender equality, homelessness and poverty, isolation and climate justice that resonate with the present and help us reflect on our future. The screening is a rollercoaster of emotions, sometimes sad but full of hope as we ask questions about ourselves, our communities, our society and what we can learn from the past.

Films:

Born a Rebel (2018)
Stories of rebellion. Stories of bravery. Stories of women who aren’t waiting for permission to take what they want. From women’s suffrage and women in political life, to women in the ‘home’ and women at war the film addresses how women and girls have been represented on film. Commissioned by Cinema for All as part of Vote 100 – celebrating the centenary of women’s suffrage.

Lost Connections (2021)
The film invites reflections on loss, loneliness, isolation, and expressions of desire, optimism, hope, and renewal, referencing universal issues of mental health and well-being, feelings of uncertainty and disconnection but also our need to reconnect with people and community. Commissioned by Film Hub North on behalf of the BFI Film Audience Network ‘Lost Connections’ offers a poetic response to the experience of the Coronavirus pandemic.

Cost of Living (2022)
As we live through the deepest cost of living crisis for over fifty years, this film expresses the fury and anger of generations whose essential needs for safe housing, secure work and full bellies go unfulfilled. Despite their difficulties people come together as communities to help those in need and raise a fist of defiance. Commissioned by York St John University’s Cinema and Social Justice Project, ‘Cost of Living’ reveals our collective memories of past crises, and the cries for social and economic justice.

Nature Matters (2023)
Protecting the environment is one of the major issues of our time, it provokes debate and action across all generations, especially the young. This film reveals the shifting concerns over the decades about issues which impact on our natural world alongside more recent footage of alternative quests for more sustainable lifestyles. Commissioned by York St John University and the Archive’s National Lottery Heritage Fund ‘Nature Matters’ project, the film is both a ‘love letter’ to nature but also a call to action.

‘Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.’ George Santayana
‘History, despite its wrenching pain, cannot be unlived, however, if faced with courage, need not be lived again.’  Maya Angelou

Presented in Partnership with Amnesty Group, Kendal and Extiction Rebellion: South Lakes. ‘

Amnesty protects people wherever justice, freedom, truth and dignity are denied.’

‘Extinction Rebellion: Climate Action Now’

The Northern film Archive ‘Social Cinema’ programme is supported by Film Hub North on behalf of the BFI Film Audience Network.