AV Festival 14: Extraction explores the raw materials that create our experience of the world, from their origins deep in the ground, to their extraction, transformation and global exploitation. The Festival includes 11 exhibitions, 36 film screenings, 10 concerts and 11 new commissions by national and international artists. 

Throughout the month the Festival provides a spotlight on current documentary films, including seven UK premieres. The thematic focus on global extraction industries and mining reveals exciting approaches to nonfiction filmmaking, including Chinese filmmaker Wang Bing. Many of the films explore the politics and economics of extraction, by looking at global trade, industrial history, abandoned ideologies and government corruption. All these films have never been shown in the region before so don't miss them. 

The Postcolonial Cinema Weekend from Fri 7 - Sun 9 March invites leading filmmakers to Newcastle in person to screen their rarely seen work. The focus on postcolonial cinema explores the complex histories and material traces of past colonial inequalities through contemporary filmmaking strategies across documentary and fiction. It features the filmmakers and artists: Yervant Gianikian & Angela Ricci Lucchi, Gabriel Abrantes, Sven Augustijnen, Mathieu Kleyebe Abonnenc and Duncan Campbell. 

For more information and advance tickets see: www.avfestival.co.uk