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Seating: Allocated - See Seating Plan for More Details

The screening at 7.30 pm on Thu 14 Dec will have descriptive subtitles.

Tish Murtha’s photography of people on the margins of society in Thatcher’s Britain challenged inequality. Yet, she was unable to escape the poverty she documented and died aged 56, her work relatively unknown. TISH follows her daughter revisiting key images and moments in her mother’s life to establish her legacy.

Kids-Jumping-On-To-Mattresses-Youth-Unemployment-1981

As a working-class photographer from the North East, Tish felt an obligation to the people and problems within her local environment and used documentary photography to highlight and challenge the social disadvantages she herself suffered. Unlike many social documentary photographers, Tish was from the same streets as the people she photographed, lending a poignant intimacy to her stark yet tender black-and-white images. However, despite early acclaim for her work, she was unable to make a living from photography and escape the poverty she documented. She died aged 56, her work relatively unknown.

Lady On Overturned Chair, Youth Unemployment (1981)

Tish’s brilliant eye, her unswerving ethics, and constant empathy are present in her images, yet little is known of the artist herself. In this feature documentary, we follow Tish’s daughter, Ella, as she opens up her mother’s archive for the first time on screen to reveal a treasure trove of unseen images, artifacts, letters, and diaries. Ella takes to the road to meet people who knew Tish and asks why she did not receive more recognition in her lifetime.

Two women sat on a bench facing each other at the beach

In digging into the past, Ella comes to terms with her own grief at her mother’s passing and reconnects with family members not seen in years. By shining a light on a working-class artist who went largely unrecognised in her lifetime, the documentary questions the value placed on working-class people both in the past and present day

“Tish Murtha, who lived a life as tough as those she shot in different eras of deprivation and marginalisation, receives a wholehearted and riveting tribute” The Guardian

“An authentic insight into the devastating impact of unemployment and poverty” Screen International 

“Details leap out from the photographs, not just the faces of those she captured, but the twist of cigarette smoke, metal ashtrays recalling the tang of wet ash, plasters on scrubbed knees”  Eye for Films

Screening on Friday 8 December will feature a Q&A hosted by the fabulous Bob Fischer featuring Tish producer Jen Corcoran.

  • Screenings with descriptive subtitles

    Descriptive subtitles, sometimes referred to as subtitles for D/deaf and hard-of-hearing people or captions, transcribe dialogue and relevant aspects of the soundtrack, including music and sound effects, attempting to give D/deaf and hard-of-hearing viewers an equal experience to those who are able to watch films without descriptive subtitles. Descriptive subtitles would include speech identifiers and descriptive elements such as [door slamming] and [kettle whistling].

  • Screenings with audio description

    Information about screenings with Audio Description

    Audio description is commentary that aims to describe body language, expressions and movements to blind or visually impaired audience members, thereby offering additional information about the film through sound. Our cinema is equipped with a system that delivers audio description through a headset. The audio description runs each time the film is shown and is undetectable to anyone not wearing a headset.

    Many of our cinema screenings have an audio description facility. If you would like to use it when visiting our cinema, please let the Box Office know when booking your tickets. You can also let us know this by using the access requirements box when booking online.

  • Seating accessibility information

    Cinema

    Seat size

    Seats in the Cinema are 45cm (172/3“) wide and 46cm (18“) deep, are 40cm (152/3“) from the floor, and have 12cm (42/3“) between seats.

    Armrests

    Seats in the Cinema have armrests that do not fold away, and cannot be completely removed.

    Legroom

    Seats in the cinema have 30cm (112/3”) of legroom in front of seats, with additional legroom on row A and seats B1-B4 and B11-B14.

    Further information

    If you have any questions about accessibility our Box Office team are always happy to help and can be contacted on 01642 525199 or by emailing [email protected] - you can also tell us about your access requirements when prompted to do so during the online booking process.