The 14-minute drama shot at Corner cafe on New Cross Road won an audience award in Italy and screens in Japan and Mexico this autumn. London date: 3 October.

A short film shot inside a New Cross cafe is heading for festival screenings in Japan and Mexico this autumn. Ten to Six, a 14-minute drama, was filmed in May 2025 at Corner, the coffee shop and creative space at 117 New Cross Road, its production company Cliffs Films told Lewisham News.

The film has already picked up a notable prize. At the 21st Cortinametraggio festival in Italy in March, it won the audience jury award, the Premio Giuria del Pubblico Esselunga, along with the festival’s Federappalti prize. The audience jury called it “a moving and romantic film that touches an important social theme” (our translation).

The teaser for Ten to Six. Video: Cliffs Films on YouTube
A young man in a beige shirt sits at a cafe table with a cup of coffee, in a still from Ten to Six
A scene at a cafe table in Ten to Six. Still supplied by Cliffs Films.

A breast cancer story, told from a cafe table

Ten to Six was written, produced and directed by Alessio Rupalti, an Italian filmmaker from Genoa who has lived in London for almost ten years, around five of them in South East London. The story follows a retired physicist who, 35 years after losing his wife to breast cancer, walks into a quiet London cafe believing he has found a way to redeem himself; the young waiter he meets is more than a stranger (The Cockpit). The cast is British: Charlie Wright, Gerard Bell and Georgia Polly-Taylor (Cortinametraggio finalists announcement).

Close-up of an older man with a white beard looking out of a window, in a still from Ten to Six
A close-up from Ten to Six. Still supplied by Cliffs Films.

The film’s theme is breast cancer awareness from an unusual angle: the point of view of the men left behind. It has screened alongside prevention campaigns in Italy, including at Race for the Cure in Rome in May (Coming Soon).

Rupalti told Lewisham News he chose the subject because he wanted audiences to leave thinking “how little time we may actually have, and on how postponing things is rarely the best solution”. While writing, he said, he learned things about breast cancer he had not known, “particularly the impact that early detection and prevention can have”, and was struck by “how little the subject is sometimes discussed, especially among men”.

“The women in our lives are our partners, mothers, daughters, sisters and friends, so supporting prevention is something we can all contribute to, in our own way,” he said.

Breast cancer charities he approached during development gave “very little response” at first. That changed once the film was made. Komen Italia, which works on breast cancer awareness and prevention in Italy, helped with the final stages of post-production and showed the film at some of its awareness events. In the UK, Breast Cancer UK backed it, and its chief executive, Thalie Martini, spoke on stage at the film’s London premiere at Genesis Cinema in April about how much work there is still to do on prevention.

Three men in suits and a hat pose on a red carpet in front of a Ten to Six backdrop
On the red carpet at the London premiere of Ten to Six at Genesis Cinema. Photo: Tonderayi Machando, Fabulous Studios, supplied by Cliffs Films.
Five people seated on stools on a cinema stage for a question and answer session
The question and answer session on stage after the Genesis Cinema premiere. Photo: supplied by Cliffs Films.
A cinema stage with the Ten to Six title on the screen and a panel seated below it
The Ten to Six title on the big screen at Genesis Cinema. Photo: supplied by Cliffs Films.
View from the back of a cinema auditorium towards a panel on stage beneath the Ten to Six title
The panel seen from the back of the auditorium at the premiere. Photo: supplied by Cliffs Films.
Rows of audience members in red cinema seats watching the screen
The audience at the London premiere. Photo: supplied by Cliffs Films.
Audience members in red cinema seats, seen from the side
Filmgoers take their seats at Genesis Cinema. Photo: supplied by Cliffs Films.
A darkened cinema with a scene from Ten to Six on the screen
Ten to Six on the screen at the premiere. Photo: supplied by Cliffs Films.
The UK premiere of Ten to Six at Genesis Cinema. Video: Cliffs Films on YouTube

Why Corner

That quiet London cafe is Corner, which has been trading on New Cross Road since March 2022. Run by architect Tarek Merlin and Mark Osman-Barter, it doubles as an exhibition and events space with a gallery in the basement (The Spaces).

Rupalti had been to several events there before he started looking for a location, which is how he met the two owners. “When I started looking for the main location for Ten to Six, the Corner immediately came to mind and quickly became a natural part of the story rather than simply a backdrop,” he said. Tarek and Mark were “incredibly enthusiastic about the project from the very beginning” and did everything they could to make the filming days run smoothly.

The owners say handing the cafe over to the crew was worth it. “We’re incredibly proud that Ten to Six was filmed here at Corner,” Mark Osman-Barter and Tarek Merlin told Lewisham News. “We always wanted Corner to be more than just a cafe, somewhere that feels part of the creative life and community of New Cross, so it was really special to hand the space over to Alessio and the team and watch it become part of their story.”

“Seeing somewhere we know so intimately on the big screen was quite surreal, and knowing that those scenes filmed here in our space are now being seen by audiences around the world makes us enormously proud,” they said. They called it “wonderful to see what Ten to Six has gone on to achieve, particularly with such an important and moving story at its heart”.

The interior of a cafe with large windows, hanging lamps and a few customers, in a still from Ten to Six
Corner's interior as it appears in Ten to Six. Still supplied by Cliffs Films.

He also wanted to give some screen time to the mural on the side of the building. He was told it was inspired by the people, nightlife and diverse community of New Cross, and made through a collaboration between the cafe, 34Bus and local artists who studied at the Lewisham School of Muralism, including Alistair Leys, who lives in the area.

“I’m sure an audience from New Cross will recognise the sense of intimacy and familiarity that you can still find in a small local cafe, something that can feel very different from the atmosphere of a cafe in central London,” he said. “For me, these small details are what make Ten to Six not just a film shot in New Cross, but a film that is genuinely connected to the place.”

The top of a brick building with a large black and white mural on its side against a blue sky, in a still from Ten to Six
The mural on the side of Corner, in a still from Ten to Six. Still supplied by Cliffs Films.

Filming on New Cross Road

Ten to Six was self-produced, paid for partly by donations from private individuals. The team was ready to shoot in February but waited until May for the longer days, to make more use of natural light and save on lighting hire.

They filmed on days when the cafe was closed, which gave the crew room to move equipment and repeat takes; most of the extras were friends. A couple of the crew and extras were local: Rupalti lives five minutes from Corner by bike, and others live, or have lived, in Deptford.

Actors at a table by the window of a cafe, with the number 117 on the glass
Rehearsing at a window table inside Corner. Photo: Michele Giacci, supplied by Cliffs Films.
A film crew with cameras and equipment spread through a cafe interior
The crew at work inside Corner. Photo: Michele Giacci, supplied by Cliffs Films.

Passers-by stopped to watch. “It gave me the feeling that I was in a small, close-knit community, rather than in a big city where everyone is usually rushing to get somewhere,” he said. Twice, someone walked in and asked the actor playing the barista for a coffee. “On both occasions, the whole crew just smiled because, in a way, it meant we had achieved exactly what we wanted: the set still felt like a real cafe, even while we were filming a movie.”

A man in a cap holding a tablet talks to an older actor seated at a cafe table with a cup of coffee
Going over a scene at a cafe table. Photo: Michele Giacci, supplied by Cliffs Films.
Crew members and actors standing around a high table in a sunlit cafe
Setting up the next shot. Photo: Michele Giacci, supplied by Cliffs Films.
A crew member holds up a clapperboard in front of a hooded actor, with a cinema camera to the right
Marking a take by the cafe window. Photo: Michele Giacci, supplied by Cliffs Films.
Crew with a large light reflector and camera rig inside a dark cafe
Lighting a scene with a reflector. Photo: Michele Giacci, supplied by Cliffs Films.
Crew members with a camera on a tripod on the pavement outside, next to a white van
The camera team on the pavement outside. Photo: Michele Giacci, supplied by Cliffs Films.
Crew members talking outside, with a colourful graffiti wall behind them
The crew between takes outside. Photo: Michele Giacci, supplied by Cliffs Films.
A film crew with a camera and reflector on the pavement outside a corner cafe with a mural on its wall
Filming outside Corner, with the mural on the wall above. Photo: Michele Giacci, supplied by Cliffs Films.
A second teaser for the film. Video: Cliffs Films on YouTube

Where it screens next

Cliffs Films says the autumn festival run takes the film to three countries:

It was also selected for the Flight film festival in the director’s home city of Genoa, from 11 to 17 October (Babboleo).

Key dates for Ten to Six: festival screenings in Japan, Italy and Mexico and the London screening at The Cockpit on 3 October
The key dates for Ten to Six. Graphic by Lewisham News.

The nearest chance to see it is in London. Ten to Six is one of twelve shorts in Side Door Screenings at The Cockpit theatre in Marylebone on Saturday 3 October at 7.30pm, a showcase of independent filmmakers followed by a question and answer session. Tickets are £13.36 including booking fees.

There is no Lewisham screening confirmed yet. Rupalti said he is looking at a local film festival, a short film night or an event like the one at The Cockpit, and would like to hold a screening at Corner itself. “Perhaps the first question should be: why not have a screening of Ten to Six in Lewisham?”

What comes next

His next aim is his first feature film, which he has been writing for several years and which brings together his Italian roots and his life in London. He is looking for a producer. “I hope the journey and success of Ten to Six can also help spark the interest of the right producer for the feature,” he said.

What it means for you

  • If you want to see a film shot in the neighbourhood on a big screen, the 3 October Cockpit screening is the one within reach: twelve shorts over about two and a half hours, with an interval.
  • A screening in Lewisham, possibly at Corner, is being explored but has no date; we will report it if one is set.
  • Corner itself is open as usual at 117 New Cross Road, and its basement gallery runs a changing programme of exhibitions and events.
  • New Cross has a habit of turning up on screen; if you know of another local location shoot, tell us about it.

Sources