New Cross & Deptford free film festival

The New Cross & Deptford free film festival, which launches at the end of next month, is shaping up to be a very interesting nine days.

As the name suggests, all the screenings are free and they take place at locations in Deptford and New Cross.

Some of the pairings are inspired - for example on 2 May at St Nick's church you can see Paolo Pasolini's 1964 classic The Gospel According to St Matthew,; or you may prefer Tim Burton's version of Alice in Wonderland which will be screened at the Sandbourne Road Community Garden on 29 April as part of a Mad Hatter's tea party.

Freedom Cells, a weekend of films by human rights film makers and artists, will take place at the Old Police Station from 27-29 April, where the films will actually be shown in the old cells, transformed into tiny temporary cinemas.

The Big Red plays host to an illustrated talk by local historian Neil Gordon-Orr, who will be talking about 'The Lost Cinema of Deptford' and showing clips, images and local short films. Where was Deptford's first picture palace? What was the scene of South East London's WW1 cinema disaster? Which local nightspot was once a major cinema and palais de danse? Which angry-young-man flick features Deptford market? What about 'last tango in New Cross'? Find out all this and more!

An all-nighter at Release nightclub in New Cross on 4 May will include a screening of Attack the Block, followed by local DJs 'playing the best in dubstep, house, hip-hop, garage, grime and RnB'.

There's also the opportunity to dig out your old home movies on Super8 or VHS for public humiliation at 'No DVD' at the New Cross People's Library, which sounds like it could be great fun. If the locals prove unwilling to reveal their past fashion crimes, there's always plenty of old films to be had on Deptford Market!

And there's plenty more - the excellent documentary The Tunnel, about Malcolm Hardee's infamous Tunnel Club, will be shown at the Big Red in Deptford and 'introduced by a special guest', or if you want something a bit more active, why not help out at a bike-powered showing of Harry Potter or Sherlock Holmes, both of which need fit volunteers!

I can see I'm going to have to block out a good few nights during the film festival, there is so much to see and do. You can check out the full programme here.

The organisers are also asking people to support this event with online donations, which you can do here.

In their own words: In order to get our festival off the ground we need your help. We have already secured £1,000 from funders, but to make our free film dreams a reality we need to raise a further £4,000 to cover security, equipment and facility costs. As the name suggests, all of the events are free and we are not hoping to make a profit from the festival. Backers will be rewarded and credited, so not only will you get the warm fuzzy feeling of knowing that you have helped create something wonderful, but you will also get a little thank-you present from us.

Even the smallest donation will be gratefully received, and I have to say that such a varied and imaginative free festival deserves whatever support you can afford.