With the release of its 2013 programme this week, London’s East End Film Festival cements itself as an established and thoughtful international film festival based in one of the most colourful turfs of the city.

Known for its selection of promising cinema from global and local independent filmmakers, the festival also brings carefully selected panels, galas, networking events and parties to its two week programme.

Opening night sees a celebration and examination of the East End, which since last summer has been heavily on the global radar for better or worse. A special screening of Mark Donne’s The UK Gold will be at the centre of the evening. Narrated by The Wire’s Dominic West and scored by Radiohead’s Thom Yorke, Donne melds together the voices of politicians and journalists as the film follows the journey of a Hackney based vicar and the obstacles that he faces.

Cinematic offerings include Ben Wheatley’s heavily anticipated fourth feature A Field in England (Main Picture, and check out the trailer below). The British director, who has previously received critical acclaim for the grisly Kill List and romantic crime spree Sightseers takes a turn at period horror, which will be shown on the 8^th of July and includes a contribution from Wheatley.

Global films include the UK premiere of Antej Farac’s Annelie. Centred on a fading community in Munich, Farac uses the real community as his setting and even has some of its inhabitants playing versions of themselves. The film is competing for the festival’s Best Feature prize, and will be playing at the Genesis cinema on the 8^th of July.

Not to go out quietly, the festival closes with a selection of the programme’s best short films, the world premiere of Karl Hyde (Underworld) and Kieran Evans’ documentary The Outer Edges,  accompanied by a live soundtrack from Hyde and his collaborators. Finally the programme finishes with Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman’s Lovelace. Having already collected decent responses from this year’s big festival’s Amanda Seyfried’s portrayal of the disturbed porn star and her abuse by the industry also stars James Franco, Sharon Stone and Juno Temple, and will be hosted at the Hackney Picturehouse.

Events include an Argentine Cinema Panel, an evening of moving images by cabaret artists, an afternoon of documentaries and Prior to the screening of La Antena, East London-based hair salon Pimps & Pinups will be hosting a free pop-up hair salon for visitors.

For details of the full programme, booking information and a look into the festival itself, visit the homepage HERE

A Field In England is in cinemas, available to buy and download on 5th July 2013.  Pre-order your copy HERE