Murray Martin (27 January 1943 – 14 August 2007) was a British documentary and docudrama filmmaker. He was a founding and lifelong member of

Amber Film & Photography Collective Amber Film & Photography Collective (often shortened to Amber Films or Amber) is a film and photography collective based in Newcastle upon Tyne with an aim to capture working-class life in North East England. Often combining professional and non- ...

, with whom he made many films including ''Seacoal'' (1985), ''In Fading Light'' (1989) and '' Eden Valley'' (1994).

Life and work

Martin was born in

Stoke-on-Trent Stoke-on-Trent (often abbreviated to Stoke) is a city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Staffordshire, England. It has an estimated population of 259,965 as of 2022, making it the largest settlement in Staffordshire ...

and attended a

grammar school A grammar school is one of several different types of school in the history of education in the United Kingdom and other English-speaking countries, originally a Latin school, school teaching Latin, but more recently an academically oriented Se ...

there,

Longton High School Longton High School was a school in Longton and later Meir, Staffordshire from 1760 to 2010. History The school was founded in 1760 with an endowment from John Bourne and was known as the Longton Free School. By 1763, enough money had been pr ...

. He studied fine art at

Newcastle University Newcastle University (legally the University of Newcastle upon Tyne) is a public research university based in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. It has overseas campuses in Singapore and Malaysia. The university is a red brick university and a mem ...

in the early 1960s; taught art history for a short while at

Newcastle Polytechnic Newcastle usually refers to: *Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England, United Kingdom *Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England, United Kingdom *Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area ...

then in 1966 began studying filmmaking at

Regent Street Polytechnic The University of Westminster is a public university, public university based in London, United Kingdom. Founded in 1838 as the Royal Polytechnic Institution, it was the first Polytechnic (United Kingdom), polytechnic to open in London. The Po ...

in London. Martin along with photographer

Sirkka-Liisa Konttinen Sirkka-Liisa Roberts (née Konttinen; born 1948) is a Finnish photographer who has worked in Britain since the 1960s.Sirkka-Liisa Konttinen (ed. Andrew Pulver),Photographer Sirkka-Liisa Konttinen's best shot, ''The Guardian,'' 12 August 2009. A ...

and filmmaker Graham Denman, came together in London in 1968 around his vision to found

. The group moved to

Newcastle Newcastle usually refers to: *Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England, United Kingdom *Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England, United Kingdom *Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area ...

in 1969. Martin was instrumental in Amber making "40 films and 100 photographic narratives depicting working class and marginalised lives and landscapes in the north of England, and 100 more classic and contemporary photographic exhibitions through which the group explored the traditions and possibilities of documentary." He died of a heart attack in 2007, aged 64. He was survived by his partner Ellin Hare, their son and a son from an earlier relationship.

Films directed by Martin

Though all of Amber Films' works since ''Seacoal'' were officially collectively credited to Amber Production Team, rather than individually credited, the listed films have been described as directed by Martin. *''Maybe'' (Amber, 1968) – with Graham Denman *''Seacoal'' (Amber, 1985) *''In Fading Light'' (Amber, 1989) *'' Eden Valley'' (Amber, 1994)

Notes

References

External links

*
Martin's profile at the BFI
{{DEFAULTSORT:Martin, Murray 1943 births 2007 deaths Alumni of Newcastle University Alumni of the Regent Street Polytechnic People from Longton, Staffordshire English documentary filmmakers