'Every film should be shot in the North East'

18 January 2025

Sharuna Sagar

BBC Look North

Night and Day's cast includes US actress Haley Bennett alongside British stars Jennifer Saunders, Jack Whitehall and Timothy Spall

WOOLF COMEDY PRODUCTIONS LTD Some of the lead actors from Night and Day in a behind-the-scenes shot wearing costumes from the film. The character Jennifer Saunders is playing stands on the left and is leaning over two actors sitting on a sofa. The character played by Timothy Spall is standing on the right and holding up a glass — Night and Day's cast includes US actress Haley Bennett alongside British stars Jennifer Saunders, Jack Whitehall and Timothy Spall

A stellar cast of actors has been in the North East shooting a new movie. They and the crew say the region should be used a lot more by filmmakers.

Described as an unromantic comedy, Night And Day is inspired by a Virginia Woolf novel of the same name.

US star Haley Bennett plays the lead role and is ed by a host of well-known British names including Lily Allen, Jennifer Saunders, Timothy Spall, Jack Whitehall and Sally Phillips.

It tells the story of Katherine Hilbury (played by Bennett), a young woman who does everything she can to avoid love and marriage in order to pursue her ion for astronomy.

Set at the start of the 20th Century, the action takes place against a backdrop of women fighting for the vote, advances in science and technology, and a crumbling patriarchy.

Lily Allen plays feisty Mary Datchet and believes the fight for women's rights still resonates today.

"We have obviously come a long way since 1910 but there is still a way to go so I am hoping it will inspire people to keep pushing forward," the singer songwriter says.

Director Tina Gharavi said the North East locations helped her vision for the film

Director Tina Gharavi on the set of Night and Day wearing headphone and looking into monitors which show the actors in the scenes which are being shot — Director Tina Gharavi said the North East locations helped her vision for the film

Sunderland-born musician Nadine Shah is making her film debut as a suffragette and says the role is "pretty exciting" for two reasons.

Firstly, she ires the campaigning woman she is playing and is "eternally grateful" to the suffragettes.

Secondly, she can commute to the set from her dad's house in Whitburn.

Director Tina Gharavi, an American Iranian who has lived on and off in Tyneside for more than 30 years and is a full-time lecturer at Newcastle University, lobbied hard for the film to be shot in the region.

From Northumberland to County Durham, good use has been made of the authentic locations the North East has to offer.

Filming has taken place all over including at Beamish Museum, Neville Hall, the Newcastle home of the Mining Institute, and Ryhope Engines Museum.

One of the locations for filming was Beamish

A group of male and female extras on the set of Night and Day at Beamish. They are in costume with the men wearing bowler hats or caps and suits and the woman wearing a wide hat a jacket and a dress. Most are carrying briefcases — One of the locations for filming was Beamish

It was love at first sight for Gharavi as soon as she saw the original Victorian steam-powered pumps in action at the former waterworks in Sunderland.

"This happens to be my favourite location," she says, adding: "I was looking for a universe to put [the characters] into that was believable.

"Not just a set or a room or a location where you feel it has been fabricated.

"This is what it was back then. It is like going back in time. It is like a time machine.

"There was a moment, I was like 'this has got to be in the movie'. And they were like 'but how does this fit into the story":[]}