Projects

This year’s Northern Stars Academy have been busy making films as part of Portrait of a Nation, which has offered young people from seventeen cities across the UK the opportunity to explore where they come from, their local culture, community and identity.

Representing NewcastleGatehsead our Northern Stars young filmmakers worked in two crews over a six month period and have made three distinctive films. In partnership with Tyne & Wear Museums, the young people were introduced to groups, experts and locations across the region for inspiration. After a process of discovery and development, each crew was assigned a mentor to help bring their ideas to fruition. The resulting films are wonderfully individual takes by young people on the North East.

The films will be screened as part of Northern Lights Film Festival just before we wave them goodbye as they hit the road for Liverpool’s Capital of Culture Closing Celebrations, where their films will be shown to the nation. To find out more contact Holli McGuire.

In the summer of 2007, Tyneside Cinema and Striding Edge Films worked with a film crew made up of 14-year-olds from Joseph Swan School in Gateshead, to make a documentary to find out more about just who lives in their area. The result is a wonderful film that illustrates the impact of faith on the every day lives of local Muslim, Orthodox Jewish and Christian communities in Bensham, Tyne and Wear.

To find out more about the film and accompanying teaching resources for teachers of Citizenship, RE and PHSE please contact Holli McGuire, Head of Learning, Engagement and Development on  0191 227 5511.

Moving Memories was an intergenerational project that brought together young people with local volunteers to record their personal memories of the Home Front in Newcastle and Gateshead.

Filmmaker Adam Finlay worked with the recordings and archive footage to create two beautifully reworked films which give a unique insight into local communities and life during WWII.