SET Film Festival opens tonight at SET Social in Peckham and runs to 5 December, with Thursday film nights from £7 and a free archive night. Book online.

SET Film Festival opens tonight at SET Social in Peckham, and runs for a month to Saturday 5 December. This is its fourth year, and it now has its first online screening and its first awards night.

The festival’s own page lists four short film nights, one feature-length screening and a free evening of archive film and performance. Some screenings are followed by a Q&A with the filmmakers.

SET Social is a not-for-profit arts and social club at 55a Nigel Road, SE15 4NP, with a café, bar, library and garden. You do not need to be a member to attend.

Times and prices

In-person screenings are on Thursdays. The ArtRabbit listing says doors open at 6.45pm and films start promptly at 7.30pm.

Ticket Price
In-person screening £9, or £7 for concessions and SET Social members
Online screening, Wednesday 25 November £5
Archive film night Free
Festival pass, for one £32
Festival pass, for two £52

Only 30 passes are on sale. They cover all the paid events, including the online screening. Every in-person ticket includes a printed programme.

What is showing

The listing names three of the themed nights and some of their films:

  • Night 1, Impossible Cinema: Razeh-del by Maryam Tafakory and Old Masters by Basma al-Sharif
  • Night 2, Plot Twist: Trout Lake by Florrie James
  • Night 3, A Conjuring, A Summoning: Corral de Tigres by Juan Ignacio Slobayen

The closing night on 5 December gives awards in four categories: Audience Choice, Special Mention, Best Artist Film and Best Documentary. It will also show films by members of the festival’s free Accelerator Programme for UK filmmakers.

The festival was founded in 2023 and is curated by Amina Ali, Ellie Dobbs and Verity Monroe. It describes itself as an independent, grassroots platform for contemporary, artist and archive film, with a focus on “trans-national, radical, and Pan-African cinema”.

What it means for you

  • Going tonight or later: tickets and the programme are on the festival’s booking site. We could not open that site’s night-by-night listing, so check which film falls on which Thursday before you set out.
  • Access: SET has an accessibility page for the venue, and questions can go to filmfestival@setspace.uk.
  • Watching from home: the online screening on 25 November costs £5.

For more local film, see how the Peckham and Nunhead Free Film Festival ran in September, or our things to do in Dulwich page.