Reimagining Place

Saturday 29 March, 10:00

Maltings Cinema at the Barracks

SCREENTIME

Run Time

73 mins

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Intro

5 mins

The Wooler Way of Life

18 mins

Stepney Western

40 mins

Closing remarks and Q’s

10 mins

The Wooler Way of Life

As part of the National Lottery Heritage Fund project Disrupt the Archive, Northumberland Archives collaborated with young people from Wooler Drop-In and 1st Wooler BP Scouts to create a film inspired by local history and archival collections. Through their own perspectives, the young filmmakers explore life in Wooler, reflecting on their experiences and uncovering the history of Glendale Middle School – once the site of a Prisoner of War camp.

Programmer’s Note

Guided by professional filmmakers Jon Chappell and Reuben Hibbert, the young people brought their vision to life, blending past and present to create a compelling story about their community.

Director

Northumberland Archives

Country

United Kingdom

Year

2024

Duration

18 mins

Premiere

World Premiere

Dialogue Language

English

Subtitle Language

Descriptive Subtitles

Primary Contact

Megan Wilson

Facilitator

Jon Chappell Reuben Hibbert

Other

Natalya Stephenson Sophie Wakenshaw Sinead Wakenshaw Molly McKinley Ben Bottomley Barney Storie

General Contact

Megan Wilson

Stepney Western

Stepney Western is a film, installation, and exhibition by artist and filmmaker Harry Lawson, created in collaboration with young inner-city horse riders from Stepney Bank Stables in Newcastle. Reimagining Byker as the Wild West, the project blurs the line between fact and fiction, weaving together recontextualised iPhone footage shot by the riders, archival material from the North East Film Archive, and Lawson’s own cinematography.

The result is a rich, intergenerational portrait of this unique community, layered with fragments from The Stables – a 2004 CBBC series made with Stepney’s young riders two decades ago.

Programmer’s Note

Developed over two years, the film beautifully captures trust and learning. It follows young people at Stepney Bank Stables, a 120-year-old site, Newcastle’s last surviving stables of its kind, a living document of local history Byker’s past reliance on horses for haulage and industry. Turning to its current use as an Alternative Education Provider, the film records the transformative connections formed through equestrian care and the creation of a radical educational model. Its observational cinematography highlights emotional growth and resilience. Through situated learning, the film reveals a compassionate community built on relationships, confidence, and shared experience. Further materials highlighting the rich archives used to produce the work from NE Film Archives, Amber & Side and the Ouseburn Trust can be seen at Newcastle Contemporary Art until the 27th April. (Dawn Bothwell)

Director Biography

Harry Lawson (b. 1994) is an artist from Sunderland, UK.

He has made experimental moving image work across exhibition, installation and online formats since 2017. His work has been exhibited internationally, with recent shows at Chemist Gallery (London), Zumzeig (Barcelona) and Floating (Berlin).

He has been commissioned and supported by British Film Institute, Arts Council England, Wellcome Trust, Jupiter Woods, Block9 and The FA, amongst others.

His work has been shown on BBCOne, and featured in publications such as The Guardian, Huck, Plaster, Crack, Resident Advisor, Mixmag, Mundial, Copa90 and Hypebeast. His 2020 film, Meat Rack, was selected in The Observer’s Guide to Summer Culture.

In 2023, he exhibited Millwall On The Screen, a three-screen film about football and its role in the South East Bermondsey community- first as a site-specific installation at Wheel Shunters Social Club then as a solo show at Chemist Gallery in Lewisham. It ‘asked viewers to consider their own prejudices’ (The Guardian) and was described as ‘striking and unexpected’ (Huck Magazine).

Harry is currently developing Stepney Western, a participatory arts project centred on a film made in collaboration with a group of young inner city horse riders from Newcastle.

He continues to work as Director of Film and Photography at Identifying The Displaced (an interdisciplinary research project investigating the value of personal effects in the migration context)

Harry holds a BA in English Literature from King’s College London and a MA in Ethnographic Documentary Film from UCL.

Director Filmography

Stepney Western (2025), Millwall On The Screen (2023), Identifying The Displaced (2022), Meat Rack (2020), Ochre (2019)