Tish

Tuesday 5 December: Q&A screening with director Paul Sng, hosted by local photographer Kate Swanson

A moving portrait of social documentary photographer and trailblazer Tish Murtha, who dedicated her life to documenting the lives of working-class communities in North East England, capturing the impact of Thatcherism on the north of England. She felt she had an obligation to the people and problems within her local environment, and that documentary photography could highlight and challenge the social disadvantages that she herself had suffered.

The film is a journey of exploration for Ella Murtha as both daughter and custodian of the Tish Murtha archive, a chance to elevate and preserve a legacy that has been lost and to tell the story of an artist and woman outside of the ‘mother’ that existed for her – or the version of Tish claimed within dominant narratives of the 70s and 80s photography – from the people who knew Tish and the images she left behind.

'A tremendous, humane tribute to a real artist' - Peter Bradshaw, Guardian

If you would like information about the content of this film, including potentially triggering material, please click here for guidance from the BBFC