Peckham and Nunhead Free Film Festival

Between the 13^th and the 23^rd of September 2012, something amazing happened in SE15. Well, I’m sure many amazing things happened, but the one in particular I’m talking about was a free film festival. The Peckham and Nunhead Free Film Festival is a community driven, completely volunteer run society which held 22 film events across SE15 within the space of ten days. All for free. This was the third year of the annual festival and each year it gets bigger and better.

The project was partly funded by the council, who gave a grant, but one of the many beautiful things about this enterprise is its demonstration that events can be marvellous, accessible and inspiring without costing a lot of money. Take the short film screening ‘Under the Arches’ for example, where short films were showcased underneath a railway arch in the heart of Nunhead. Once a screen and the projector were set up, it only took the generosity of one organisation, ‘Electric Pedals’ (www.electricpedals.com), to create an innovative film event. ‘Electric Pedals’ specialise in transforming bike peddling kinetic energy into electric energy. Sounds cool doesn’t it?

Electric Peddles in action at an event on Nunhead Green

Other events include the trademark outdoor screening in Nunhead Cemetery: films with a death theme are usually screened, such as the 1946 classic ‘A Matter of Life and Death’ in 2010, and this year the Ealing comedy ‘Kind Hearts and Coronets’ was on show. Apart from the fact that the film is projected onto a large screen next to the ruined chapel, which is a spectacle to behold in itself, this particular event encourages the local council to transform a relatively unused public space into one bustling with life (don’t worry, I’m fully aware of the paradox).

'Kind Hearts and Coronets' at Nunhead cemetery

There are too many events to chronicle, and a full list can be found on their website www.freefilmfestivals.org, but one more thing I’d like to mention is the emphasis placed on young filmmakers in the community. The Free Film Festival runs ‘Make a film in a day’ workshops, where young people are encouraged to come in and experience the process of film making. Also the ‘SE15 Young Filmmakers Competition’ takes many entrants from people aged 11-25 who have made short films around the theme of ‘My SE15.’ The winner of the 2010 competition was a documentary about young fathers in Peckham (http://vimeo.com/31192736) and the winner of this year’s competition can be seen on Youtube here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b_gSk7ufkNk.

Young filmmakers in action in Peckham

I admire the Free Film Festival and all that it stands for, so much so I was involved in the running of a New Cross and Deptford Free Film Festival earlier on in the year. Although my role in the end was minimal, due to other commitments, the festival went ahead and was a big success. This just proves that the Nunhead and Peckham Free Film Festival has inspired others, including people in Camberwell and Herne Hill who are starting to plan their own free film festival for 2013, and has gone either further in creating a model for how it can be done. Long live the Free Film Festivals!

Another picture from the Nunhead cemetery screening