Acclaimed photographer Elaine Constantine makes her directorial with Northern Soul, which plays exclusively at Triskel Christchurch from Sunday October 19th. Northern Soul is the story of a youth culture in the 1970s, which changed a generation, starring Steve Coogan, Antonia Thomas and Christian McKay.
No longer satisfied with the prospect of a small town life working on a factory production line, two boys dream of going to America to discover rare records which will help them become the best DJs on the burgeoning Soul scene. The journey forces them to confront rivalry, violence, and drug abuse, and their friendship is tested to the limit.Northern Soul was a hugely popular music genre with British youth in the 1970’s, when black American soul music took the North of England by storm. The film will speak to those generations of fans who experienced the phenomenon first hand while still resonating with the ideals and struggles of youth culture regardless of era.
A documentary maker by profession, Elaine chose to portray a fictional story in order to show the once thriving scene as a “cool thing”, stating that often contemporary documentaries tend to look at the popular culture of the past as a quaint novelty. “The human interest is more real. Its about friendships and people pushing themselves to extremes to embrace the music”
Northern Soul will be showing at Christchurch from October 19th at 2pm and 6:30pm. The film then runs at 6:30pm daily until Wednesday the 22nd.
And the good times don’t end with the film. You can relive the scene on Sunday 19th October as Christchurch's Gulpd Cafe turns into Wigan Casino for a night of Northern Soul from original 45's, with Phil Hope and very special guests from 8:00pm until late.
