A feature drama set in the declining fishing industry in North Shields, the actors auditioned and trained by local fishermen and filmed on the 63 foot seine netter bought by Amber.
When Amber film and photography collective decided to work in North Shields, the group bought a pub. When it wanted to make a film about the town's fishing industry, it bought the Sally, a 63 foot anchor seine netter. Actors coming for auditions found themselves at sea for days, gutting fish. When the story required a storm sequence, cast, crew and fishermen set sail, into the teeth of a force 9 gale, tripods anchored to the deck. Writer Tom Hadaway had a lifetime's experience on the fish quay. Filmmakers and actors brought a commitment to authenticity that was almost heroic. In Fading Light captures the Shields fishing industry on the edge of its decline, a beautifully shot film about work and community. The film centres on the upheaval caused in a traditional fishing community by the unexpected arrival of a young woman. A tale of epic proportions, life and death, emotional conflict, told with a documentary realism that denies melodrama. Tom Hadaway's tragic/comic dialogue, the stunning visual quality (it took months to overcome the problems of filming at sea, something that has very rarely if ever been attempted in a drama of this scale), and the veracity of the performances combine, not just to tell a moving story, but to give the audience experience of a way of life.—Amber Films
When Amber film and photography collective decided to work in North Shields, the group bought a pub. When it wanted to make a film about the towns fishing industry, it bought the Sally, a 63 foot anchor seine netter. Actors coming for auditions found themselves at sea for days, gutting fish. When the story required a storm sequence, cast, crew and fishermen set sail, into the teeth of a force 9 gale, tripods anchored to the deck. Writer Tom Hadaway had a lifetimes experience on the fish quay. Filmmakers and actors brought a commitment to authenticity that was almost heroic. In Fading Light captures the Shields fishing industry on the edge of its decline, a beautifully shot film about work and community.
The film centres on the upheaval caused in a traditional fishing community by the unexpected arrival of a young woman. A tale of epic proportions, life and death, emotional conflict, told with a documentary realism that denies melodrama. Tom Hadaway's tragic/comic dialogue, the stunning visual quality (it took months to overcome the problems of filming at sea, something that has very rarely if ever been attempted in a drama of this scale), and the veracity of the performances combine, not just to tell a moving story, but to give the audience experience of a way of life.
AMBER FILMSMade under the auspices of the ACTT Workshop Declaration with financial assistance from Northern Arts and Channel Four Television.Cast includes: Joanna Ripley, Dave Hill, Sammy Johnson, Brian Hogg, Amber Styles, Mo Harold, Jo CaffreyScreenplay by Tom Hadaway
REVIEWSBritish cinema has made notable past efforts to document the fisherman's hardy life, yet compared to the Amber Film's briny air, *Man of Aran and the like might almost be drawing room comedies. ... This is a forceful portrait of an imperilled way of life and a British film to be reckoned with.* Geoff Brown, The Times
Triumphant tale ... without being either patronising or sentimental....it's a pleasure to see. Derek Malcolm, The Guardian
An astonishingly assured work which lends new edge to the cliche about gritty realism. The smell of the icy salt spray bursting over the rails of its fishing boat practically explodes off the screen...leads us gently into the most intimate corners of its characters' lives. Peter Calder, New Zealand
