Steve Salam left behind hopes of joining the RAF to move into a world which recently saw him making a 3D film about Roman soldiers. Christopher Knox caught up with the MD of Tyneside-based Dene Films.
WITH a family tree that takes in Malaysia, Norway and North Shields, Steve Salam admits to feeling confused about his heritage. But he very much sees himself as a North Eastener and is proud to be in a position to be able to showcase the region to the world through his imaginative and diverse cinematic output.
Having captured everything from the Great North Run to the reenactment of a Roman battle in the Northumberland countryside, Salam has helped to showcase the rich culture and history of the region to audiences around the world.
“Although I’m from North Shields originally, my mother’s family were Scandinavians and came over to the UK from Norway during the early part of the last century,” he says.
“My father’s family are a mix of Northern miners and farmers, with a little bit of an exotic influence as my surname comes from the fact my grandmother married a seaman from Malaysia, who died during the war.
“People say that I’m something of a mongrel, which I actually see as a good thing.”
Salam’s route into the film industry is equally unorthodox, and he originally hoped to join the Royal Air Force before studying theoretical physics at Durham University.
However, it was in his second year at university that Salam realised he wanted to follow a more creative path.
He says: “I had always had a passion for photography after I was handed an old box camera from my grandfather when I was very young. I was fascinated with the act of getting the film processed and printed and was able to persuade my father to get me an SLR camera.
“I was doing a lot of slide photography and was a member of the photographic society at college. I really got into the techniques of producing my own material, which I think gave me a good grounding about how to use film.
“Not that today’s digital photography isn’t disciplined, I just think you have to think that little bit more when you’ve only got 30 exposures in your camera.
“Although I finished my physics degree I started applying for jobs in the film industry in my third year and was lucky enough to find a job with photographic firm Turner’s Film and Video.”
At Turner’s, Salam worked on a variety of projects, including shooting footage for the BBC series Rough Justice, as well as making a number of corporate films.
Life as a cameraman in the early 1980s saw Salam capture the many upheavals being faced by the working class in the North East, particularly the coal miners as the Government began closing pits.
“I have always been interested in peering into other people’s worlds, which I was able to do on a number of occasions at Turner’s,” he says.
“I remember we covered the Durham miners’ gala and recorded speeches by Arthur Scargill and Michael Foot. I would not normally have gone along to that kind of political rally, but it was fascinating to be there and be able to create a window into these people’s lives.
“One of the most fascinating things I did, in hindsight, was to cover Tony Blair when he was standing for Parliament. I remember we had no idea who we were filming.”