Maysa Moncao has been hitting the film festival circuit for us, this time reporting back from the East End Film festival, due to begin on 1 July.

Check out her LinkedIn profile and Facebook page for more and contact details.

London is such a big metropolis that sometimes there are secret venues that are known only to the locals. East London has plenty of these venues.

This week I went to a press preview of the East End Film Festival, that took place in a lovely studio close to a windmill by the river. The cobble stone pavement couldn’t be more attractive. I even sat side by side Irvine Welsh, the author of Trainspotting and Filth and whom is one of the Jury members for the festival this year.

The Festival will be from 1-12 of July in different movie cinemas: Rich Mix, Genesis, Hackney Picturehouse, Rio Cinema, Electric Cinema among others. You can get more info at www.eastendfilmfestival.com.

Below are some suggestions from me:

1. AMY. Director: Asif Kapadia. UK, 2015, 90 min. Rio Cinema, 2 July, 8 pm. Q&A.

The story of the tragically departed five-time Grammy-winner Amy Winehouse, Asif Kapadia’s follow up to Senna is another tense, whirlwind tale of a superstar’s rise and fall. Working exclusively with archive footage, narrated via new interviews with those who knew her best, it is a brutally open and honest film channelling the lifeblood of a rare, authentic talent.

2. THE BETTER ANGELS. Director: A. J. Edwards. USA, 2014, 95 min. Hackney Picturehouse, 5 July, 8:40 pm.

Terrence Malick collaborator A. J. Edwards’ stunning debut dramatizes Abraham Lincoln’s formative experiences, refracted through visions of nature. Set in wild Indiana woodland, it charts a turbulent upbringing, foregrounding two women (Diane Kruger and Brit Marling) who shaped the young Lincoln’s outlook.

3. LEE SCRATCH PERRY’S VISION OF PARADISE. Director: Volker Schaner. Germany, UK, 2015, 100 min. Genesis, 4 July, 7 pm. Q&A.

This is the ultimate portrait of one of the icons of contemporary music. Shooting over 15 years, Volker Schaner had unprecedent access to the man who can lay claim to be a godfather of both reggae and dub.

4. IVY. Director: Tolga Karaçelik. Turkey, 2015, 104 min. Rio Cinema, 12 July, 3:45 pm. Q&A.

A group of disgruntled sailors go off the deep end in the extraordinary second feature from director Tolga Karaçelik (Tollbooth). Set on board a hulking cargo ship moored off the coast of Egypt, “Ivy” follows a skeleton crew of seabound misfits, including a narky Cypriot captain, his religiously devout number 2, two dishevelled dossers, and the cliff-like, monossylabic Kurd. Forced to stay onboard after their payments go bust, it isn’t long before power structures are dissolving, leading to tension, factionalism, threats of violence and strange apparitions.

5. MACABRE MASONIC MASQUERADE + SCREENING OF JUDEX. Director: Georges Franju. France, 1963, 98 min. The Masonic Temple at Andaz Liverpool Street Hotel, 8 pm.

Join us for a macabre night of ballroom play, immersive cinema and murder mystery masquerade featuring a screening of Favraux’s thrilling pulp-hero remake of 1916 French film serial of the same name.