Natasha on Northern Cinema at BFI London Film Festival 23

Natasha was invited to BFI London Film Festival to join a special panel discussing Northern Cinema. The event celebrated Northern, British filmmaking as well as exploring the strengths of Northern stories. This is a recap of the Q&A session.

What does Northerness mean to you?

Community. Hard graft. Home of friendly people. Belting sense of humour. Working class. Trustworthy.

What is your favourite Northern film?

My favourite northern film at the moment has to be ‘A Bunch of Amateurs.’ Which is a feature documentary about an amateur film club in Bradford. It’s such a lovely documentary, full of character and a great sense of humour. Documentary doesn’t have to be super serious. I love documentaries that are heartwarming, inspirational but can also tackle some important themes and this did all of that.

There is a sparsity to female led narratives in Northern filmmaking, however a TV show like Happy Valley has 7.5 million people tuned in for the final episode, do you think it proves there’s clearly a market for both northern female writers and actors?

Happy Valley is a great example. I think it’s a clever programme that taps into a mainstream audience because it’s a light, easy watching drama that doesn’t do anything too heavy. I think it’s fantastic that writers like Sally Wainwright and actress Sarah Lancashire are getting recognised for those programmes. Also, I think it’s great for the north to see Hebden Bridge, Halifax, Sowerby Bridge in those programmes too.

One of my issues with on screen representation at the moment and particularly when I was growing up is the lack of LGBT+ female role models. If there were more role models on TV then I may of come out a lot earlier than I did at 25 years old.

What draws you to the narratives or subjects that you decide to make your films about?

I’m quite inquisitive so often my stories come from genuine conversations. I am drawn to people that are a bit different. Maybe it’s because I grew up on a council estate and my mum and step dad were punks at the time. We were often labeled as ‘weird.’ I spent most of my teens trying to be normal. Now I embrace the weird in the every day and I’m often drawn to those stories where people are just a little bit off beat. They are the best kind of human beings in my opinion.

‘The Road to Happiness’, ‘Joy Uncensored’ and ‘Finding ‘Appiness’ are all based on Northerner’s experiences of happiness and joy at the core. Is this something you have intentionally focused on, or did it emerge naturally?

Those films are about people finding themselves and expressing their voice. I guess I’m drawn to those stories as they are quite relatable to me so I’m able to tell them authentically. I wouldn’t say it was intentional. Heartwarming stories are just my taste and I try to find them. I’m also really proud to be northern, and the two things have come together. Celebrating the north and celebrating inspirational human stories.

How do you think we could improve and open up the opportunities and representation of the North?

Funding. Specifically in documentary funding. The only real independent funding is coming through Doc Society. If we just look at short docs alone, Doc Society support around 15 short documentaries each year for the whole of the UK. What they do is fantastic but they shouldn’t be the only ones supporting independent documentary in the UK. Especially when factual is really very popular in the TV / Streaming world.

Also, the industry needs to support micro companies like ours. We are based in a small town, Wigan. We’re small enough to still be part of our local community and have links and access to new emerging talent. By supporting us we can then support local people who want to come into the industry.

I think it’s also important to not let our stories just live in the North. Events like this are great as we need to showcase our stories to audiences outside of the North. I think it’s important to ensure we create opportunities and situations where we can show the rest of the UK our stories.

What would you love to see the Northern landscape across film and other media looking like in 10 years time?

I would really like to see more Film / TV events happening in rural Northern communities and not just in the cities, which is what’s happening currently. I think northerners are good at making stuff happen out of nothing. Pop up cinema screenings in shops or breweries, cool events like that. We just need the wider industry to start paying attention to us and take us seriously so these events can grow and help funders and commissioners meet new talent.

I’d also really like to see celebrity fronted documentaries fall out of fashion. Normal everyday people are far more interesting than celebrities in my opinion, no one is doing what our rapping nana (Joy Uncensored, 2023) is doing at the moment, she’s such an inspiration. We find wonderful characters like this all over, but at the moment if they aren’t already famous those stories are harder to get the green light.

Natasha Hawthornthwaite (Co-Founder of Northern Heart) on the sofa at BFI London Film Festival 2023