The Media, Arts and Humanities Research Institute

This paper explores the alternative film programming undertaken at Newcastle’s Tyneside cinema between 1970 and 1990, a period notable for its sustained curatorial experimentation. A hotbed of alternative subculture and queer sociality, the Tyneside cinema pursued a daring and audacious curatorial agenda during this period of its history. Drawing on original interviews with the cinema’s former Director-Programmer, Peter Packer, in addition to Lizzie Thynne (Education Officer) and Briony Hanson (Usherette and successive Director-Programmer), the paper examines the institutional and cultural conditions that enabled this work. In doing so, it seeks to reposition the North East as a significant but overlooked region of queer cultural production beyond London-centric narratives of British queer film culture.

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By: Luke Robinson
Last updated: Saturday, 7 February 2026