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, with an area of . In 2019, the city had an estimated population of 256,375. It is the largest settlement ...

and attended a grammar school there, Longton High School. He studied fine art at

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

in the early 1960s; taught art history for a short while at Newcastle Polytechnic then in 1966 began studying filmmaking at Regent Street Polytechnic in London. Martin along with photographer Sirkka-Liisa Konttinen and filmmaker Graham Denman, came together in London in 1968 around his vision to found

. The group moved to Newcastle 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