By Zoe Jewell
The London Film Festival has got some competition this year as enterprising Brixtonites have set up an ‘underground’ Brixton film festival, which got underway today.
From September 30 to October 6, films will be shown in “hush hush” locations across Brixton to offer a non-commercial cinema experience to movie lovers. Venues will be announced 24 hours in advance on Twitter or the website – tomorrow’s film will be shown at 7pm at the Lounge, Atlantic Road.
The idea is that non-traditional film venues will be used to make it much more accessible than mainstream cinemas and many screenings will cost as little as £1.
Organiser Maia Quiquine-Nicholls said not “to expect commercial places like the Ritzy.” She explained that the motivation behind the festival: “I know countless people from Brixton and the area surrounding that believe cinemas are far too commercial. Cannes has a film festival…why shouldn’t we?!”
“Brixton is naturally filled with all sorts of culture and I think film is one that is somewhat dormant. We have many film lovers that feel that their local cinema, not mentioning any names, is somewhat excessive. It used to be a unique cinema within itself and now it’s the same as any cinema you might find in the west end.”
The theme will be class, democracies and race, in the light of the upcoming US Presidential election and Black History Month in October.
The film festival will include feature films, documentaries, shorts, Q&As and work by young filmmakers. Locations will be announced just 24 hours before each screening.
[…] Brixton Underground Film Festival continues tonight with a screening of Human Tornado at the Lounge Bar, Atlantic […]