CINETOPIA presents TISH + OLD OAK + Q&A

TISH

DIRECTOR: Paul Sng

COUNTRIES OF ORIGIN: UK

Languages: English

RUNNING TIME: 90 min

Certification: 15

THE OLD OAK DIRECTOR: Ken Loach

COUNTRIES OF ORIGIN: UK, France, Belgium

Languages: English and Arabic

RUNNING TIME: 113 min

Certification: 15

Join Cinetopia for a double bill of TISH + THE OLD OAK followed by an in-person discussion with filmmakers Paul Sng and Paul Laverty.

TISH (Paul Sng, 2023) is a loving portrait of social documentary photographer, Tish Murtha, which had its world premiere as Sheffield Doc/Fest 2023’s opening film. Committed to documenting the impact of Thatcherism and deindustrialisation on the working-class communities she belonged to. Although Tish’s work received critical acclaim at the time, she was unable to make a living from her photography and died in poverty. 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, artefacts, letters, and diaries. Through these objects and conversations with family members, teachers and friends, the film shines a light on Tish Murtha, the ‘tribe’ she was a part of, and her rich legacy as a key figure in British documentary photography.

THE OLD OAK (Ken Loach, 2023) Nominated for the Palme d'Or Award at Cannes in 2023, directed by Ken Loach and written by Paul Laverty, The Old Oak is fiction film about the last pub standing in a once thriving North-East England village. When a group of Syrian refugees arrive in town, tensions arise between the existing community and its newest inhabitants. The Old Oak becomes the epicentre of this conflict. In Loach and Laverty’s signature social realist style, the film hones in on the unique friendship between TJ Ballantine (Dave Turner), the Old Oak’s landlord, and a Syrian woman, Yara (Ebla Mari), a photographer curiously capturing the world around her.

After the two films, Edinburgh-based filmmakers, TISH’s Paul Sng and THE OLD OAK’s Paul Laverty will engage in a conversation together about their films, how they intersect and the important political messages they interrogate.