ASUNDER
2016 // 72′ // 2K // UK
asunder1916.uk // linktree // twitter // facebook // IMDb // vimeo
a film by
Esther Johnson
produced by
Esther Johnson and Bob Stanley
text
Bob Stanley
narration
Kate Adie and Alun Armstrong
music
Field Music and Warm Digits
performed with
Royal Northern Sinfonia and The Cornshed Sisters
editing
Graham Taylor
cinematography
Mary Farbrother
additional camera
Esther Johnson
sound design
Chu-Li Shewring
screening format
DCP
distribution
Blanche Pictures
Awards
Special Commendation for Learning on Screen BUFVC 2018 ‘Archive’ Award
Finalist for BAFTSS 2018 ‘Best Experimental Practice Research Portfolio’ Award
Winner of Journal Culture 2017 ‘Best Event Sunderland’ Award
Finalist for Focal International 2017 ‘Best Footage in a Factual Production’ Award
Finalist for Living North 2016 ‘Performance of the Year’ Award
Performances with Live Music
Barbican Milton Court Concert Hall, London 20:00 12.02.17
Part of the year-long Film in Focus programme celebrating the power of the moving image and its influence across the arts
Sunderland Empire Theatre High Street West, Sunderland, Tyne and Wear 14:30 and 19:30 10.07.16
Accompanied by an Asunder inspired artistic, community and participation programme across Sunderland
Online Screenings
01 May—31 December 2021
ASUNDER online community screenings will be available through Cinema For All Curate
These screenings include the options of turning on:
CC (Closed Captions) for deaf and hard of hearing audience members
AD (Audio Description) for blind and partially sighted audience members
29 March—30 April 2021
Leeds Film Player will host ASUNDER as part of the Leeds Young Film Festival
screening includes the option of turning on:
CC (Closed Captions) for deaf and hard of hearing audience members
01 March—30 April 2021
YourScreen F-rated Virtual Cinema screenings supporting independent and community cinemas. These screenings include the options of turning on:
CC (Closed Captions) for deaf and hard of hearing audience members
AD (Audio Description) for blind and partially sighted audience members
Streaming the film also includes a #ReclaimtheFrame Q&A with Director Esther Johnson hosted by Mia Bays, director of Birds’ Eye View Film.
See a participating cinema you want to support? Enter their Asunder 25% off promo code at the YourScreen pay point. Cinemas include:
Aberystwyth Arts Centre Wales · code: ABERYS
Bracknell Film Society Berkshire
Birds Eye View London · code: BEV25
The Castle Cinema Hackney
The David Lean Cinema Croydon · code: DLYS
Depot Cinema Lewes · code: DEPOT25
Dorchester Film Society Dorset
Dukes Theatre Lancaster · code: DUKESYS
Electric Palace Cinema Hastings · code: HASTYS
HOME Manchester · code: HOME25
Keswick Alhambra Cumbria · code: KESYS
Kinokulture Oswestry · code: KINO25
Leyburn Arts & Community Centre
Live & Local community cinema network in the Midlands
The Lowther Pavilion Lytham St Annes
Lucem House St Helens community cinema, group screening on 16.04.21 · code: LHYSS325
Memo Arts Centre Barry · code: MEMOYS
Northampton Film House
The Place Bedford 01—14 March · code: PLACEYS
Plymouth Arts Cinema
Reading Film Theatre
The Roses Tewkesbury · code: ROSESYS
Saffron Screen Saffron Walden
Strode Theatre Somerset
The Torch Theatre Milford Haven, Pembrokeshire
Sunderland Culture code: SUNMUS25
Totnes Cinema Devon · code: TOT40
Wem Town Hall Shrewsbury
Windmill Cinema Littlehampton · code: WINDYS
Wotton Electric Picture House Cotswolds · code: WOTT25
27—29 November 2020 72 hour online screening
Forum Cinema Hexham
Cinema Screenings
BFI Southbank London 12:00 04.09.21 plus Intro from Director/co-producer Esther Johnson and Writer/co-producer Bob Stanley
Broadway Cinema Nottingham 17:30 01.07.21 screening via Reclaim the Frame with Birds Eye View Film
plus conversation with Director/co-producer Esther Johnson, and director of Birds Eye View Film Mia Bays, rounded off by a live acoustic performance of a new rendition of the folk song used in the film by folk singer Julie Russell.
This special event marks the anniversary of the first day of the Battle of the Somme, 1 July 1916 and also 1 July 1918 when 8 tons of TNT exploded in The National Shell Filling Factory, Chilwell, killing 139 people, of whom only 32 could be positively identified, with a further 250 injured.
The Regal Cinema Fordingbridge, Hampshire 19:00 26.06.21
TPD: Centre for supporting Movie Talents Hanoi, Vietnam 19:00 28.03.21 free
plus video-link Q&A with Director/co-producer Esther Johnson
This event forms part of the FAMLAB strand (Film–Archive–Music) of the British Council Vietnam project Heritage of Future Past
The Ritz Cinema Belper WW1 Armistice commemorative screening 15.11.20 — CANCELLED due to CoViD-19 England lockdown
National Science and Media Museum Bradford WW1 Armistice commemorative screening 11.11.20 — CANCELLED due to CoViD-19 England lockdown
Chapter Arts Cardiff WW1 Armistice commemorative screening 11.11.20 — CANCELLED due to CoViD-19 Wales lockdown
Forum Cinema Hexham WW1 Armistice commemorative screening 10-11.11.20 — CANCELLED due to CoViD-19 England lockdown
Saffron Screen Saffron Walden WW1 Armistice commemorative screening 08.11.20 — CANCELLED due to CoViD-19 England lockdown
Queen’s Film Theatre Belfast, screening as part of the Belfast International Arts Festival 2020 17:30 01.11.20 — CANCELLED due to CoViD-19 N. I. lockdown
Showroom Cinema Sheffield Commemorative screening for the centenary of the WW1 Armistice 13:00 11.11.18
Hebden Bridge Picture House Commemorative screening for the centenary of the WW1 Armistice 16:30 11.11.18
Square Chapel Arts Centre Halifax Commemorative screening for the centenary of the WW1 Armistice 11:00 02.11.18
plus Q&A with Director/co-producer Esther Johnson
The Odyssey Cinema St Albans 17:00 01.07.18
The Women’s Library screening as part of Suffrage 18 a centenary exploration at LSE Wolfson Theatre, New Academic Building, Lincoln’s Inn Field, London 18:30 15.06.18 free
plus Q&A with Director/co-producer Esther Johnson
Hyde Park Picture House Leeds 15:00 03.06.18 free
plus Q&A with Director/co-producer Esther Johnson, chaired by Dr Andy Moore, University of Leeds
Duke’s at Komedia Brighton 20:40 12.12.17
plus Q&A with Director/co-producer Esther Johnson
Curzon Soho London 18:45 07.12.17
plus Q&A with Director/co-producer Esther Johnson and Writer/co-producer Bob Stanley, chaired by Sophie Monks Kaufman, Little White Lies
Curzon Sheffield 18:45 29.11.17
plus Q&A with Director/co-producer Esther Johnson, chaired by Sarah Dawson, Sheffield Doc/Fest
Belmont Filmhouse Aberdeen, School screening 10:00 13.09.17
Filmhouse Edinburgh School screening 10:00 12.09.17
Filmhouse Edinburgh 15:30 10.09.17
plus Q&A with Director/co-producer Esther Johnson, chaired by Lydia Beilby, Film Programmer for EIFF
KinoKulture Oswestry 19:30 16.08.17 free
plus Q&A with Director/co-producer Esther Johnson, chaired by Ruth Carter, KinoKulture Co-Founder and Film Exhibition Programmer
Jam Jar Cinema Whitley Bay 20:30 01.08.17
plus Q&A with Director/co-producer Esther Johnson, chaired by Dan Ellis, Jam Jar Cinema Founder
QUAD Derby, School screening 10:00, Evening screening 19:00 21.06.17
plus Q&A with Director/co-producer Esther Johnson, chaired by Nigel Powlson, Journalist
Tyneside Cinema Newcastle 15:15 21.05.17
plus Q&A with Director/co-producer Esther Johnson and Writer/co-producer Bob Stanley, chaired by Holli Keeble, Chief Executive, Tyneside Cinema
Regent Street Cinema London 19:30 18.04.17
plus Q&A with Director/co-producer Esther Johnson and Writer/co-producer Bob Stanley, chaired by Travis Elborough, Writer
HOME Manchester 18:20 22.02.17
plus Q&A with Director/co-producer Esther Johnson and Writer/co-producer Bob Stanley, chaired by Jason Wood, Artistic Director of Film, HOME
Community Film Screenings
Belford Community Cinema Northumberland 17.08.22
plus Q&A with Director/co-producer Esther Johnson
Southwick REACH Commemorative screening for the centenary of the WW1 Armistice Sunderland time tbc 16.11.18
Arts Centre Wasinghton Commemorative screening for the centenary of the WW1 Armistice Sunderland 14:00 10.11.18
Mansions of the Future Lincoln 19:00 09.11.18 free
plus intro by Dr Ian Waites, University of Lincoln
The Customs House South Shields as part of Heritage Open Days 13:30 07.09.18 + 14.09.18
Weston Park Picturing Sheffield Gallery screening as part of Changing Lives: 200 Years of People and Protest in Sheffield Sheffield 18:30 11.04.18 free
plus Q&A with Director/co-producer Esther Johnson, chaired by Dr David Clarke, Sheffield Hallam University
Fighting Talk screening as part of SheFest 35 Chapel Walk Sheffield for International Women’s Day 18:00 13.03.18
The Cumberland Arms Newcastle for International Women’s Day time 19:00 08.03.18 free, donations welcomed for charities Plan International and Newcastle Women’s Aid
plus Q&A with Director/co-producer Esther Johnson
Gosforth Civic Theatre Newcastle upon Tyne 19.30 30.11.17
plus Q&A with Director/co-producer Esther Johnson and Composer/musician Peter Brewis from Field Music, chaired by Judith Stevenson, Historian
Shipley Film Society Kirkgate Centre, Shipley 19:00 15.09.17 free, donations welcomed
plus Q&A with Director/co-producer Esther Johnson and Writer/co-producer Bob Stanley
Miners’ Hall Redhills Durham 15:00 04.07.17 free
Sheffield Doc/Fest The Light Cinema 20:00 10.06.17 free
Holmfirth Film Festival West Yorkshire 16:00 21.05.17 free
Phoenix Theatre Blyth 19:30 07.05.17
The Cultural Spring Creative Space The Bridges, Sunderland 10:00 02.05.17 free
Holmeside Coffee Sunderland 18:00 26.04.17 free
Arts Centre Washington Sunderland 13:30 and 19:00 19.04.17
Sunderland Quaker Meeting House Roker 19:00 30.03.17 free
Great War Weekend Tanfield Railway, Gateshead 14:00 18.03.17
Whitburn Methodist Church South Tyneside 19:00 17.03.17 free
Pop Recs Ltd Sunderland 18:30 15.02.17 free
Back on the Map Community Centre Hendon, Sunderland 14:00 18.01.17
Conference and Symposia
Make Film History: Unlocking the Creative Potential of Film Archives online workshop about archive research 10.04.21
14-18 NOW: Looking Back and Looking Forward webinar presentation from Sunderland Culture on digital engagement for ASUNDER 23.03.21
Marginalised Histories Through Live Cinema SXSW Austin, Texas, USA — CANCELLED due to CoViD-19 15.03.20
Future-proofing Our Collections: Unleashing the Power of Archive Film · London’s Screen Archives Conference Museum of London, Barbican, London 12.03.20
FAMLab Film, Archive and Music British Council at Sensoria Foundry Studios, Sheffield 03.10.18
IOHA 2018 – Memory & Narration University of Jyväskylä, Finland 18–21.06.18
Live Cinema Summit Archive and Live Scores Crucible Theatre, Sheffield Doc/Fest, Sheffield 08.06.18
The Heritage Consortium Conference, The Void, Sheffield Hallam University 05.06.18
BAFTSS 6th Annual Conference 2018 – Revolution: Politics, Technology, Aesthetics University of Kent 12–13.04.18
MeCCSA Annual Conference School of Arts and Creative Industries, London South Bank University 10–12.01.18
New Approaches event, FLAMIN, Toynbee Studios, London 27.11.17
The Sound Of Memory, Sound-track / Sound-scape Whitechapel Gallery, Zilkha Auditorium, London 11:30–18:00 23.04.17
“… and then all the world began to roar.”
Private William Finlay, Durham Light Infantry Regiment and Lincolnshire Regiment
ASUNDER tells the story of what happened to an English town during the First World War, with almost all of its men fighting abroad and its women and children left behind. The North East was in the front line, due to its shipyards and munitions factories.
Using archive and contemporary footage and audio, ASUNDER collages the stories of people from Tyneside and Wearside to uncover what life was like on the home front, with bombs falling on Britain for the first time, conscientious objectors sentenced to death, and women working as doctors, tram conductors and footballers. The narrative moves from an Edwardian golden era, in which sport grew in popularity and aircraft and cars pointed to a bright new future, to a war that horrifically reversed this progress. In the Battle of the Somme, British, French and German armies fought one of the most traumatic battles in military history. Over the course of just four months, more than one million soldiers were captured, wounded or killed in a confrontation of unimaginable horror.
A film by Esther Johnson with a soundtrack composed by Sunderland’s Mercury-nominated Field Music and Newcastle’s Warm Digits, performed with the Royal Northern Sinfonia and The Cornshed Sisters.
The narration for the film is voiced by journalist Kate Adie, with the actor Alun Armstrong as the voice of the Sunderland Daily Echo and Shipping Gazette.
The premiere of ASUNDER took place at the Sunderland Empire Theatre on 10 July 2016, commemorating the centenary of the first days of the Battle of the Somme. The Empire is one of the largest theatres in the North East, opened by music hall star Vesta Tilley on 1 July 1907. The premiere had a live soundtrack performed by Field Music, Warm Digits, Royal Northern Sinfonia and The Cornshed Sisters.
‘a fascinating kaleidoscope’ Chronicle ★★★★★
‘Asunder casts its spell’ Sunderland Echo
‘very special indeed’ Living North
‘Wonder Asunder…had Living North in raptures’ Living North
‘revel[s] in alternative viewpoints’ Music OMH ★★★★★
‘Absolutely extraordinary. Immersive, entrancing experience’
‘I was very moved…still thinking about it’
‘Beautiful film/live music’
‘Absolutely class’ Storify
Film Trailer
Please turn on CC (Closed Captions) for subtitles
Interview with former Birds Eye View directer Mia Bays
Recorded for the series ‘Reclaim the Frame’
ASUNDER SONGWRITING LEARNING RESOURCE
Produced in partnership with Sunderland Music Hub this resource focuses on Sunderland and the North East during WW1.
co-commissioned by Sunderland Cultural Partnership and 14–18 NOW: WW1 Centenary Art Commissions, supported by The National Lottery through Arts Council England and the Heritage Lottery Fund, the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, Sunderland Business Improvement District, Culture Bridge North East and Sir James Knott Trust.
Esther Johnson
Esther Johnson