Thursday 10 April 2014

Deptford & New Cross Free Film Festival

Strictly speaking it's the New Cross & Deptford Free Film Festival but as you may have realised, I do like to try a bit of mild subversion from time to time.


That's another story of course; in this case it's the upcoming film festival that is floating my boat, and I have to say that this event just seems to get better. Now in its third year, the festival seems to have expanded into Deptford like never before, with some really interesting venues and some great films on offer.

Who could resist the lure of watching The Hustler in Shades Pool Hall on Deptford High Street (formerly the Mechanics Institute) or cosying up in Gallop to enjoy two nights of film noir?

I'm delighted to see lots of other new Deptford venues including high street shop windows, the market, Deli X and Vinyl among old favourites such as St Nick's Church, Old Tidemill School, the Bird's Nest and the Pizza Bus. The range of films seems to have matured and expanded too, with classics, documentaries and experimental shorts rubbing shoulders with general-release movies such as Bend it Like Beckham, Oh Brother Where Art Thou and locally-made Attack the Block (admire the Heygate Estate blocks, which are currently being demolished, in their full glory).

The festival kicks off on Friday 25th April and runs till 4th May - download the flyer here, or get the full online programme here.

1 comment:

vesper said...

I think that the New Cross & Deptford Free Film Festival should link up with the Durban International Film Festival, where the veteran black film producer Faith Isiakpere premiered his film the Algiers Murders in 2012. Here is part of the email that I sent them

Dear Durban International Film Festival

I have just posted a comment on both your facebook page, and on my own fb page too :

Nelson Mandela was in prison when as a newly qualified Chartered Surveyor for the UNITY PROJECT in the London Borough of Southwark I involved Faith Isiakpere my old school friend from Addey & Stanhope School after discovering that the trade literature was headed up COON DISCO http://soundcloud.com/roy-hobson/04-track-04 This in turn led to the development of the Channel 4 film 'The Crossing', and then to the involvement of another former Addey & Stanhope School pupil, Ezra Attia's black interior designer Elaine Tomlinson. Faith Isiakpere’s film The Algiers Murders at this year's Durban International Film Festival is a dark narcotics thriller set against the violent background of the amphetamine and cocaine trade. It is based on a series of police-instigated killings that took place in New Orleans in 1980 and is a relentless narrative of power, manipulation, murder, corruption and degradation. Black Madonna of UNITY pray for us!

Also Ben Odeje of South East London School in Deptford became England's first black footballer at any level, when he played for England Schoolboys in 1971. I gave Ben Sharlene Versfeld of DIFF's contact details so he could explore the possibility of making his life story into a film