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Last Shift

Type: Short
Released: 1976
Length: 17 min.
Directed by: Murray Martin

Crew

Camera Peter Roberts

Editor Peter Roberts

Sound Graham Denman

Production Company Amber Films

Full credits (Main credits only)

Themes

Status

  • Available on DVD/VHS

Synopsis:

    Adamsez, the well known bathroom ware manufacturers, went out of business in 1975. One of the casualties of the closure was a small self-contained operation housed in an ancient collection of buildings in Swalwell-on-Tyne, which was devoted to the manufacture of hand-made bricks. Here a handful of men produced high quality refractory bricks, via a process which seemed to have been untouched by the industrial revolution.
    The brickworks having just closed and the owners either unaware or unconcerned, Amber simply employed the workers for a further week so that the processes could be documented. The film opens with the workers considering the fate of Darky, one of the factory horses, which sadly echoed their own predicament. The horse’s name led to objections from some on the left, when the film was first shown.

Made with assistance by Northern Arts and Kodak Ltd.
Synopsis:
    Adamsez, the well known bathroom ware manufacturers, went out of business in 1975. One of the casualties of the closure was a small self-contained operation housed in an ancient collection of buildings in Swalwell-on-Tyne, which was devoted to the manufacture of hand-made bricks. Here a handful of men produced high quality refractory bricks, via a process which seemed to have been untouched by the industrial revolution.
    The brickworks having just closed and the owners either unaware or unconcerned, Amber simply employed the workers for a further week so that the processes could be documented. The film opens with the workers considering the fate of Darky, one of the factory horses, which sadly echoed their own predicament. The horse’s name led to objections from some on the left, when the film was first shown.

Made with assistance by Northern Arts and Kodak Ltd.
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