Films, art and music (and a bit of food) in and around SE8

There's a whole host of cultural stuff kicking off in the next few weeks around Deptford - here's just a taster of what's on offer:

New Cross & Deptford free film festival
26 April - 5 May

There's an excellent line-up of free film showings in Deptford and New Cross venues ranging from an openair screening of Skyfall in Fordham Park to The House on Telegraph Hill which is very appropriately being shown at the Hill Station in Telegraph Hill.

The most unusual part of the festival looks like being the 'Light houses' which will be on show in the windows of certain houses in the roads around Telegraph Hill. A great excuse to peer into people's front rooms. Do take the map though, if you don't want to get into trouble with the neighbourhood watch.

There will be a rare screening of cult US underground 60s film,  Brand X  at Goldsmiths College Cinema on Monday 29 April, 7:30 pm (doors 7pm).  This film has been unavailable to the general public for over 40 years and isn’t currently available for general viewing.

Conceived and born between 1968 and early 1970, Brand X (Dir Wynn Chamberlain) uses simplistic television programming of that era as a frame to expose and ridicule the politics and taboos of the day.  Brand X is subversive in that it undermines and deconstructs broadcast TV so that your belief in its rationality is seriously challenged.

The film will be introduced by the director’s son, Sam Chamberlain, who will also be available to answer questions after the screening.

As well as showing some great films, the festival offers a fantastic excuse to get into some of the borough's more unusual venues, such as the former Deptford Town Hall, the King of Hearts Tattoo Parlour and the Sanford Housing Coop.

Most venues have limited capacity so tickets are allocated on a first-come, first-served basis.

Sound Tracks Festival
11 May

This music festival is based around the East London Line and features bands playing at venues near stops on the route, as well as acoustic performances on ELL trains from noon till 8pm.
Not strictly speaking free of charge - you need a wristband to access the venues and naturally you will have to pay for your ELL ticket to see the travelling bands.

Disappointingly the organisers seem to have focussed on the hip venues in Dalston, Hoxton and Peckham for the most part, with nothing around New Cross, although there are some acoustic bands performing at the wonderful Brunel Museum in Rotherhithe, and you can experience an 'audio-visual sensation inspired by the northern lights' at Canada Water Library.

Uzbekistan: cultural insights photography exhibition at the Stephen Lawrence Centre.
22 April - 19 June

An exhibition of pictures by amateur photographer Kurshid Raupov offers a view of Uzbekistan's rich heritage through the lives of ordinary people.
Unfortunately the exhibition is only open during weekday office hours.

Goldsmiths & Lewisham: shared histories
24 April - 3 May

The intertwined histories of Goldsmiths, University of London and its local community in Lewisham are to be explored in a special exhibition of works of art and historical artefacts across four sites in New Cross and Deptford.

The collaborative exhibition, organised by the Department of Visual Cultures at Goldsmiths, in partnership with the Goldsmiths Art Collections and the Lewisham Local History Society, offers an insight into the area as a centre of creative work over the past century.

According to organiser Dr Jenny Doussan, Department of Visual Cultures at Goldsmiths: "Such histories, produced by virtue of inhabiting the same space, are often forgotten, yet their presence remains in the sometimes invisible accumulation of objects that comprise our environs.

"The Shared Histories exhibition restores visibility to a few such histories, bringing the past into the present and connecting dislocated spaces."

Each of the four sites - Goldsmiths' New Academic Building and 310 New Cross Road, New Cross Learning, and The Albany in Deptford - will be linked by interactive technology 'We Curate' that allows collective browsing of objects across all four installations.
More information in the press release here.

Deptford Community Cookbook - live demonstrations on Saturdays

There will be live cooking demos of recipes from the Deptford Community Cookbook every Saturday on the market next to the Codfather fish shop from about 11am onwards. And live cooking demos means...free samples!

Twitter account @deptfordmarket has more information (or alternatively follow @deptforddame for all your Deptford gossip and news!).

and finally (as they say)... classical music in a pub stylee

The Night Shift: Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment at the Amersham Arms
23 April

If you like classical music but hate the stuffy atmosphere of concert halls, this could well be for you. As the marketing blurb explains (in a somewhat flowery rhetoric): "The Night Shift returns to crush the rules of classical music like the fragile hearts of weeping Beliebers, for a night where audiences can drink, chat and clap when they want.

"With a programme also featuring classical A-Listers Handel and Purcell, it’s a rare opportunity to hear some of the world’s greatest composers played by top performers, in a relaxed pub atmosphere. Presented by James Redwood, the OAE players will also be improvising a new piece inspired by the music of the evening. There’ll even be a few drinking songs to finish the night off."