CINEMA

Watch these wildly creative, each utterly different short films about Kentish Town

Well, after 10 long years, we actually managed to make it happen (even if only for an hour or so), as the community brought the flicks back to NW5 last Sunday night.

The culmination of Camdenist x Cinetronica pop-up, Poster Sale!, the event saw ten shortlisted entries in the KTNF Film Awards shown, with prizes dished out in various categories.

In the process, it meant movies were indeed finally being screened inside the long-promised ‘cinema’ space in the old Polytechnic assembly hall on Prince of Wales Rd, marking the the end of a unique weekend in the space.

Find out who was there, which films won, see more photos and enjoy your chance to watch all the shorts our playlist.

SHOPPING

🎄8 unexpected local Christmas shopping district diversions that’ll lighten up your present-buying drudgery

We’ve now tipped headlong into the unavoidable season of festive excess, something that’s particularly keenly experienced in our major retail areas, bursting as they are with oversized baubles, twinkling lights and other OTT seasonal accoutrements.

Luckily, even in the most fever-pitched streets there are little breaks from it all waiting to be discovered, helping ease the pain for reluctant shoppers, or ramp up the razzmatazz for those who can’t get enough of ye olde Yuletide consumption.

Here’s our pick of some of the best current off-piste distractions, in and around Camden’s main shopping areas:

1. 🌮 COAL DROPS YARD - Warm a bitter present-buying excursion right up at the annual Mexican Christmas Market (today - Sunday). You’ll find stalls of unusual arts, crafts, clothing and accessories, a Mariachi band, folk dancers and the tacos and tequilas just keep on coming.

2. 📸 CARNABY - Ever thought you’d quite fancy have your portrait taken by world famous Camden-based photographer to the stars Rankin while doing your Xmas shopping? This year you actually can, as 15-minute shoots at the RankinLive pop-up on Carnaby St can now be booked on dates throughout December.

3. 🪽 REGENT’S ST - If, as we reported last week, the selfie-snapping hordes under the twinkling angels on the main drag are getting too much, dive into the H&M flagship store, where up on the second floor they have a special LEGO area known as ‘Inspire’, where you can take a seat, calm down and build something with the iconic bricks.

4. 🎧 CAMDEN MARKET - If you happen to be struggling through one of their late-night shopping events (every Thursday until the big day), the lovely setting of the cobbled North Yard will be hosting a DJ dropping back-to-back festive bangers…accompanied by a live violinist(!), for what promises to be a truly memorable free diversion - and that’s not to mention the roaming polar bear show…

5. 🎞️ OXFORD ST - Visiting Selfridges is about as Christmassy as it gets, and to be honest, so is a festive trip to see the big new Wonka movie, but ducking out of the melee for a couple of hours in the store’s luxe in-house cinema sounds like the perfect temporary escape, complete with posh food and drinks service, too.

6. 🎄ST PANCRAS - Xmas in the mainline station is a real gem, as you can switch the festive present-hunting shenanigans on and off at will. One minute you can be beholding this year’s really rather impressive Hatchards tree (perhaps you’ll even bump into former Spice Girl Geri Haliwell-Horner, who’s signing her book there this Saturday), or go shopping at Fortnums without the West End crowds, then the next minute, just hop on the train, and you’re done.

7. 🥪 COVENT GARDEN - Thursday (7th) sees the annual 10-day Christmas Sandwich Festival kick off across a range of top restaurants and cafes in and around the piazza. From dainty toasties to mammoth roast beef and brie subs, it presents many excuses to teak a break from the consumer frenzy.

8. 💀 SEVEN DIALS - Forgo the traditional post-shopping panto in favour of seeing David Tennant in Macbeth at the Donmar, which opens next Friday. It’s been completely sold out for ages, but the theatre releases some daily £15 standing tickets only via the website, which could be yours if you keep your digital wits about you.

JOIN US

£100 of pub savings with CityStack - FREE when you become a premium supporter of Camdenist

We’ve mentioned the excellent stocking-filler gift of CityStack before in the newsletter, and now it’s back featuring its best ever offer, plus an offer from us, too.

Each pack costs just £25 and contains a stack of beer mats that gives a tenner off your bill (£20 or over) in up to ten different pubs from a selection of 50+ hand-picked independents across London.

That’s £100-worth of free food and drinks waiting to be enjoyed, all while getting out there, discovering and supporting London’s best pubs in the process.

Read more about CityStack and pick up a gift or two for the pub lover(s) in your life (or yourself!) - alternatively, Camdenist will give you a CityStack pack for FREE if you decide to become a founder annual member of our new premium membership scheme.

Will you support our work in 2024?

Camdenist has been 100% free to read ever since its inception back in the depths of lockdown in 2020 - and it always will be.

As a community newsletter, website (and occasional print magazine), we feel it’s really important we don’t exclude anyone by restricting who can see our content, putting it behind paywalls and charging fees.

But many of you have asked how you can support our work, to enable us to offer more events like last weekend’s free pop-up, create meaningful employment and training opportunities for aspiring local journalists, and continue to grow.

That’s why, from today, you can opt to be a Camdenist premium member, contributing a small monthly or annual amount that goes directly towards keeping our work free for everyone to enjoy.

We’re not fans of simply asking for donations though, as some media businesses do - it doesn’t work, and it’s not a good exchange - so in return, we’re offering a simple range of added benefits and rewards for those who do choose to support us in this way.

These include advanced updates and early invites to future special events, the chance to participate more deeply in our editorial processes and - for those subscribing to an annual package - we’ll send you a FREE CityStack pack to say thanks.

With over £100-worth of savings, that mean’s you actually get paid back (and then some) to help support us, simply by going out to eat and drink in 10 pubs next year!

Take a look at the premium membership options, and do please consider upgrading your participation in our Camdenist community, if you’re enjoying what we do here every week. 🥰

FOOD & DRINK

The new places to go and the essential dishes to try in the ‘hood this week

• 🥦 What do you get when you cross traditional Christmas dinner fayre with decadent Alpine communal eating? Why, the Gravy Fondue (pictured) above of course! Chalk Farm’s The Lucky Club are offering this viral hybrid centrepiece every Sunday afternoon at the moment - there’s even a version with ‘bottomless’ gravy.

• 🥙 Michelin-trained chef Paul Baron turned his attention to making showstopping kebabs, by launching his acclaimed I Am Döner takeaways - the latest branch of which opens today at 44 Chalk Farm Rd with some tasty deals that are likely going to see big queues…

• 🍻 Grand old Belsize Park boozer The Washington has just reopened in time for the Xmas season after a thorough spruce-up, which by all accounts is gorgeous.

• ☹️ Meanwhile, glam Belsize Village restaurant and wine bar Calici closed down suddenly this week, with employees demanding to be paid posted on social.

• 🍕 Brighton-founded pizzeria Fatto a Mano have been going great guns in King’s Cross all year, and are preparing to open a second London branch in Covent Garden this Monday.

• 🍣 Also opening in CG on Monday, it’s the unexpected return of Camden’s former opulent monster dining room, the Babylonian-themed Gilgamesh, this time around at a smaller (but no less extravagantly decorated) site on St Martin’s Lane.

• Kentish Town Stores is celebrating its fourth birthday with a special supper club next Saturday (9th) with all proceeds (and match funding by the venue) going to the Unicef appeal to protect children in the Gaza crisis. Chef Sal’s cooking is influenced by her own heritage (a mix of Afghani, Farsi and Turkish, she was born in Pakistan, and lived in Brooklyn and Holland before moving to the UK), so expect serious flavours across a three-course sharing menu with a welcome drink and well-stocked bar. Offer alert! ⬇️

MUSIC

Our quick pick of the crop of local live gigs

• 🎸 It’s the fifth annual PROG the FOREST event at Fiddler’s Elbow on Saturday (3rd), showcasing modern prog rock from The Blackheart Orchestra, This Winter Machine, Ebony Buckle, EBB, Hat’s Off Gentleman It’s Adequate, Guranfoe and more all day 1.30-11.30pm

• 🎤 Modern soul masters Mamas Gun play two dates at Camden’s Jazz Cafe this week (Tues 5th & Wed 6th) after notching up a slew of worldwide streaming and radio play hits.

• 🎸 Merseyside’s The Coral are on a mini-tour this month that touches down at Electric Ballroom on Thursday (7th) with new music from shier latest LP releases.

  
  Gig highlights in association with Halibuts.com

CAMDEN DIARY

Party power, cultural change

The weekly Camdenist column: observations and frustrations from living, working and playing in the borough…

SATURDAY: I know I’ve been goings on a bit about nightclubs in this column lately, but that’s because I truly believe in the importance of what happens in them, something that is, more often than not, written off as little more than basic lowbrow mashup hedonism. Yes, there’s plenty of that (and why not?) but dropping in to five-floor venue The Cross for the celebration of the original King’s Cross railway arch venue’s 30th anniversary, was yet another special very moment. This crowd, who would spend their every Friday night down at Fiction back in the 00’s, had come back out in force - for one night only. There’s a very special atmosphere that this kind of reunion of friends and interconnected strangers of a particular vintage creates. There’s sadness and loss, but also deep appreciation and joy. It’s so much more than people bouncing around to house music, and yet it really is as simple as that, too. Having a belly laugh with groups of friends who criss-cross each other from other parts of life, all of whom have been party-starters at heart for well over two decades, is more than heartwarming. It’s truly the stuff of life. These moments are the ones people hold close to their hearts as the peak of their times. That’s the raw power of our late night venues, something that the arguments over their economic and cultural contribution to society often can’t quite articulate. It might be damn tiring these days, but I bet it did all the middle-aged ravers a world of good.

THURSDAY: Off on an awayday to Croydon to present what we do in hyperlocal media at the one-day Culture Croydon Symposium. It’s always interesting to hear about the unique challenges - and the many similarities - that other parts of London face when it comes to sustainable media, culture and the arts. It’s all fairly bleak right now after years of cuts, of course. Croydon is bankrupt - yet it is also the 2023 City of Culture. That dichotomy between fiscal value and cultural wealth kind of sums up where we’re all at right now. The theme of the day was around what comes next, and as another super-tough year for so many culture organisations comes to an end, you’ve got to be gently optimistic about the winds beginning to change in 2024, right? If the AI doesn’t wipe us all out, then there are so many people ready to do great things, and they deserve great things, too.

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