In celebration of 85 years of Tyneside Cinema 1937 to 2022, here is my story of visiting the Tyneside Cinema from 1977 to 2022, mainly concentrating on the early days of the Tyneside (cinema) from 1977 to 1986 under the directorship of Nina Hibbin and Sheila Whitaker.
For any committed cinema goer who does not happen to live in London - and there are many of us - the opportunity to see either those films which do not obtain a major circuit release or those which are involved in extending the concerns and forms of such films, is drastically reduced. The work which Tyneside Cinema does throughout the year is directly aimed at trying to rectify this situation. Sheila Whitaker 1980
My first visit to the Tyneside was as a 10 year old child with mum, dad and brother in 1970 to see Ken Loach's 'Kes'. The original Dixon Scott News Theatre was taken over by the BFI and reopened as The Tyneside Film Theatre on the 17th march 1968. Unfortunately by the mid-1970s, falling audience numbers, financial problems and a fire closed the cinema again temporarily. In 1976, and with a passionate campaign to keep the cinema open, it reopened with Nina Hibbin at the helm as director from 1976 to 1979 as The Tyneside Cinema, now, affectionately known simply as the Tyneside.
	In 1977 I began going regularly to the Tyneside. Tickets for the public cinema were 70p, children and OAPs 35p; late night double bills were £1! I joined the cinema club on the 3rd floor, where the Roxy and Gallery screens are now, the annual subscription was £2, all seats 50p, except for special events. Peter Yates 'long' art piece 'Lights and Shadows on the Wall' was originally displayed along the left wall of the club cinema in 1976, and greeted you as you went in, as it does now in the Electra screen. I cannot remember the first film I went to see, but from the oldest programme I still have, November/December 1977, I remember going to see 'Lucky Luciano' (1973) in a double bill with 'Don't Look Now' and, in the club, 'Texas Chainsaw Massacre'. Because of the excessive violence the film had been refused a certificate, but could still be privately screened. After two of the screenings there was a member’s discussion on 'Violence on the Screen', and I still have the handout given to audience members.
The Tyneside did a lot of collaborative screenings with clubs and societies, and I went to see Peter Watkins 'Punishment Park' and Peter Weir's 'The Cars That Ate Paris', in collaboration with N.E. Science Fiction Groups. I think this was the first time I saw, what has become one of my all-time favourite films, 'Performance', in a double bill with the masterpiece, John Boorman's 'Deliverance', screened from the 12th to 17th December 1977.
Other notable films screened during Nina Hibbin's tenure were North East premiere of Derek Jarman's 'Jubilee' (1978). Newcastle District Council banned the film from public showing, it had been given an X-certificate by the British Board of Censors, but like 'Texas Chainsaw Massacre' could be privately screened, and it was, in the club from 5th to 9th December 1978. On the 5th to 10th March 1979, Ridley Scott's 'The Duellists' was given its N/E premiere, as was 'The Shout', from 26th Feb to 3rd March, and Bertolucci's Nineteen Hundred from 12th to 17th February, which was brought back by popular demand for three screenings in May 1979. I still have the handouts for these films and others.
			'Future Worlds' was the first Newcastle Film Festival, from June 16th to July 2nd 1978. As a science fiction fan, I still remember my 'WOW' reaction that this was happening. A souvenir folder was produced containing programme notes for the whole festival, which cost just 25p. South Shields animator Sheila Graber did a marvelous 'Future Worlds Presents' animated short for the festival, and the music was composed by Ewan Scott-Baty and Pete Maben of the Spectro Arts Workshop.
Highlights of the festival, among the many superb films and talks over the 18 days, included: · an illustrated tribute and talk about H.G.Wells 'The Man Who Saw The Future' by his son Frank Wells, with excerpts of 'The Man Who Could Work Miracles' (1936) 'Things To Come' (1936) and complete screenings of 'The Invisible Thief' (1909) and 'War of the Worlds' (1952). · Future Worlds Brains Trust, with author William Burroughs (The Naked Lunch, Junky), tv celebrity and food technologist Dr Magnus Pike, Tomorrow's World presenter Michael Rodd and Tomorrow's World producer Andrew Wiseman.
				A Peter Watkins retrospective, which included a screening of The War Game (1965), commissioned but banned by the BBC for being too horrifying. This was one of the few times the film was released by the BFI for a cinema screening; it was in a double bill with Culloden.
Other talks include, “Future Trip”, an illustrated talk by Philip Strick, critic and author of Science Fiction Movies. Also screened was the northern premiere of Alain Tanner's 'Jonas, Who Will Be 25 In The Year 2000', with Chis Marker's 'La Jetee'. Ralph Bakshi's animated film 'Wizards' had its northern premiere, paired with 'The Rocky Horror Picture Show'. I think this film, which had only been released 3 years previous, was the main draw and was already gaining its cult status, as it says in the programme for Sept/Oct 1978 ''Hundreds were turned away during our Futureworlds Festival - So here's another chance'' and was shown again from 23rd to 28th October.
The second Newcastle Film Festival, 'Film Fantastic' ran from 15th to 24th June 1979, just 10 days, and was much more low key. The main titles for the varied films shown were 'The Weird and The Wonderful', 'Music and Fantasy', Animation Fantastic', 'Passion and Dreams', and 'Festival of DADA and SURREALISM'. Showing such films as 'Seconds', 'Who', 'Coma', 'Pink Floyd Live at Pompeii', 'Tommy', 'Un Chien Andalou', 'Last Year in Marienbad'. Tim Brooke-Taylor opened the festival, and Newcastle born actor, Scott Antony introduced Ken Russell's 'Savage Messiah', in which he stars as sculptor Henri Gaudier.
By September 1979 the cinema Bi-monthly programme had changed shape, from the small rectangular fold-out, to a small tabloid shape. And in January 1980 Sheila Whitaker took over the reins as director. Sheila retained the ethos of the Tyneside, which continues to this day, as an independent cinema, to show old and new films from around the world, premieres and films that would not get a major release. In Jan/Feb 1980 alone there were such films as 'Last Tango in Paris', 'Midnight Cowboy', double bill, 'Just a Gigolo' N/E premiere, 'Aguirre, Wrath of God', 'The Enigma of Kaspar Hauser' double bill, 'Death in Venice' 'Nosferatu The Vampyre (Herzog) paired with 'Bride of Frankenstein' to name just a few. In July 1981, Andrei Tarkovsky's 'Stalker' received it's N/E premiere. On the 12th July 'Clash of the Titans' received it's first showing outside London, with Ray Harryhausen present to answer questions after the screening. And as always, every Saturday afternoon at 2pm, 'Calling All Children' for a family matinee.
		The 3rd Tyneside Film Festival, ran from the 21st to 30th November 1980. Titled 'Old Themes: New Visions' and was part of the Newcastle 900th anniversary. This festival concentrated on 'Independent Cinema'. The opening gala was the premiere of 'Richard's Things'. Other films included 'Werner Herzog Eats His Shoe', a Gallic double bill 'Poitin' and 'Teisennau Mair', ' The Blood of Hussain', The Gamekeeper' (Ken Loach) and the closing gala was 'Gregory's Girl'. There was also 'Fantasy in the cinema, as part of the festival, including such gems as, 'The fall of the House of Usher' (1960) 'Rosemary's Baby', The Thief of Baghdad', 'Orphee', 'Frankenstein', 'Animal Farm', 'The Haunting' (1964) 'The Devil Rides Out', 'The Cabinet of Dr Caligari' and 'Nosferatu' (1922) double bill. Also in May/June of 1980 'Putting The Blame On Mame..And Other Stories', was a series of films and lectures ''which raise various issues relating to the representation of women'' (Sheila Whitaker).
In 1981, the opening gala of the 4th Tyneside Film Festival was a full day screening of the most complete version of Abel Gance's 1927 silent classic 'Napoleon', with full orchestral accompaniment by the Northern Sinfonia of England conducted by Alan Fearon, at the ABC Haymarket. I missed this screening, but in 1983 it was repeated, with the only difference being Clive Lander was the orchestra leader. The ABC was packed once again, as it was in 1981. The restoration of this masterpiece was all thanks to Kevin Brownlow, and since this screening a further 30 minutes has been found, it now has a 5 hours 30 mins run time. Oh! I hear you ask, how did I come by the Festival81 Napoleon poster? In 1985 I was looking at a flat in Heaton; it was in a terrible condition, a definite fixer upper! I think it had been used a squat, but pinned to the wall alongside a poster of a Buddhist Thanka was the Napoleon poster! My heart leapt, and I thought 'that will end up in the bin', so I rescued it, and I have had it hanging on one wall or another ever since.
					As recounted in Michael Chaplin's excellent book 'COME AND SEE: The Beguiling Story of the Tyneside Cinema, available in the foyer, attendances grew during Sheila Whitaker's time, from 83,000 in 1980 to 105,000 in 1984. Which brings me onto the 7th Tyneside Film Festival 1984, and the opening gala of the North East Premiere of Michael Radford’s superlative adaptation of George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four, with the great John Hurt coming to the Tyneside for the premiere. After the screening he was interviewed by Sheila Whitaker on the stage of the Classic screen. He then joined the audience in the foyer to sign available copies of the reprinted tie in novel, I asked if he would sign the relevant page of the festival programme, and it remains one of my most loved possessions.
Sheila Whitaker left the Tyneside in 1984, after a fantastic 5 years, to become Head of Programming at the National Film Theatre, and then director of the London Film Festival in 1987, a position she held until 1996. Another memorable visit to the club cinema was in 1986, Richard O'Brien was performing as Mushkin in The Little Shop of Horrors at the Tyne Theatre and Opera House, and he came along to be interviewed by, if memory serves, the new Tyneside Director Fred Brookes. Richard had brought along his guitar, and after the interview did a couple of songs from his Rocky Horror Picture Show, including Science Fiction-Double Feature. BRILLIANT! Over the 85 years the Tyneside News Theatre, Film Theatre and Cinema has had its ups and downs, threatened closures, fire, flood, covid, you name it, but it has survived. And thanks to the Tyneside I have the memories you have hopefully enjoyed reading about. The Tyneside will survive and prosper, why? Simply because it is a gem in the heart of Newcastle, with the same vision it had 45 years ago; to support the moving image in all its forms; to show films old and new from around the world to beguile and thrill anyone who visits. In memory of: Nina Hibbin (28th September 1922-28th May 2004) Sheila Hazel Whitaker (1st April 1936-29th July 2013) With thanks to Michael Chaplin, for giving me the idea to do this memoir, and my bro for helping me with the technical side of my website. Parent Domain: www.balmerino.net