The North East Film Archive, based at Teesside University, save and celebrate the screen heritage of the North East of England. At the heart of their collection are films made by, and for, local people, reflecting and representing the communities, places and distinctive identity of the region. Together with their sister archive in Yorkshire they form the Yorkshire and North East Film Archive, a unique pan-regional resource with over 75,000 moving image artefacts, part of York St John University. They unlock the collections for artists, academics, curators, programmers, researchers, and producers to reveal compelling stories from the vaults. www.yfanefa.com
And Other People Like You
High emotion and heartwarming friendship make this 1980s drama as captivating as the day it was filmed.
By 1988, adult gay men no longer faced a threat of prosecution for having sexual relations with another man. However a societal stigma forced many men to keep their feelings secret from even those closest to them. One contributing factor to this was a clause in the Sexual Offences Act 1967 which made the age of consent higher for gay men than it did for lesbian or heterosexual relations. This inequality was not removed in UK law until the year 2000.
This film features performances from well-known North East actors Brian Hogg and Val McLane. Val has long been a pivotal figure in the North East's cultural scene; in addition to roles in acclaimed television dramas (When the Boat Comes In; Our Friends In the North; Auf Wiedersehen, Pet) she founded the Live Theatre Company and is a scriptwriter and director. Her brother is the actor and musician Jimmy Nail. Jan Graveson, who played the part of Alison, went on to have a successful TV acting career in a variety of British dramas including EastEnders, where she was famously a pregnant runaway in the early 1990s.
Witness the flashpoints in history when the tide turned against inequality and the North East began to embrace its own rich diversity.
Thanks to its sea coast and relative closeness to Scandinavia, the North East has been a cultural melting pot since before records began. Vikings, Anglo Saxons and merchant sailors from even further afield have brought art, ideas and customs to add to an already rich cultural heritage.
However, some perspectives have traditionally been suppressed in a culture which favoured white, Christian, heterosexual conformity. This collection gives a voice to people who have been voiceless for too long.
