London Film Festival

'Silver' Surprise: David O. Russell and Bradley Cooper Discuss Their Latest Film (and Love for Jennifer Lawrence) at London's Secret Screening

Peter Knegt — Mon, 22 Oct 2012 17:25:45 GMT

The 56th edition of the BFI London Film Festival came to a close this weekend, capping off the first edition under new Festival Director Clare Stewart with record attendance numbers. A revised program structure and competitive sections (as well as shortening the festival to 12 days) equated to 149,000 admissions from screenings of 228 feature films (a 12% increase from last year).

One of the highlights came Saturday night when the only "secret" of those 228 films was unveiled in at the Odeon West End in Leicester Square: David O. Russell's "Silver Linings Playbook." While not a "Lincoln"-sized coup of New York Film Festival levels, it was technically the film's first public screening outside of North America. And like its screenings on that side of the pond (it won audience awards at both Toronto and the Hamptons), the London audience seemed to eat up Russell's heartwarming Oscar contender (consensus at this point has its lead actress Jennifer Lawrence taking home a trophy, while the film itself should be up for quite a few major awards).

Russell and star Bradley Cooper took the stage with LFF head Clare Stewart after the film, and both were quick to compliment their absent leading lady.

"We were a week into shooting and all of a sudden this young woman comes up and just blew us away," Cooper said. "The first scene that she shot was the scene after my character goes to deliver the letter, which is a pretty heavy scene. And she was just like a beam of light. She's like 10 and 40 years old at the same time. She was 21 when she shot the film. She has a great heart and she's a beautiful person."

Russell was just as quick to praise the actress.

"We had our choice of several young actresses and she was the last to audition," he said. "She auditioned via Skype from her parents home in Kentucky. And frankly I didn't have any expectations about it. But she just knocked everybody out."

Cooper recalled he was pretty shocked about his own casting film, genuinely thinking he wasn't capable of the role.

"David and I met about another movie that didn't end up coming together," he said." I remember talking to him on the phone and was just blown away that this guy that I'd loved since 'Spanking The Money' was so open and present and giving and willing to talk to me about this film. I was blown away."

That film didn't come to fruition, but Russell asked him to read the script for 'Silver Linings Playbook,' and the rest is history.

"I read it and though it was a great script but never though I'd get the role... or be capable of the role, quite frankly," Cooper said. "But certain things happened and David called me and said 'let's do the movie.' And I thought, 'aw, fuck.' I really was very scared. But I remember he said 'Bradley, just trust me. You're gonna be great.'"

The audience in London's rousing applause for the actor suggested they felt it all worked out (and critics agree).

Watch a full video of Cooper and Russell on stage (and read a bit of commentary on the film) here.

London Film Festival Awards Night: 'Rust and Bone' Wins Best Film, Americans Burton, Gibney and Zeitlin Collect Prizes

Matt Mueller — Sun, 21 Oct 2012 03:24:58 GMT

The BFI London Film Festival announced its prize-winners tonight at a dinner ceremony in Banqueting House, Whitehall, a neo-classical architectural gem that was the site of the 1649 execution of Charles I, the art-loving British king who commissioned the magnificent Rubens paintings adorning the ceilings before losing his head on a scaffold out front.

With a new award designed (best described as a hunk of stone with a star carved into it) at the behest of new festival director Clare Stewart, who is keen to push the prominence of London’s prize-giving, this year’s Official Competition Best Film Award went to Jacques Audiard’s “Rust And Bone.” It’s the fourth year the LFF has had a Best Film Award, and the second that Audiard has won it, following “A Prophet” in 2009. Audiard sent his “Rust And Bone” star Matthias Schoenaerts to collect his prize.

This year, “Rust And Bone” was on a shortlist of 12 that also included “End Of Watch,” “Ginger And Rosa,” “Midnight’s Children,” and “Seven Psychopaths.” The five-strong jury, headed by David Hare, also commended Pablo Larrain’s “No” and Michel Franco’s Mexican bullying drama “After Lucia."

The Grierson Award for Best Documentary was awarded to Alex Gibney’s Catholic Church expose “Mea Maxima Culpa: Silence In The House Of God,” the Sutherland Award for Best First Feature went to Benh Zeitlin’s “Beasts Of The Southern Wild,” and Best British Newcomer was announced as writer-director Sally El Hosaini for her feature debut “My Brother The Devil,” about two Egyptian Muslim brothers growing up in London. All three filmmakers were on hand to collect their awards, with Zeitlin announcing in his acceptance speech that the film he’d watched more than any other between the ages of six and 30 (he just celebrated his 30th in London) was “Beetlejuice,” calling the film’s director Tim Burton – sitting at the head table about 10 feet away from him – “my second dad… it’s an honour to be in the same room with you.”

Judging from Burton’s impassive reaction, he wasn’t quite sure how to take Zeitlin’s praise. His new stop-motion animation “Frankenweenie” opened this year’s LFF, and Burton was on hand to receive one of the two prestigious British Film Institute Fellowships awarded every year, the other going to – you guessed it – long-term partner and mother of their two children, Helena Bonham Carter. Suitably, Burton’s Fellowship kicked the evening off and was presented to him by Sir Christopher Lee, while Bonham Carter, who stars in this year’s Closing Night film, Mike Newell’s “Great Expectations,” closed the evening out.

“It’s such a great honour, personally, because I’m not British,” said Burton. “But I grew up on British films: Hammer films, James Bond, Christopher’s films, 'Wicker Man' being a particular favourite of mine… And coming from Los Angeles, where you feel like you’re in a film ‘business,’ one of the things I love about living and working here is that you’re constantly reminded it’s an art form.”

“Tim’s the genius, I’m an actor,” quipped Bonham Carter at the end of the night, receiving her Fellowship from Sir Trevor Nunn, the stage titan who’d also cast her in her very first film, “Lady Jane.” “Thank you BFI for this amazing honour and for making my fellow a Fellow…” She went on to credit the “hundreds of thousands” of talented people she’s worked with over the years, and ended by thanking her late father and her mother, who was in attendance, for preventing her from leaving the business. “I certainly wasn’t good at this at the beginning, or as Trevor said kindly, I lacked skill, and I’ve certainly had my bad reviews over the years but I carried on and I’ve got them to thank for that. My father’s motto, which he actually stole from Churchill, was K.B.O. – Keep buggering on – and I will, Dad…”

BFI London Film Fest: Full Program Launches First Competition Plus Rolling Stones Doc "Crossfire Hurricane'

Maggie Lange — Wed, 05 Sep 2012 17:43:00 GMT

The 56th BFI London Film Festival will screen a total of 225 fiction and documentary features, 111 live action and animated shorts, including 14 World Premieres, 15 International Premieres, and 34 European Premieres. Tim Burton's 3-D animated "Frankenweenie" will open the festival and Mike Newell's dramatic adaptation of "Great Expectations" with Helena Bonham Carter and Ralph Fiennes will close the 11 day event, which runs from October 10 to the 21st.

Highlights of the festival include the world premiere of Bret Morgan's "Crossfire Hurricane," a documentary spanning fifty years of the Rolling Stones, who are rumored to attend the festival. London will also host Cannes entry Apichatpong Weerasethakul's "Mekong Hotel," Dustin Hoffman's Toronto directorial debut, "Quartet," and author Salman Rushdie, whose Telluride title "Midnight's Children" is in the Festival's inaugural Official Competition, will speak at the festival's Screen Talks program. Other competition European premieres include Michael Winterbottom’s "Everyday," Sally Potter’s "Ginger & Rosa," and Martin McDonagh’s "Seven Psychopaths."

In addition to unique programming this year, the BFI Festival attempts an entirely different festival structure by clustering their films around various themes: Love, Debate, Dare, Laugh, Thrill, Cult, Journey, Sonic, Family, and Experimental. A catalogue of films screened at the festival posted below. (Here's Timeout guide.)

UK premieres are:

·         Michel Franco’s After Lucia
·         David Ayer’s End of Watch
·         Rama Burshtein’s Fill the Void
·         Daniele Ciprì’s It Was the Son
·         François Ozon’s In the House
·         Cate Shortland’s Lore
·         Pablo Larraín’s No
·         Jacques Audiard’s Rust and Bone

Titles in consideration for the First Feature Competition recognising an original and imaginative directorial debut are:

3 European premieres
·         Masaaki Akahori’s The Samurai that Night
·         Anand Gandhi’s Ship of Theseus
·         Barry Berk’s Sleeper’s Wake

and 9 UK premieres
·         Benh Zeitlin’s Beasts of the Southern Wild
·         Tom Shkolnik’s The Comedian
·         Maja Miloš’ Clip
·         Gabriela Pichler’s Eat Sleep Die
·         Sally El Hosaini’s My Brother the Devil
·         Kleber Mendonça Filho’s Neighbouring Sounds
·         Scott Graham’s Shell
·         Andrey Gryazev’s Tomorrow
·         Haifaa Al Mansour’s Wadjda

In the Documentary Competition category, in partnership with the Grierson Trust, recognising documentaries with integrity, originality, and social or cultural significance, the Festival is screening:

4 World Premieres
·         Charlie Paul’s For No Good Reason
·         Nick Ryan’s The Summit
·         Sarah Gavron’s Village at the End of the World
·         Greg Olliver’s Turned Towards the Sun

1 International Premiere
·         Sébastien Lifshitz’s Les Invisibles

4 European Premieres
·         Jay Bulger’s Beware of Mr Baker
·         Shola Lynch’s Free Angela and All Political Prisoners
·         Alex Gibney’s Mea Maxima Culpa: Silence in the House of God
·         Amy Berg’s West of Memphis

3 UK Premieres
·         Katja Gauriloff’s Canned Dreams
·         Ken Burns, David McMahon and Sarah Burns’ The Central Park Five
·         Ulises Rosell’s The Ethnographer

FILM GUESTS
Guests expected to attend include: Alex Gibney, Alice Englert, Alice Lowe, Allison Abbate, Barnaby Southcombe, , Ben Wheatley, Benh Zeitlin, Benjamin Renner, Billy Connolly, Brandon Cronenberg, Cate Shortland, Catherine O’Hara, Charlie Paul,Charlie Watts, Charlotte Rampling, Chris O’Dowd, Cristian Mungiu, David Walliams, David Nicholls, David Wasco, Deepa Mehta, Dustin Hoffman, Eddie Marsan, Elle Fanning, François Ozon, Gabriel Byrne, Hayley Atwell, Helena Bonham Carter, Ian Neil, Jacques Audiard, Jake Schreier, Jeremy Irvine, Julian Roman Pölsler , Keith Richards,Liz Garbus, Marion Cotillard, Martin McDonagh, Martina Gedeck, Martin Landau, Martin Short, Matthias Schoenaerts, Melvil Poupaud, Michael Haneke, Michael Palin, Mick Jagger,Mike Newell, Nick Murphy, Paolo Taviani, Pablo Larraín, Paul Andrew Williams, Pauline Collins, Quvenzhanée Wallis, Ronnie Wood, Rufus Norris, Sally EI Hosaini, Sally Potter, Salman Rushdie, Rodney Ascher, Sandy Reynolds Wasco, Saskia Rosendahl, Slavoj Žižek, Sophie Fiennes, Steve Oram, Suzanne Cléement,Tamzin Outhwaite, Terry Jones, Thomas Bidegain, Tim Burton, Tom Courtenay, Winona Ryder.

Tim Burton's 'Frankenweenie' to Kick Off BFI London Film Festival Along With Art Exhibition

Jay A. Fernandez — Thu, 23 Aug 2012 14:11:08 GMT

Tim Burton’s “Frankenweenie” will be barking all over this year's BFI London Film Festival. The 3D black-and-white stop-motion animated feature-length version of Burton’s acclaimed early short about a pet dog brought back from the dead will open the fest October 10th with its European premiere.

A related free-to-the-public exhibition, “The Art of Frankenweenie,” will run October 17-21 at the fest, as well. Disney opens the film in the UK October 17.

Opening night, audiences in 30 theaters around the country, including BFI Imax, will have the opportunity to watch the red carpet action at Odeon Leicester Square live via streaming ahead of a screening of the film. Catherine O’Hara, Martin Short, Martin Landau and Winona Ryder are among the actors doing voices in the film and are expected to be on hand with Burton at the BFI London fest event.

“Funny, dark and whimsical, this gloriously crafted stop-motion 3D animation from Tim Burton — the reigning prince of outsiders — playfully turns the Frankenstein story on its bolted-on head,” said BFI head of exhibition and festival director Clare Stewart. “‘Frankenweenie’ is a perfect choice of opener — it’s a film that revels in the magic of movies from one of cinema’s great visionaries. Tim Burton has chosen London as his home city and hundreds of talented British craftspeople have contributed to this production. To host the European Premiere, to present ‘The Art of Frankenweenie’ Exhibition and to take our Opening Night out to 30 screens means we are making the Festival even more accessible for film fans across the UK.”

The 56^thBFI London Film Festival runs October 10 through October 21.

Film's Cool documentaries celebrates The Diamond Jubilee at the BFI

Peter Belsito — Tue, 26 Jun 2012 11:30:00 GMT

Film’s Cool, the London-based mentoring initiative is holding a celebration of the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee by screening the documentaries made by its students at the BFI Southbank on 13^th June. Neil Crombie of Seneca Productions headed up the course – Change One Thing – which is aimed at introducing school children to documentary film-making.

The 10 week course gave North London students – aged 13-14 – the chance to learn various documentary making techniques including interviewing, development and exposition as well as a series of mentoring sessions with documentary directors and producers. By the end of the course they will each have produced a mini documentary on the subject of “one thing they would like to change.”

This is the second course to come out of London based mentoring initiative Film’s Cool, which was founded by Lost Tribe Productions CEO Hugh Spurling and teacher/author Oliver Rosen, with the aim of bringing movie-making into schools.

The first project, which ran in September 2011, called Film’s Cool First Class: Horror, gave a group of A-Level students the chance to produce and edit their own horror trailers and print-based campaigns, and to pitch their projects to industry experts and compete for work experience placements.

The trailers were premiered to industry professionals in January at Channel 4, including Film4’s new head of digital Anna Higgs, with seven awards being handed out at the event.

The latest scheme started in February and finishes with a screening of the documentaries at the BFI Southbank.

You can see more of Film’s Cool’s work on their Facebook page -

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Films-Cool/172537176160552

Poland's First Arthouse Multiplex Opens

Sydney Levine — Thu, 31 May 2012 19:27:09 GMT

As we see cinemas filling up during festivals and sparsely populated by audiences throughout the rest of the year when the films are arthouse quality, it makes sense that a festival is sponsored by a distributor and that a theater becomes more festival oriented. This is a trend which seems to be taking hold as we watch the Toronto Film Festival, Starz Denver Film Festival, Mill Valley Film Festival, San Francisco Film Festival, New York Film Festival become integrated into Film Societies' year round activities held in theaters they own. This may be the new way of distribution which can keep distributors from bankrupting themselves spending P&A on films which do not gross enough theatrically to pay their bills during a time when digital distribution does not make up for the shortfall.

As Wrocław gears up to be the European Capital of Culture in 2016, the New Horizons Association, in cooperation with the Helios cinema chain and with added support from the City of Wroclaw, is converting one of the central multiplexes in Wrocław into an arthouse cinema and film education centre.

From 1 Sep 2012, the 9-screen cinema with 2,329 seats will operate under the name Helios New Horizons.

Until now, the Helios multiplex has been the main venue of T-Mobile New Horizons International Film Festival and the American Film Festival. The new cinema will be run by New Horizons Association team led by its president, Roman Gutek. Roman Gutek also owns one of Poland's largest art house distribution companies, Gutek Films which it launched in 2009 and has since released 22 titles. Aside from the Sundance title Matthew Akers’ Marina Abramovic: The Artist Is Present, it just acquired Polish rights to Cannes Competition titles Holy Motors by Leos Carax, Post Tenebras Lux by Carlos Reygadas and Beyond the Hills by Cristian Mungiu. All three will have their Polish premieres at the festival and then will be distributed in cinemas throughout Poland. Reygadas will have a retrospective at the upcoming edition of the festival.

With the revamp of this venue, the New Horizons has found a home comparable to the ones of the Toronto and BFI London Film Festival, which will allow the organizers to prepare film events on a large scale throughout the year.

The cinema will concentrate on showing independent films, daring authors’ projects, as well as quality mainstream cinema. It will also be home for festivals and film seasons. A special effort will be made to develop film education projects for children in all ages and students (regular film screenings as part of the 2-year Academy of Polish and 4-year Academy of World Cinema). New Horizons already run a film education scheme for 42.000 pupils across Poland.

Rafał Dutkiewicz, Mayor of the City of Wroclaw, confirmed that Wrocław continues to support the New Horizons Association in implementing educational strategies, believing it will have major impact on widening citizens’ cultural awareness.

"We Need To Talk About Kevin" Tops London Fest Winners

Peter Knegt — Thu, 27 Oct 2011 13:04:17 GMT

Lynne Ramsay's "We Need To Talk About Kevin" led the winners at the 55th BFI London Film Festival last night, taking honors for best film.

The film - which stars Tilda Swinton, John C. Reilly and Ezra Miller - topped a shortlist that included "The Artist," "The Descendants," "The Kid With a Bike" and "Shame."

"This year’s shortlist for Best Film comprises work that is outstanding in terms of its originality and its stylistic reach," jury president John Madden said at the ceremony. "It is an international group, one united by a common sense of unflinching human enquiry and we were struck by the sheer panache displayed by these great storytellers. In the end, we were simply bowled over by one film, a sublime, uncompromising tale of the torment that can stand in the place of love. We Need to Talk About Kevin is made with the kind of singular vision that links great directors across all the traditions of cinema."

Other winners at the festival included Werner Herzog's "Into The Abyss," which won the Grierson Award for Best Documentary, actress Candese Reid, who won Best British Newcomer for her work in "Junkhearts," and Pablo Giorgelli, director of "Las Acacias," who won the Sutherland Award, which is presented to the director of "the most original and imaginative feature debut in the Festival."

The festival concludes today. Full press release below.

London – 10.30pm, 26 October 2011: The 55th BFI London Film Festival, in partnership with American Express announced the winners at its high profile awards ceremony, supported by Montblanc at London’s LSO St Luke’s this evening. Hosted by Marcus Brigstocke, the four awards were presented by some of the most respected figures in the film world.
BEST FILM: WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT KEVIN, directed by Lynne Ramsay
Celebrating the most original, intelligent and distinctive filmmaking in the Festival, the Best Film award, presented in partnership with American Express, was chaired by John Madden who presented the award with fellow judge Gillian Anderson.
On behalf of the jury John Madden (Chair) said: “This year’s shortlist for Best Film comprises work that is outstanding in terms of its originality and its stylistic reach. It is an international group, one united by a common sense of unflinching human enquiry and we were struck by the sheer panache displayed by these great storytellers. In the end, we were simply bowled over by one film, a sublime, uncompromising tale of the torment that can stand in the place of love. We Need to Talk About Kevin is made with the kind of singular vision that links great directors across all the traditions of cinema.”
BEST BRITISH NEWCOMER: Candese Reid, actress, Junkhearts
This award is presented in partnership with Swarovski and honours new and emerging film talent, recognising the achievements of a new writer, producer, director, actor or actress. The award for Best British Newcomer was presented by Edgar Wright and Minnie Driver to Candese Reid, for her acting role in Junkhearts, a sophisticated, social drama about hope and the search for redemption. Starting acting at the age of nine, she joined Nottingham’s prestigious Television Workshop, and her role in Junkhearts, at the age of 18, was her first professional acting role. Candese also received a bursary of £5,000 courtesy of Swarovski
Chair of the Best British Newcomer jury, Andy Harries said, “Candese is a fresh, brilliant and exciting new talent. Every moment she was on screen was compelling.”
SUTHERLAND AWARD WINNER: Pablo Giorgelli, director of LAS ACACIAS
The long-standing Sutherland Award is presented to the director of the most original and imaginative feature debut in the Festival. This year, Argentinian director Pablo Giorgelli took the award for his film Las Acacias, a slow-burning, uplifting and enchanting story of a truck driver and his passengers. The director received his Star of London from film director Terry Gilliam.
The jury commented: “In a lively and thoughtful jury room debate, Las Acacias emerged as a worthy winner, largely because of the originality of its conception. Finely judged performances and a palpable sympathy for his characters makes this a hugely impressive debut for director Pablo Giorgelli.”
GRIERSON AWARD FOR BEST DOCUMENTARY: INTO THE ABYSS: A Tale of Death, A Tale of Life directed by Werner Herzog
The award is co-presented with the Grierson Trust, in commemoration of John Grierson, the grandfather of British documentary. Recognising outstanding feature length documentaries of integrity, originality, technical excellence or cultural significance, the jury was chaired by Adam Curtis and the award went to Werner Herzog’s coruscating study of the senselessness of violence and its consequences.
BFI FELLOWSHIP: Ralph Fiennes and David Cronenberg (as previously announced)
Awarded to an individual whose body of work has made an outstanding contribution to film culture, the Fellowship is the highest accolade that the British Film Institute bestows and was awarded to Canadian auteur David Cronenberg whose film A Dangerous Method premiered at the Festival on Monday. The Fellowship was presented by Jeremy Thomas and Michael Fassbender.
Ralph Fiennes, one of Britain’s pre-eminent actors, who has just made a bold and critically well received transition to film directing with his festival film Coriolanus, was also presented with a Fellowship, this time from fellow actor and personal friend Liam Neeson.
Greg Dyke, Chair, BFI said: ‘The BFI London Film Festival Awards pay tribute to outstanding film talent, so we are delighted and honoured that both Ralph Fiennes, one of the world’s finest and most respected actors and David Cronenberg, one of the most original and ground-breaking film directors of contemporary cinema, have both accepted BFI Fellowships - the highest accolade the BFI can bestow. I also want to congratulate all the filmmakers and industry professionals here tonight, not only on their nominations and awards, but also for their vision, skill, passion and creativity.’
The Star of London award was commissioned especially for the Festival and designed by leading sculptor Almuth Tebbenhoff.
Jurors present at the ceremony included: Best Film jurors John Madden, Andrew O’Hagan. Gillian Anderson, Asif Kapadia, Tracey Seaward and Sam Taylor-Wood OBE; Sutherland jurors Tim Robey, Joanna Hogg, Saskia Reeves, Peter Kosminsky, Hugo Grumbar, and the artist Phil Collins. Best British Newcomer jurors Anne-Marie Duff, Tom Hollander, Edith Bowman, Stephen Woolley and Nik Powell; and Grierson Award jurors Mandy Chang of the Grierson Trust, Charlotte Moore, Head of Documentary Commissioning at BBC, Kim Longinotto and Adam Curtis.
Other guests included: Alfonso Cuarón , Sheharazade Goldsmith, Duncan Kenworthy, Aaron Johnson, Paul Gambaccini, Chair of the BFI Greg Dyke, Chief Executive Amanda Nevill and Festival Director Sandra Hebron.

INTERVIEW | Sandra Hebron Says Goodbye To The London Film Festival

Peter Knegt — Thu, 27 Oct 2011 08:49:24 GMT

As the 55th BFI London Film Festival comes to a close today, Artistic Director Sandra Hebron will witness her final day working within the fest. After fifteen years working within the BFI, Hebron is moving on. In the midst of her final edition at the helm, she sat down with indieWIRE to discuss why she decided to leave, what advice she'd give to her predecessor, as well as some thoughts on the particularly strong year UK cinema had at the festival.

So first off, the obvious: Why did you decide to leave?

When I came to the festival in 1997, I came here as festival programmer and I did honestly expect to stay for a couple of years. But then my job changed and the festival changed... I did a year as festival programmer and then I was the deputy director and then in 2003 I started the role I have now. I guess the fact that the festival was developing so much during that time there was always enough to keep me interested.

In 2009, we raised extra funding from the UK Film Council. I think originally I'd been concentrating on raising the money and then thought when the money was raised maybe I'd kind of hand the festival over. But then having secured the money, I decided I wanted to stay and work through the developments we'd planned for.

I think I'd always had in mind that I wouldn't be the kind of festival director who'd stay here for life. Partly because I am a great believer in the idea of cultural renewal. Both for the festival and for myself. And I think one of the nice things about doing the job I do on this sort of festival is that you do have a degree of latitude in terms of how the festival is shaped and looks and feels. And I've been very happy whilst I've been here to make a version of the festival that is essentially a festival that I would like to come to.

But, you know, London is a big, important festival and I think it's a moot point about whether one person should be shaping the festival for too long. I'm actually kind of excited to see what happens when someone else comes in. Because I do feel like I've had energy for - and ideas about - the festival but I think once you've been here for 15 years there's a limit as to how much longer you can keep on.

So the decision to leave is essentially a very personal one. Though it's also true that there's been a structural change at the BFI. My job as artistic director of the festival and a second job which is head of BFI Southbank have been combined into one role that oversees all the exhibition activities at the BFI. Which I think is a fantastic job but it's a fantastic job for someone is coming in lots of energy and new ideas and things to prove. And I guess I feel I've been through that phase already, and now I wanted to work in a different way. As much as I love the festival, I just think it's good for me and the festival.

What will you miss the most about the job?

First of all, I'll miss the fantastic group of people I work with. Many of whom I've recruited and brought into the festival and some of whom I've been working with for a really long time.

I'll certainly miss - during the festival - that kind of amazing buzz that you get from being part of it. And also the opportunity to spend time with people who are truly creative and here to present their word. Again, that's very energizing. But in a way these are not going to be things that stop completely. I'll just be experiencing them in a different way. I won't be doing it from the position of being responsible for the festival. But I'm excited to come to the festival and be part of it in a different way. When I think about the festival and what I'll miss, there isn't really anything that will stop completely. Apart from the obvious things like negotiating the program. So maybe I'm just in denial but it doesn't so much feel like leaving as it does that I'll now have a different relationship with the festival. I can't imagine not wanting to be at the festival.

What advice would you give your predecessor in terms of what you've learned over the past 15 years?

Hindsight is a fantastic thing, isn't it? It's not really a piece of advice, really, it's just about keeping things in perspective.

There are two crucial elements of that. The first one is that if you want to occupy the sort of role that I do, you're essentially a curator. That's an important job, but the curator is never as important as the filmmakers or the work that we're trying to present. I think the people who are the best festival directors are the ones that recognize that and who don't occasionally lapse into thinking they are bigger than the work they are showing.

But I think the really important thing about perspective that I've always found really helpful is to just think, you know, 'what's the worst that can happen.' Because festivals that are well planned are not normally beset by massive problems. But you know, everyday on any festival there are small things that come up. I think when you're in that very intense period of being in the midst of a festival and everybody is stretched and tired, small things can loom very large. I have gone home on many evenings anguished about something that has gone wrong over the course of that day... Only to realize the next day that it was not a matter of life and death. So I guess what I'm saying in a very rambling way is that it's a question of balance. It's that sense of knowing what we do is important. Every festival wants to be as well run and as well programmed and as enjoyable as possible. And yet, it's not a matter of life and death. If things go wrong, it's not the end of the world.

And it must nice for considering it's your last festival to witness such an incredible year in UK cinema. The films from Britain here are collectively quite astounding. Especially considering the doom and gloom some were predicting based on economics.

I think it is an incredibly strong year, and that's really gratifying. But what's even more gratifying is that it's the second consecutive year that we've been able to say that. That's what's unusual. I think every now and again there have been years that have thrown out really fine selection of British work. We don't often get that two years in a row. That's what's really pleasing about this year.

Again, I think what's significant is not just the quality of the work but the breadth of the work. So obviously there are people like Michael Winterbottom and Andrea Arnold and Ralph Fiennes making really intriguing adaptations of classic literary tales. At the same time as lots of really interesting filmmakers whether they are working in fiction or documentary and in some cases across the two forms. If you think of films like Carol Morley's "Dreams of a Life" or "Shock Head Soul" or "The Somnambulists." These are films where the boundaries between fact and fiction are really being blurred and merged. So I find that very heartening as well. We've got filmmakers who are imaginative but working more or less in straightforward narrative terms. But then we've also got filmmakers doing very different kinds of work.

I also found it quite interesting how two British films in your program - "We Need To Talk About Kevin" and "Shame" - are actually two of the most insightful depictions of American contemporary issues that we've seen all year.

You're right. It's interesting that you just asked me the question of British cinema and those are two of my favorite films in the festival. I think they're outstanding. But I haven't even talked about them as British cinema because they do seem to somehow transcend that. They are really significant pieces of work that stand up there with any kind of international cinema. And yet there clearly is a kind of British sensibility going into them.

Where do you feel British cinema is going in the coming years?

I'm always very hesitant to answer that question. Not least because I think some of the films I've seen this year have been really surprising. In terms of what they're dealing with. You know, I hope that for the moment we have a fairly robust infrastructure in terms of films being made. I certainly feel optimistic. But history tells us that in relation to British cinema, optimism has to be cautious. And of course, we are sitting in the midst of a huge economic recession. So the fact that we might not have seen massive effects in terms of film production yet... Doesn't mean that we're out of the woods. Two great years in a row is fantastic. But next year and the year after still remain to be seen.

Tricks of the Trade: "Iron Lady" and "Shame" Scribe Abi Morgan Muses on Screenwriting

Peter Knegt — Tue, 25 Oct 2011 09:33:25 GMT

In the midst of the 55th BFI London Film Festival, writer Abi Morgan sat down with a group of festival goers to deliver a master class, offering insight into her craft.

Who is Morgan, you might ask? Across theater, television and film, she is quite prolific in the UK, from plays like Laurence Olivier Theater Award nominated "Tender," to television series like 2004's "Sex Traffic" and continuing "The Hour" (which is set in a 1950s BBC newsroom and stars Dominic West and Ben Whishaw), to British independent films like Sarah Gavron's "Brick Lane."

So far, though, much of her work is little known Stateside. That should change this December as her considerable double whammy of films - controversial Michael Fassbender vehicle "Shame" (which she co-wrote with Steve McQueen) and Margaret Thatcher biopic "The Iron Lady" - both hit U.S. theaters.

In the meantime, here are a few musings from Morgan's London master class:

Theater feels like her natural home, but it's also what she finds the most difficult: "I think theater is very much my natural home. But the truth is that the older I've got and the more I've written film and television, I find it incredibly hard to write theater. And I think in part that's also because when I actually started to move into writing for the screen the revelation for me was that I suddenly didn't need the monologue anymore. Because a visual image could do it. So I could get back to the kind of lean writing I love and allow a lot of the poetic storytelling to take place through the visual. So I've sort of grown to love film even more now."

She finds film and television much more isolating than theater: "There is something wonderful about being part of something. I think film and television - particularly film - you are very isolated as a writer. If you're lucky, you have a good relationship with the director. Then you do make that development and come on set and be part of something. But ultimately you're work is kind of done by the time you come on set. Whereas what's so wonderful about theater is that it's always so active. And you still feel incredibly connected to it."

She believes screenwriters are quite invisible... Though not when they're working with "Shame" director Steve McQueen: "Steve is very efficient. I know this sounds really odd, but for someone who is just a poet he's quite specific. He really believes in the notion of the artist. And he gets you to come to the table as an artist.

"I slightly cringe at using that phrase, because the truth about writers in the film industry - and you all need to know this if you're going to become screenwriters - is that we are the bottomfeeders. You're status is very low, in many ways. And I say that without bitterness, it's just a fact. And there's a great strength to be gained from that because you're also quite invisible.

"But Steve really says 'I don't want you to be invisible. I want to hear what you've got to say.' And that was very exciting. So we literally sat down and we very clearly said 'I think there's a very intense story about a guy in here.' From there, it felt so natural."

Her and McQueen had a unique working process together... and cut the first 60 pages of "Shame"'s screenplay: "I sit down and write, and [Steve] sits very close by. We eat a lot of room service. And I read out to him and he looks over my shoulder. Then he goes off for a walk and comes back and he adjusts. He says 'this isn't working' or 'that isn't working.' He tweaks. Then we talk some more...

"You know, the first draft I did we cut the first 60 pages. We actually started with the last 40 pages of that first draft."

She thought "Shame" would be "shit" because she had so much fun on the project: "What's great about the way 'Shame''s been received is that I kept on thinking there's no what this film will be received well since I've had such a good time. It's going to be shit. Because most things you do when you go 'this was so great we got along so well' actually end up not being good on the screen."

Her sex life has been quite boring, at least relative to "Shame": "I'm so straight and boring really. I have two kids and a very nice partner. And I really would love to have had a lot more sexual weirdness than I've had. But I don't."

She hasn't seen "The Iron Lady"... But she's certain it's not a "left wing fantasy": "I haven't seen it. And I really won't know what that film is until I see it. I've seen edits and I've seen an amazing performance by Meryl but I haven't seen the whole thing. But I wanted was to write about power... a loss of power. Whether I'm left or right, I just wanted to write about that. It's been called a 'left-wing fantasy.' But as I said then, if I was going to have any fantasty - whether it be left or right-wing, it would not involve Margaret Thatcher."

10 Things You Want To Know About Woody Harrelson

Peter Knegt — Fri, 21 Oct 2011 06:24:47 GMT

Woody Harrelson made a stop at the BFI London Film Festival this week to chat at one of the festival's many Screen Talks, where actors and directors at the festival sit down to discuss their careers in front of an audience.

Harrelson was at the festival promoting "Rampart," his second teaming with director Oren Moverman (following "The Messenger"). In the film, he gives an arguably career-defining performance as Dave Brown, a corrupt cop struggling to cope with family commitments while under intense scrutiny from the LAPD.

Admittedly hungover at the talk (the film had premiered the night before), Harrelson charmed the London crowd to no end. At one point he teased a man who was leaving the audience, asking him if it was a "number 1 or a number 2" when he declared he was simply going to the bathroom and not bored with the event. When the man came back a minute or two later, Harrelson quipped: "I guess it was a number 1."

But jokes aside, Harrelson offered a sincere and humble side of himself at the event, where topics at hand expanded well beyond "Rampart," even way back to his pre-"Cheers" days.

Here are 10 tidbits from the talk:

1. Jerry Lewis is his hero. When asked if he had any screen heroes, Harrelson had only one answer. "Jerry Lewis," he replied. "Um... yep. That's it."

2. He's not a good waiter. "I couldn't really keep a job," he said of his pre-"Cheers" days in the early 1980s. "I had trouble with authority. They'd be like, 'Oh yeah, someone threw up on table six. Go clean it up.' And I'd be like 'you clean it up.' So I couldn't keep a job very well. That was difficult. Being broke in New York is not always the best way to spend time in that city."

3. He initially didn't want to audition for "Cheers." "I hasn't seen the show," he said. "And I really had this highfalutin concept that I was not going to do television. My agent was like, 'We're gonna send you to this audition for this show.' And I said, 'You don't need to send me, I'm not going to do television.' But they said, 'You might want to do this one, this is a helluva show.' Then I watched a couple episodes and realized it really was good and that I'd at least go to the audition."

4. His advice to struggling actors? Make a snotty entrance. "There's probably some actors here, right?" he asked. "Well, this is a good thing to do. And I didn't do it on purpose. But at the time [of auditioning for "Cheers"] I was still in love with dairy so I was quite mucousy. So I'm following the casting director and she's taking me into the room with all the big guys: Jim Burrows and the Charles brothers. But I don't realize this because we're walking through a series of doors. And I'm blowing my nose as she opens the door to the room all these guys are in. They just burst out laughing. And Jim Burrows said later, 'I knew you had the part right then.'"

5. He thinks "Natural Born Killers" was really misunderstood. "It became like a symbol of violence in media," he said. "I remember reading this letter Bob Dole had sent out trying to get money. It started out with, "I just watched all I could stand of 'Natural Born Killers.'" And there was a whole treatise on violence in the media and how as president he would try and curb that kind of nonsense. He didn't seem to be concerned with violence as a national pastime or violence in foreign policy... But anyway, it did cause quite a stir and I felt like people really didn't get the fact that it was a satire. There's a real violence in it, but it was meant to be a commentary on violence in the media and the media's role of perpetuating violence in society. And then it became the symbol of violence in the media."

He deadpans: "In fact, it was just a misunderstood romantic comedy."

6. He's still friends with Larry Flynt, who once helped save his marriage. "The thing I like most about him is that he's completely candid," Harrelson said of Flynt. "There's nothing he won't say. He's absolutely fearless. He'll tell you anything, and he did. I started liking him right away. We've been friends for years. I still see him quite frequently. One time, my wife and I were having trouble. I left town and he called her up and met with her. He tried to help sort through all the nonsense that was going on. He really has proved to be a good friend."

7. Making movies isn't his top priority. "I think it's more important to have a great life," Harrelson said. "It's important to have fun with your friends. I don't want to do a movie that's not fun. I've done that and I hated it. I don't want to be involved with egomaniacs who make it difficult. There's certain people -- very successful people -- in this industry who I would never work with because I know. I'm not going to go have a bad time making a movie. If I'm going to make a movie, I'm still going to let life be fun."

8. He doesn't think marijuana will ever get legalized in America. "I never really got that into [marijuana law reform]," he said. "I just spoke my mind on the issue. But in terms of trying to get the laws changed, I've never believed they would change. I think the war on non-corporate drugs is almost like any other war. Because it's so lucrative, they're going to keep doing it."

9. "The Messenger" changed the way he viewed American troops. "It was a great experience for me," he said of working on "The Messenger." "Not just to be able to hang out with Ben and Oren... these guys that became so much an important part of my life. But also because I used to kind lumped the warriors in with the war. It wasn't that I had a thing against the soldiers. But when they said 'support the troops,' I was always thought that was a message of 'support our war.' Which it really is. That's the establishment. They want you to support the troops because they want you to support the war. Even though in many ways they don't support the troops. Especially after they come home. But in many ways it was an important thing for me because I started hanging out with all these service people. I really came to believe that they are extraordinary people. They are working for peanuts and their commitment is really to their country. They really believe in what they are doing. They don't mandate policy. They don't decide who we're going to war with. So it all really made me separate the warrior from the war and find a great appreciation for them."

10. The awards circuit is not a friend to Woody's liver. "When we were going through the awards circuit [with 'The Messenger'] and all the parties that are part of that... The thing that I discovered about being on that circuit is that you really need to pace yourself," he said. "Actually, I wish I had of paced myself last night even for today... But during the awards season, it was hard for me to pace myself because they just have party after party. And you're hanging with some fun and interesting people. Sandra Bullock and Jeff Bridges and all these cool people. But your liver is just screaming: 'Stop!' But it was a great experience."

London Film Festival Sets Full Program For 55th Edition

Peter Knegt — Wed, 07 Sep 2011 05:45:13 GMT

The BFI London Film Festival has announced the full program for its 55th edition, with a total of 204 fiction and documentary features, including 13 World Premieres, 18 International Premieres and 22 European Premieres taking place over the 16 day festival.

Alexander Payne's "The Descendants," Steve McQueen's "Shame," David Cronenberg's "A Dangerous Method," Madonna's "W.E.," Michel Hazanavicius's "The Artist," Lynne Ramsay's "We Need To Talk About Kevin," Roman Polanski's "Carnage," Todd Solondz's "Dark Horse," Andrew Haigh's "Weekend" and Michael Winterbottom's "Trishna" are among the many offerings. And as announced previously, the festival will open with Fernando Merielles' "360" and close with Terence Davies' "The Deep Blue Sea." Oddly enough, both films star Rachel Weisz.

To accompany the screenings, the festival will also present a program of public events featuring panel discussions, on-stage interviews and masterclasses. This year’s Screen Talks will feature directors Michael Winterbottom and Alexander Payne. The Masterclasses, presented in partnership with Swarovski, feature celebrated writer Abi Morgan, writer-director Miranda July, award-winning composer Alexandre Desplat and cinematographer Barry Ackroyd.

Full press release with program highlights below. The 55th BFI London Film Festival runs October 12-27, 2011.

London, Wednesday 7 September: The programme for the 55th BFI London Film Festival in partnership with American Express launched today by Artistic Director Sandra Hebron, celebrates the imagination and excellence of international filmmaking from both established and emerging talent. Over 16 days the Festival will screen a total of 204 fiction and documentary features, including 13 World Premieres, 18 International Premieres and 22 European Premieres*. There will also be screenings of 110 live action and animated shorts. Many of the films will be presented by their directors, cast members and crew, some of whom will also take part in career interviews, masterclasses, and other special events. The 55th BFI London Film Festival will run from 12-27 October.
GALAS & SPECIAL SCREENINGS: Opening the festival is Fernando Meirelles’ 360, written by Peter Morgan, and starring Sir Anthony Hopkins, Jude Law and Rachel Weisz. Weisz is also the star of Terence Davies’ closing night film, THE DEEP BLUE SEA, alongside a cast which includes Simon Russell Beale and Tom Hiddleston. Key talent will be in attendance for both films. George Clooney features in two Gala presentations - the political thriller THE IDES OF MARCH which he directs and stars in alongside Ryan Gosling, Evan Rachel Wood, Philip Seymour Hoffman and Paul Giamatti, and THE DESCENDANTS, Alexander Payne’s latest feature. Among several literary adaptations are Lynne Ramsay’s WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT KEVIN with Tilda Swinton, John C. Reilly and Ezra Miller; TRISHNA, Michael Winterbottom’s reworking of Thomas Hardy’s Tess of the D’Urbervilles, with Freida Pinto and Riz Ahmed; and CORIOLANUS with Ralph Fiennes directing as well as taking the lead role alongside Gerard Butler and Vanessa Redgrave. Redgrave is also cast in Roland Emmerich’s ANONYMOUS with Rhys Ifans, Joely Richardson and David Thewlis. Madonna directs romantic drama W.E. which stars Abbie Cornish, Andrea Riseborough and James D’Arcy whilst Steve McQueen’s second feature SHAME has a cast that includes Carey Mulligan and Michael Fassbender. Fassbender can also be seen alongside Viggo Mortensen and Keira Knightley in David Cronenberg’s A DANGEROUS METHOD. Foreign language cinema is represented by THE KID WITH A BIKE, the Cannes Grand Prix winner from the Dardenne brothers; Nanni Moretti’s WE HAVE A POPE; and Michel Ocelot’s enchanting animation TALES OF THE NIGHT. Hollywood’s silent era is celebrated in Michel Hazanavicius’ THE ARTIST whilst this year’s Archive Gala is the BFI National Archive’s restoration of Miles Mander’s THE FIRST BORN with a new score by Stephen Horne.
FILM ON THE SQUARE: Showcasing some of this year’s most anticipated and acclaimed films, the selection includes work from renowned directors such as Roman Polanski (CARNAGE), Gus Van Sant (RESTLESS), Werner Herzog (INTO THE ABYSS: A TALE OF DEATH, A TALE OF LIFE), Todd Solondz (DARK HORSE), Jonathan Demme (I’M CAROLYN PARKER) and Jonas Mekas (SLEEPLESS NIGHTS STORIES). Star power is provided by Jack Black in Richard Linklater’s BERNIE; Sean Penn in Paolo Sorrentino’s THIS MUST BE THE PLACE; Joseph Gordon-Levitt teams with Seth Rogen in Jonathan Levine’s 50/50, whilst Woody Harrelson stars in Oren Moverman’s RAMPART, developed from a screenplay by James Ellroy. British films include Andrea Arnold’s bold retelling of WUTHERING HEIGHTS, Marc Evans’ HUNKY DORY, a celebration of pre-punk 70s pop culture, and Nick Broomfield’s SARAH PALIN – YOU BETCHA! International cinema takes centre stage in the West End with a powerful selection of premieres including Norway’s Joachim Trier’s stunning OSLO, AUGUST 31st; Bruno Dumont’s provocative HORS SATAN; and Cannes Grand Prix winner Nuri Bilge Ceylan’s audacious ONCE UPON A TIME IN ANATOLIA. Mexico’s Gerardo Naranjo delivers a thrilling action film with MISS BALA, whist divided family life in Japan is the focus of Hirokazu Kore-eda’s engaging I WISH, and Australia’s most infamous serial murder case inspires Justin Kurzel’s first feature SNOWTOWN. Other feature debuts include Dee Rees’s emotionally powerful PARIAH; Sean Durkin’s beautifully disturbing MARTHA MARCY MAY MARLENE and Nick Murphy’s 1920s set supernatural tale THE AWAKENING.
NEW BRITISH CINEMA: Original cinematic voices from across the UK making their debuts this year include D.R. Hood with the haunting WRECKERS starring Claire Foy and Benedict Cumberbatch, and Tinge Krishnan with the social drama JUNKHEARTS in which Eddie Marsan heads a cast which includes Tom Sturridge and Romola Garai. London is the setting for Dexter Fletcher’s drama WILD BILL, starring Charlie Creed-Miles; and Andrew Haigh’s second feature, WEEKEND, is an original and affecting romance. Nirpal Bhogal’s fresh young cast enliven urban drama SKET, and LOTUS EATERS finds director Alexandra McGuinness introducing us to the city’s indulgent, affluent youth. Frances Lea’s STRAWBERRY FIELDS provides an escape to the country with a story of lust, rivalry and liberation. A strong selection of British work include films which imaginatively blur the boundaries between documentary and drama such as Richard Jobson’s response to the Iraq war, THE SOMNAMBULISTS, Simon Pummell’s SHOCK HEAD SOUL and DREAMS OF A LIFE by Carol Morley. Paul Kelly’s portrait of cult hero, LAWRENCE OF BELGRAVIA and Daniel Edelsyn’s HOW TO RE- ESTABLISH A VODKA EMPIRE round out the documentary selection.
FRENCH REVOLUTIONS: The focus on French cinema brings a wide range of new and established filmmakers including Dominik Moll, with THE MONK starring Vincent Cassel and Geraldine Chaplin. Chaplin also appears with Salma Hayek in AMERICANO, the feature debut of actor Mathieu Demy. From the directorial team of Nicolas Klotz and Elisabeth Perceval, LOW LIFE is a study of the trials facing French youth that has universal resonance whilst Laurent Achard provides a macabre touch in LAST SCREENING and popular comedian Emmanuel Mouret brings wry comedy to THE ART OF LOVE. Among a number of French directors returning to the Festival are Mathieu Amalric with a modern adaptation of Corneille’s classic play, THE SCREEN ILLUSION, Jean-Marc Moutout examining executive culture in EARLY ONE MORNING and Mathieu Kassovitz directing himself in the provocative military drama, REBELLION.
CINEMA EUROPA: A diverse selection of filmmakers bring Europe into focus with films from countries including Belgium, Bulgaria, Ireland, Sweden, Austria, Romania, Poland, Slovakia, The Czech Republic, Denmark, The Netherlands, Russia and Iceland, as well as Italy, Spain and Germany. Highlights include Benito Zambrano’s post-Spanish Civil War drama THE SLEEPING VOICE; Iceland’s Rúnar Rúnarsson’s VOLCANO; Angelina Nikonova’s TWILIGHT PORTRAIT, a study in Russian institutional corruption, Andrea Molaioli’s Italian conspiratorial drama THE JEWEL , Ulrich Köhler’s SLEEPING SICKNESS and the World Premiere of Hans Weingartner’s HUT IN THE WOODS. There are a number of outstanding directorial debuts which include Jonathan Cenzual Burley’s absurdist road movie, THE SOUL OF FLIES; Andrea Segre’s LI AND THE POET and Marie Kreutzer’s THE FATHERLESS. From Germany, the unique DREILEBEN project brings together Christian Petzold, Dominik Graf and Christoph Hochhäusler with three very different features that share an incidental starting point. Documentary features include Andrey Paounov’s THE BOY WHO WAS A KING and WHORES’ GLORY from Michael Glawogger, who will be one of the four Austrian filmmakers with work in the Festival who will be participating in a special panel discussion on the current state of Austrian cinema.
WORLD CINEMA: An extensive selection of the finest features and documentaries from across the globe includes new films from well known filmmakers and emerging voices. Highlights from the US include NATURAL SELECTION, the brilliant debut from Robbie Pickering that swept the board at this year’s SXSW Film Festival awards; Ken Kesey and The Merry Band of Pranksters’ trek across America is revisited in MAGIC TRIP from directors Alison Ellwood and Alex Gibney; whilst a journey of a different kind features in Braden King’s HERE, part road-movie, part love-story and part investigation of cinema itself. Tristan Patterson’s skateboarding documentary DRAGONSLAYER and Michael Barnett’s hugely entertaining SUPERHEROES about real life crimefighters offer fascinating glimpses of American life. Latin American cinema is well represented with HARD LABOUR, a blistering dissection of the class structure of Brazilian society from directors Juliana Rojas and Marco Dutra; KAREN CRIES ON THE BUS, the debut feature from Colombia’s Gabriel Rojas Vera; Laura Citarella’s OSTENDE and Santiago Mitre’s THE STUDENT, both from Argentina. The notable rise of ethnically Tibetan filmmaking is evidenced in Pema Tseden’s OLD DOG and Sonthar Gyal’s THE SUN-BEATEN PATH whilst other East Asian highlights include Hong Sangsoo’s THE DAY HE ARRIVES and Kim Kyung-Mook’s STATELESS THINGS, both from South Korea; Jiang Wen’s LET THE BULLETS FLY, China’s highest-grossing film; Ann Hui’s A SIMPLE LIFE, and Yuya Ishii’s MITSUKO DELIVERS. Indian cinema is represented this year by titles including Salim Ahamed’s ABU, SON OF ADAM, a rare and poignant tale of Muslim community life in Kerala; Gurvinder Singh’s ALMS OF THE BLIND HORSE and Kaushik Mukherjee’s cult film in the making ASSHOLE.
EXPERIMENTA: This year’s programme features an innovative and cutting edge selection of films to inspire. Highlights include TWO YEARS AT SEA, the new work from Jarman Prize nominee and Rotterdam Tiger Award winner Ben Rivers; CORRESPONDENCE: JONAS MEKAS – JL GUERÍN, a series of five cinematic letters presented in Spanish and English; and FREE RADICALS: A HISTORY OF EXPERIMENTAL FILM from Pip Chodorov. Lewis Klahr returns to the Festival with THE PETTIFOGGER and other featured filmmakers include Phil Solomon, Chick Strand, Gabriel Abrantes, Robert Fenz and Nathaniel Dorsky. Altered States is a selection of shorts from filmmakers including Ben Russell, Neil Beloufa, Mary Helena Clark and Deborah Stratman.
TREASURES FROM THE ARCHIVE: Highlighting invaluable restoration work, these cinematic treasures will entertain and capture the imagination in equal measure. Titles include a digital restoration of George Sidney’s exuberant, good-natured satire on rock’n’roll BYE BYE BIRDIE with Janet Leigh; Humphrey Bogart stars in Edward Dmytrik’s epic THE CAINE MUTINY; Elia Kazan’s Oscar-winning AMERICA, AMERICA and Marcel Carné’s timeless masterpiece, LES ENFANTS DU PARADIS. The latest restoration by Martin Scorsese’s World Cinema Foundation, LAW OF THE BORDER will also feature alongside the little seen Roberto Rossellini film, THE MACHINE THAT KILLS BAD PEOPLE. One of two colour features from the prolific Japanese master Kenji Mizoguchi, SHIN-HEIKE MONOGATARI, will play in the section along with WE CAN’T GO HOME AGAIN by Nicholas Ray, a film which anticipated experiments by Jean Luc Godard, Mike Figgis et al. And from close to home comes WONDERFUL LONDON programme, restored by the BFI National Archive, in which directors Harry B. Parkinson and Frank Miller capture some of the most evocative images of the capital in the mid-1920s.
SHORT CUTS AND ANIMATION: A strong line-up of short films and animation that will captivate audiences young and old make up this year’s programme. Animation from around the globe is covered including a dedicated collection aimed at the younger audience, Animated Shorts for Younger Audiences, which include FUNNY ALPHABET and PICKELS IN A PICKLE. Exciting new filmmakers from the capital are showcased in London Calling, experiences of modern urban living are the focus of The Suburbs, and LONG DISTANCE INFORMATION and HOLD ON ME feature in The School of Life, a series dealing with issues such as family duty and conscience. Talent spotters will be able to see established names including Nicholas Hoult, Michael Fassbender and Luke Treadaway, along with new shorts from director Terry Gilliam and comedian Matthew Holness.
EVENTS: To accompany the screenings, the festival will present an extensive programme of public events featuring panel discussions, on-stage interviews and masterclasses. There will also be a number of free events. This year’s Screen Talks, presented in partnership with American Express, feature directors Michael Winterbottom and Alexander Payne. The Masterclasses, presented in partnership with Swarovski, feature celebrated writer Abi Morgan, writer-director Miranda July, award-winning composer Alexandre Desplat and cinematographer Barry Ackroyd. Other highlights include an in-depth look at the making of WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT KEVIN with key members of the cast and crew, one of three free to access events presented in collaboration with Time Out.
AWARDS: The BFI London Film Festival Awards recognise creative excellence from both new and established filmmaking talent. Taking place on 26 October at LSO St Luke’s, awards presented include: Best Film, The Grierson Award for Best Documentary, The Sutherland Award for most imaginative and original first feature in the festival, Best British Newcomer Award and the BFI Fellowship. This year’s jurors and full awards shortlists will be announced on 4 Oct – full details will be available at bfi.org.uk/lff.
FILM GUESTS: In addition to many of the names already highlighted, we expect to welcome guests including Alexander Payne, Andrea Arnold, Azazel Jacobs, Ben Rivers, Braden King, Bruno Dumont, Carol Morley, David Cronenberg, Dexter Fletcher, Elisabeth Olsen, Fernando Meirelles, Freida Pinto, George Clooney, Hans Weingartner, Harry Belafonte, Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne, Joe Swanberg, Jonas Mekas, Jonathan Demme, Lynne Ramsay, Marina Goldovskaya, Michael Fassbender, Michael Shannon, Michael Winterbottom, Miranda July, Nanni Moretti, Nuri Bilge Ceylan, Phil Solomon, Ralph Fiennes, Roland Emmerich, Sean Durkin, Shailene Woodley, Terence Davies and Yorgos Lanthimos.

Closing Night Film for the London Film Festival: Rachel Weisz in "The Deep Blue Sea"

Dana Harris — Tue, 30 Aug 2011 06:17:17 GMT

The 55th BFI London Film Festival will close Oct. 27 with the UK premiere of "The Deep Blue Sea," starring Rachel Weisz and adapted and directed by Terence Davies.

Set in post-war Britain, this adaptation of Terence Rattigan's play is the story of Hester Collyer, a woman who leads a privileged life in 1950s London as the wife to a high court judge when she walks out on her marriage to move in with young ex-RAF pilot.

"The Deep Blue Sea" will have its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival. Slated for a UK release Nov. 25 through Artificial Eye, it's looking for a North American distributor.

Latest Film From "City of God" Director Fernando Meirelles, "360," to Open BFI London Film Festival

Bryce J. Renninger — Wed, 24 Aug 2011 11:01:25 GMT

The 55th Annual BFI London Film Festival has announced that Fernando Meirelles' new film, "360," will open this year's festival.

The film, from the director of "City of God" and "The Constant Gardener," features a script by "The Queen" scribe Peter Morgan and stars Anthony Hopkins, Rachel Weisz, Jude Law and Ben Foster.

"360" covers the globe, from Vienna to Paris to London to Bratislava, all the way to Rio and Denver, and concludes in Phoenix. The film, a profile of love and relationships in the 21st century, starts with one man's decision to stay faithful to his wife and then branches off to explore the intimacies of characters across the world.

The film will have its European premiere at the festival.

This year's BFI London Film Festival, the last under artistic director Sandra Hebron, runs October 12-27.

"Arbor," "Summer" Lead London Fest Winners

Peter Knegt — Wed, 27 Oct 2010 13:49:17 GMT

The 54th BFI London Film Festival came to a close tonight after 16 days and nights of screening over 200 films from around the world. The festival was capped off with the announcement of a series of awards which saw Alexei Popogrebsky's "How I Ended This Summer" beating out some of the year's biggest festival favorites for best film, and homegrown Clio Barnard's "The Arbor" taking two of the other major awards.

From a shortlist that included Danny Boyle's "127 Hours," Mike Leigh's "Another Year," Darren Aronfosky's "Black Swan," Tom Hooper's "The King's Speech," Xavier Beauvois's "Of Gods and Men," and Apitchatpong Weerasethakul's Palme d'Or winner "Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives," a jury headed by actress Patricia Clarkson gave the festival's top honors to "Summer."

“With elemental themes of isolation, alienation and the power of misunderstanding, 'How I Ended This Summer' is a visceral psychological drama set in the immersive landscape of the windswept Arctic," Clarkson said at the ceremony on behalf of her jury. “Director Alexei Popogrebsky has combined stunning cinematography with painterly attention to production detail and drawn intense and subtle performances from actors Grigory Dobrygin and Sergei Puskepalis. The film turns the hunter-versus-hunted narrative on its head to provoke powerful questions about life and death, resilience and human compassion. Tense, moving and universal in its scope, this is a cinematic tour de force.”

The film had premiered at the Berlin International Film Festival earlier this year.

The jury also gave a special commendation to Joanna Hogg’s "Archipelago," praising the film’s "taut and truthful performances and visual beauty."

Other awards handed out included the Sutherland Award (presented to the director of the most original and imaginative feature debut in the Festival), and the award for Best British Newcomer. Both of those awards were handed to Clio Barnard's "The Arbor." The film, which premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival, focuses on the life of Bradford playwright Andrea Dunbar. Artist-filmmaker Barnard, with a commission from Artangel, spent two years interviewing Dunbar's family and friends, and these personal accounts formed the backbone to the film, which straggles the line between narrative and documentary filmmaking.

"'The Arbor' is a brave and highly original debut with many levels of experimentation on show," Festival Artistic Director and Chair of the Sutherland Award jury, Sandra Hebron, said. "With outstanding performances that give a great resonance to the words of real people, Clio Barnard’s film tells a fascinating story with sophistication and haunting emotional impact. This is a challenging, moving and utterly memorable film and a deserving winner of the Sutherland Award".

Finally, the festival handed out their annual Grierson Award for best documentary in the festival to Janus Metz's "Armadillo."

"Filmed with a combination of extraordinary intimacy and stylistic sophistication, Janus Metz's 'Armadillo' follows a group of Danish soldiers on their first posting to Afghanistan," director Kevin Macdonald, who headed the Grierson jury, said. "With total access and great honesty, the film shows us why these men want to go to war and what the experience of action does to them. Humane but clear eyed in its attitude to the conflict, we believe that Armadillo is a touchstone film that will be watched for years to come.”

The evening also included the previously announced presentation of the BFI Fellowship to Danny Boyle, whose "127 Hours" closed the festival. Director Stephen Daldry was on hand to do so.

Check out indieWIRE's interview with LFF director Sandra Hebron from earlier in the festival here, and Eric Kohn's review of big winner "The Arbor" here.

Business As Usual As London Fest Turns 54 Amidst a Challenged British Film Industry

Peter Knegt — Fri, 15 Oct 2010 08:46:58 GMT

One year ago, then-British Prime Minister Gordon Brown made his way to the BFI London Film Festival to make a special announcement. There would be "a dramatic transformation" of the British Film Institute via a new film center that Brown's government was to pledge 45 million pounds toward. At the time, there had been fears that the project, backed by the British Film Institute for many years, would be the victim of the cutbacks from the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. But Brown made it clear this will not be the case.

By June of this year, the British government had taken back the offer for funding the new centre. And this came along with a whole series of other cutbacks, most famously the abolishment of the UK Film Council. Now it's largely anticipated next week's comprehensive spending review will see the UK government cut 25% of funding to public sectors - including the arts.

In the middle of this storm lies the BFI London Film Festival, the country's largest film event. Entering its 54th year, it's hosted by the very institution that's "dramatic transformation" is potentially no longer, and it's also a primary showcase for the very cinema the UK Film Council has supported for the past decade or so. And the comprehensive spending review just so happens to be occurring in the midst of it. So one might suspect the festival's organizers aren't exactly having a fun year. But that's not entirely true.

"In some ways I think we're in a transitional year," the festival's Artistic Director Sandra Hebron told indieWIRE yesterday. "In terms of the economic situation of the festival, the corporate sponsorship side is actually very healthy. We knew that our seven-year contract with [lead sponsor] The Times was expiring this year, and we've been lucky enough to secure a new three-year deal with American Express. Our ticket sales are good, and our grant-in-aid is actually a relatively small portion of the total budget. And in this financial year that hasn't been affected anyway. Of course, the tricky thing will potentially come next year with not just arts and film organizations - but everything in the public sector is being asked to model for a 25% cut in aid. At least this is what's being anticipated in the comprehensive spending review which happens in a few days time."

If the 25% cut goes through - which seems very likely - the festival's parent organization the British Film Institute would lose that percentage of its grant-in-aid. How that effects the festival is unclear at this point, but it's going to be a dramatic situation across all arts organizations in the UK. All Hebron can say for sure is that she and the festival are not feeling any impact this year.

The poster for the 54th BFI London Film Festival.

"There is no direct impact on the festival this year," she said. "Though there are bigger changes afoot, in the sort of festival micro-world it's very much business as usual. I don't know what it will be next year. But I think one of things that is fortunate for us is that a relatively small portion of our income comes from the grant-in-aid. We have a very high proportion that we generate ourselves."

One thing that is certain, though, is that the festival isn't expecting a new film centre to house much of its activity anytime soon.

"And part of what we would be able to do there is have some facilities for the festival, including potentially more screens," Hebron said. "But the size of our festival means that would have never been able to accommodate the whole festival in the new film centre. And in a way, nor would we want to. One of the good things about the festival is that it has screenings all over the city. But it would have meant that the festival could have really been identified with the new film centre."

As for the festival itself, Hebron is excited for this year's edition, which kicked off Wednesday with the European Premiere of "Never Let Me Go." Its 200-film wide schedule includes an exceptional array of British cinema - perhaps the best slate Hebron's ever.

"Certainly from where I'm sitting - having worked with the festival since 1997," Hebron said, "I would say hand-on-heart that this is the strongest year that I can remember for British cinema. I think it's a strong year not just because of the quality of the films but also because of their diversity and their breadth. We have the new films by Danny Boyle and Mike Leigh and Ken Loach... very well known and very well established figures in the UK film industry. But we also have great first-time features by filmmakers like Clio Barnart and Gillian Wearing. And then there's a kind of re-emergence of the essay film with filmmakers Patrick Keiller and John Akomfrah, who are making this formally different kind of work. And then lots of lots of short films and great documentary features like 'Pink Saris'... So it's really heartening not just to see strong British films, but to see that sort of breadth. If you look at one hand at a film like 'The King's Speech,' and then on the other with something like 'Robinson in Ruins,' the Patrick Keiller film... They're both really excellent films but they are such opposite ends of the spectrum."

While its unfortunate that this kind of work is coming in the same year that the UK Film Council (which helped fund many of Hebron's examples) became no longer, it gives the organization quite the swan song.

The BFI London Film Festival continues through October 27th. indieWIRE will be on the scene.

Danny Boyle the Toast of BFI's Upcoming London Film Fest

Nigel M Smith — Wed, 29 Sep 2010 08:34:26 GMT

A number of fall festival favorites, including Darren Aronofsky's "Black Swan," Mike Leigh's "Another Year," Tom Hooper's "The King's Speech," and Danny Boyle's "127 Hours," have all made the cut for the British Film Institute's (BFI) shortlist for their Best Film Award, to be dolled out at this year's BFI London Film Festival (October 13 - 28). Even if Boyle doesn't walk away with the night's top award, he is guaranteed to not walk away empty handed, as he was announced as the recipient of the BFI's highest accolade, the BFI Fellowship. Boyle will collect the award on October 27.

Boyle, whose "127 Hours" closes this year's festival, said of the news: "A significant helping of humility is called for in the face of this honor and that is not difficult considering those awarded it before. I am shocked, flattered and delighted to receive the Fellowship on behalf of everyone who has helped me make the films, the successful ones and the not so successful ones, and on behalf of all runts in every litter."

In addition to the Best Film Award, shortlists for Best British Newcomer, the Grierson Award for Best Documentary, and The Sutherland Award were also made public today, along with their respective juries.

Michael Winterbottom, on tap to jury the aforeomentioned Sutherland Award, which is presented to the director of the most original and imaginative feature debut in the fesitval, said of the BFI event: "Film festivals are hugely important events for filmmakers and the London Film Festival is one of the biggest and best. It's very exciting to get a chance to watch films by new directors from all over the world."

Below is the full list of all films that made it onto the shortlists:

Best Film Award

"127 Hours," Danny Boyle, UK/U.S.
"Another Year," Mike Leigh, UK
"Archipelago," Joanna Hogg, UK
"Black Swan," Darren Aronofsky, U.S.
"How I Ended This Summer," Alexei Popogrebsky, Russia
"The King's Speech," Tom Hooper, UK/Australia
"Meek's Cutoff," Kelly Reichardt, U.S.
"Never Let Me Go," Mark Romanek, UK
"Of Gods and Men," Xavier Beauvois, France
"The Sleeping Beauty," Catherine Breillat, France
"Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives," Apitchatpong Weerasethakul, Thailand/UK/France/Germany/Spain

The Grierson Award for Best Documentary

"Armadillo," Janus Metz, Denmark
"Benda Bilili!," Renaud Barret and Florent de la Tullaye, France
"Circo," Aaron Schock, Mexico/U.S.
"Maria and I," Félix Fernández de Castro, Spain
"The Peddler," Eduardo De La Serna, Lucas Marcheggiano and Adriana Yurcovich, Argentina
"Pink Sarris," Kim Longinotto, UK/India
"The Tillman Story," Amir Bar-Lev, U.S.
"Waste Land," Lucy Walker, UK/Brazil

The Sutherland Award shortlist was already previously announced.

To learn more on the festival, visit their homepage.

London Film Festival Announces Its Full Schedule

Nigel M Smith — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 10:40:46 GMT

"Never Let Me Go," starring three of British cinema’s biggest young stars, will open the British Film Institute London Film Festival on October 13. Mark Romanek’s adaptation of Kazuo Ishiguro’s dystopian novel, starring Keira Knightley, Carey Mulligan and Andrew Garfield, is one of nearly 200 films on the docket, including 11 world premieres. Danny Boyle’s first post-Oscar picture, "127 Hours," starring ubiquitous polymath James Franco, closes the 54th edition of the festival on October 28. Both films will be making their European premieres.

Romanek and Darren Aronofksy, director of "Black Swan," also playing the festival, will give talks alongside the screening of their films, while Olivier Assayas and Peter Mullan will lead workshops relating to their new films "Carlos" and "Neds," respectively. Special panels will cover new developments in British cinema, existentialism in film, adapting books for the screen and music, featuring a talk with Randall Poster, one of the most prominent music supervisors in the business ("I’m Not There," "The Hangover," "The Fantastic Mr. Fox"). There will also be several free talks on composing for film, documentaries on bands and movies about national struggles.

Seven British films will be making their world premieres, while a number of eagerly anticipated films will be making their European premieres, including Tom Hooper’s "The King’s Speech," Matt Reeves’s "Let Me In" and Errol Morris’s "Tabloid." Awards will be given out on October 27.

Galas

"127 Hours," directed by Danny Boyle (US/UK)
Closing Night Gala, European premiere

"Africa United," directed by Debs Gardner-Paterson (UK/Rwanda/South Africa)
Family Gala, European premiere

"Another Year," directed by Mike Leigh (UK)
Centrepiece Gala, European premiere

"Biutiful," directed by Alejandro González Iñárritu (Spain/Mexico)
Film on the Square Gala, UK premiere

"Black Swan," directed by Darren Aronofsky (US)
Jameson Gala, UK premiere

"Conviction," directed by Tony Goldwyn (US)
American Airlines Gala, European premiere

"The First Grader," directed by Justin Chadwick (UK/Kenya)
Windows 7 Gala, UK premiere

"The Great White Silence," directed by Herbert Ponting (UK)
Archive Gala

"The Kids Are All Right," directed by Lisa Cholodenko (US)
UK premiere

"The King’s Speech," directed by Tom Hooper (UK/Australia)
European premiere

"Miral," directed by Julian Schnabel (France/Italy/Israel/India)
Film on the Square Gala, UK premiere

"Neds," directed by Peter Mullan (UK/France/Italy)
Time Out Special Screening, UK premiere

"Never Let Me Go," directed by Mark Romanek (UK)
Opening Night Gala, European premiere

"Of Gods and Men (Des homes et des dieux)," directed by Xavier Beauvois (France)
French Gala, UK premiere

"Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives" ("Lung Boonmee Raluek Chat"), directed by Apichatpong Weerasethakul (Thailand/UK/France/Germany/Spain)
Sight & Sound Special Screening, UK premiere

"West is West," directed by Andy De Emmony (UK)
May Fair Hotel Gala, European premiere

Films on the Square

"13 Assassins" ("Jusan-nin no shikaku"), directed by Takashi Miike (Japan)
UK premiere

"Abel," directed by Diego Luna (Mexico)
UK premiere

"The American," directed by Anton Corbijn (US)
UK premiere

"Amigo," directed by John Sayles (US)
UK premiere

"Archipelago," directed by Joanna Hogg (UK)
European premiere

"Aurora," directed by Cristi Puiu (Romania/France/Germany/Switzerland)
UK premiere

"Benda Belili!," directed by Renaud Barret, Florent de La Tullaye (France)
International premiere

"Blue Valentine," directed by Derek Cianfrance (US)
UK premiere

"Boxing Gym," directed by Frederick Wiseman (US)
UK premiere

"Carancho," directed by Pablo Trapero (Argentina/France/Chile/South Korea)
UK premiere

A scene from Olivier Assayas' "Carlos." Assayas will be at the London Film Festival to speak about his film.

"Carlos," directed by Olivier Assayas (France/Germany)
UK premiere

"Dhobi Ghat (AKA Mumbai Diaries)," directed by Kiran Rao (India)
European premiere

"Essential Killing," directed by Jerzy Skolimowski (Poland/Norway/Ireland/Hungary)
UK premiere

"Everything Must Go," directed by Dan Rush (US)
UK premiere

"Film Socialisme," directed by Jean-Luc Godard (Switzerland/France)
UK premiere

"Heartbeats" ("Les amours imaginaires"), directed by Xavier Dolan (Canada)
UK premiere

"How I Ended this Summer" ("Kak ya provel etim letom"), directed by Aleksei Popogrebsky (Russia)
UK premiere

"Howl," directed by Robert Epstein, Jeffrey Friedman (US)
UK premiere

"It’s Kind of a Funny Story," directed by Anna Boden, Ryan Fleck (US)
European premiere

"Kaboom," directed by Gregg Araki (US/France)
UK premiere

"Le Quattro Volte" ("The Four Times"), directed by Michelangelo Frammartino (Italy/Germany/Switzerland)
UK premiere

"Let Me In," directed by Matt Reeves (US)
European premiere

"Loose Cannons" ("Mine vaganti"), directed by Ferzan Ozpetek (Italy)
UK premiere

"Meek’s Cutoff," directed by Kelly Reichardt (US)
UK premiere

"Outside the Law" ("Hors la loi"), directed by Rachid Bouchareb (France/Algeria/Belgium)
UK premiere

"Poetry" ("Si"), directed by Lee Changdong (South Korea)
UK premiere

"The Princess of Montpensier" ("La princesse de montpensier"), directed by Bertrand Tavernier (France/Germany)
UK premiere

"Puzzle" ("Rompecabezas"),directed by Natalia Smirnoff (Argentina/France)
UK premiere

"Rare Exports," directed by Jalmari Helander (Finland)
UK premiere

"Robinson in Ruins," directed by Patrick Keiller (UK)
UK premiere

"Route Irish," directed by Ken Loach (UK)
UK premiere

"A Screaming Man" ("Un homme qui crie"), directed by Mahamat-Saleh Haroun (France/Belgium/Chad)

"A Somewhat Gentle Man" ("En ganske snill mann"), directed by Hans Petter Moland (Norway)
UK premiere

"Submarine," directed by Richard Ayoade (UK)
European premiere

"Submarino," directed by Thomas Vinterberg (Denmark)
UK premiere

"Surviving Life" ("Prezít svuj zivot (teorie a praxe)"), directed by Jan Švankmajer (Czech Republic)
UK premiere

"Tabloid," directed by Errol Morris (US)
European premiere

Surprise Film, TBA

"Waste Land," directed by Lucy Walker (UK/ Brazil)
UK premiere

-for more, continue to next page-

A scene from "Blessed Events."

New British Cinema

"The Arbor," directed by Clio Barnard (UK)
UK premiere

"The Ballad of Mott the Hoople," directed by Chris Hall, Mike Kerry (UK)
World premiere

"Edge," directed by Carol Morley (UK)
World premiere

"Fire in Babylon," directed by Stevan Riley (UK)
World premiere

"Guilty Pleasures," directed by Julie Moggan (UK)
World premiere

"In Our Name," directed by Brian Welsh (UK)
World premiere

"Mandelson: The Real PM?," directed by Hannah Rothschild (UK)
World premiere

"Patagonia," directed by Marc Evans (UK)
European premiere

"Pink Saris," directed by Kim Longinotto (UK/India)
European premiere

"Self Made," directed by Gillian Wearing (UK)

"Treacle Jr," directed by Jamie Thraves (UK)
UK premiere

"Upside Down: The Creation Records Story," directed by Danny O’Connor (UK)
World premiere

French Revolutions

"Copacabana," directed by Marc Fitoussi (France)
International premiere

"Deep in the Woods" ("Au fond des bois"), directed by Benoît Jacquot (France/Germany)
UK premiere

"Hands Up" ("Les mains en l’air"), directed by Romain Goupil (France)
International premiere

"Happy Few," directed by Antony Cordier (France)
UK premiere

"In Your Hands" ("Contre toi"), directed by Lola Doillon (France)
World premiere

"Little White Lies" ("Les petits mouchoirs"), directed by Guillaume Canet (France)
European premiere

"Living on Love Alone" ("D'amour et d'eau fraîche"), directed by Isabelle Czajka (France)
European premiere

"Love Like Poison" ("Un poison violent"), directed by Katell Quillévéré (France)
International premiere

"Mammuth," directed by Benoît Delépine, Gustave de Kervern (France)
UK premiere

"Memory Lane," directed by Mikhaël Hers (France)
UK premiere

"The Sleeping Beauty" ("La belle endormie"), directed by Catherine Breillat (France)
UK premiere

"Special Treatment" ("Sans queue ni tête"), directed by Jeanne Labrune (France)
European premiere

"Young Girls in Black" ("Des filles en noir"), directed by Jean-Paul Civeyrac (France)
UK premiere

Cinema Europa

"3 Seasons in Hell" ("3 sezony v pekle"), directed by Tomáš Mašín (Czech Republic/Germany/Slovakia
UK premiere

"Pál Adrienn," directed by Ágnes Kocsis (Hungary/Netherlands/Austria/France)
UK premiere

"Afraid of the Dark (Bruises)" ("Hai paura del buio," directed by Massimo Coppola (Italy)
International premiere

"Armadillo," directed by Janus Metz (Denmark)
UK premiere

"At Ellen’s Age" ("Im alter von Ellen"), directed by Pia Marais (Germany)
UK premiere

"The Autobiography of Nicolae Ceausescu" ("Autobiografia lui Nicolae Ceausescu")
directed by Andrei Ujica (Romania)
UK premiere

"Blessed Events" ("Glückliche Fügung"), directed by Isabelle Stever (Germany)
European premiere

"The Book of Masters" ("Kniga Masterov"), directed by Vadim Sokolovsky (Russia)
International premiere

"The Call" ("Il richiamo"), directed by Stefano Pasetto (Italy/Argentina)
European premiere

"Dark Love" ("L’amore buio"), directed by Antonio Capuano (Italy)
International premiere

"Draquila – Italy Trembles" ("Dragquila – L’Italia che trema"), directed by Sabina Guzzanti (Italy)
UK premiere

"Elisa K," directed by Jordi Cadena, Judith Colell (Spain)
International premiere

"Even the Rain" ("También la lluvia"), directed by Icíar Bollaín (Spain/France/Mexico)
UK premiere

"A Family" ("En familie"), directed by Pernille Fischer Christensen (Denmark)
UK premiere

"Father" ("Aita"), directed by José María de Orbe (Spain)
International premiere

"For 80 Days" ("80 Egunean"), directed by Jon Garaño, José Mari Goenaga (Spain)
UK premiere

"Home for Christmas" ("Hjem til jul"), directed by Bent Hamer (Norway/Germany/Sweden)
UK premiere

"Hunting & Sons" ("Hunting & Zn."), directed by Sander Burger (Netherlands)
UK premiere

"Illegal" ("Illégal"), directed by Olivier Masset-Depasse (Belgium/Luxembourg/France)
UK premiere

"Joy," directed by Mijke de Jong (Netherlands)
UK premiere

"The Magic Tree" ("Magiczne drzewo"), directed by Andrzej Maleszka (Poland)
International premiere

"Malavoglia" ("The House by the Medlar Tree"), directed by Pasquale Scimeca (Italy)
European premiere

"Maria and I" ("María y yo"), directed by Félix Fernández de Castro (Spain)
European premiere

"The Mosquito Net" ("La Mosquitera"), directed by Agustí Vila (Spain)
UK premiere

"My Joy" ("Schastye moye"), directed by Sergei Loznitsa (Ukraine/Germany/Netherlands)
UK premiere

"Mysteries of Lisbons" ("Mistérios de Lisboa"), directed by Raúl Ruiz (Portugal)
UK premiere

"Nothing’s All Bad" ("Smukke mennesker"), directed by Mikkel Munch-Fals (Denmark)
UK premiere

"Our Life" ("La nostra vita"), directed by Daniele Luchetti (Italy)
UK premiere

"Picco," directed by Philip Koch (Germany)
UK premiere

"The Pipe," directed by Risteard Ó Domhnaill (Ireland)
UK premiere

"Plans for Tomorrow" ("Planes para mañana"), directed by Juana Macías (Spain)
International premiere

"Portrait of the Fighter as a Young Man" ("Portretul luptatorului la tinerete"),
directed by Constantin Popescu (Romania)
UK premiere

"Pudana: Last of the Line" ("Sukunsa viimeinen"), directed by Anastasia Lapsui, Markku Lehmuskallio (Finland)
UK premiere

"Sensation," directed by Tom Hall (Ireland)
UK premiere

"Silent Souls" ("Ovsyanki"), directed by Aleksei Fedorchenko (Russia)
UK premiere

"Super Brother" ("Superbror"), directed by Birger Larsen (Denmark)
UK premiere

"The Temptation of St. Tony" ("Püha Tõnu kiusamine"), directed by Veiko Õunpuu (Estonia/Sweden/Finland)
UK premiere

"Truce" ("Peremiriye"), directed by Svetlana Proskurina (Russia)
European premiere

"Womb," directed by Benedek Fliegauf (Germany/Hungary/France)
UK premiere

-for more, continue to next page-

A scene from "Leap Year."

World Cinema

"Autumn" ("Harud"), directed by Aamir Bashir (India)
UK premiere

"Catfish," directed by Henry Joost, Ariel Schulman (US)
European premiere

"Chongqing Blues" ("Rizhao Chongqing"), directed by Wang Xiaoshuai (China)
UK premiere

"Circo," Aaron Schock (Mexico/US)
European premiere

"Cold Fish" ("Tsumetai nettaigyo"), directed by Sion Sono (Japan)
UK premiere

"Cold Water of the Sea" ("Agua fría de mar"), directed by Paz Fábrega (Costa Rica/France)
UK premiere

"Cold Weather," directed by Aaron Katz (US)
International premiere

"Dear Director," directed by Miwa Nishikawa (Japan)
European premiere

"Don’t Be Afraid, Bi!" ("Bi, dung so!"), directed by Phan Dang Di (Vietnam)
UK premiere

"End of Animal" ("Jimseung ui kkut"), directed by Jo Sung-Hee (South Korea)
International premiere

"Home by Christmas," directed by Gaylene Preston (New Zealand)
European premiere

"I Am Kalam," directed by Nila Madhad Panda (India)
UK premiere

"I Am Sindhauta Sapkal" ("Mee sindhutai sapkal"), directed by Ananth Mahadevan (India)
World premiere

"I Wish I Knew" ("Haisang chuangqi"), directed by Jia Zhangke (China)
UK premiere

"Imani," directed by Caroline Kamya (Uganda/Sweden)
UK premiere

"Infiltration" ("Hitganvut yechidim"), directed by Dover Kosashvili (Israel/France)
UK premiere

"It’s Your Fault" ("Por tu cupla"), directed by Anahí Berneri (Argentina/France)
UK premiere

"Journey’s End" ("La belle viste"), directed by Jean-François Caissy (Canada)
UK premiere

"Just Another Love Story" ("Aarekti premer golpo"), directed by Kaushik Ganguly (India)
UK premiere

"Leap Year" ("Año bisiesto"), directed by Michael Rowe (Mexico)
UK premiere

"Lemmy," directed by Greg Olliver, Wes Orshoski (US)
European premiere

"Live, Above All," directed by Oliver Schmitz (South Africa/Germany)
UK premiere

"The Light Thief" ("Svet-ake"), directed by Akran Arym Kubat (Kyrgyzstan/France/Netherlands/Germany)
UK premiere

"The Lips" ("Los labios"), directed by Iván Fund, Santiago Loza (Argentina)
UK premiere

"Manila Skies" ("Himpapawid"), directed by Raymond Red (Philippines)
UK premiere

"Mars," directed by Geoff Marslett (US)
International premiere

"Microphone," directed by Ahmad Abdalla (Egypt)
European premiere

"New African Cinema: Saint Louis Blues," directed by Dyana Gaye (Senegal/France)

"October" ("Octubre"), directed by Diego Vega (Peru/Venezuela/Spain)
UK premiere

"Oki’s Movie" ("Okheui ui yeonghwa"), directed by Hong Sangsoo (South Korea)
UK premiere

"Orion," directed by Zamani Esmati (Iran)
UK premiere

"Paan Singh Tomar," directed by Tigmanshu Dhulia (India)
European premiere

"The Parking Lot Movie" directed by Meghan Eckman (US)
International premiere

"The Peddler" ("El ambulante"), directed by Eduardo De La Serna, Lucas Marcheggiano, Adriana Yurcovich (Argentina)
UK premiere

"Relentless," directed by Andy Amadi Okoroafor (Nigeria)
World premiere

"Revolución," directed by Mariana Chenillo, Fernando Eimbcke, Amat Escalante, Gael García Bernal, Rodrigo García, Diego Luna, Gerardo Naranjo, Rodrigo Plá, Carlos Reygadas, Patricia Riggen (Mexico)
UK premiere

"Sandcastle" ("Shacheng"), directed by Boo Junfeng (Singapore)
UK premiere

"Sawako Decides" ("Kawa no soko kara konnichi-wa"), directed by Yuya Ishii (Japan)
UK premiere

"Shungu: The Resilience of a People," directed by Saki Mafundikwa (Zimbabwe)
UK premiere

"Smash His Camera," directed by Leon Gast (US)
International premiere

"Southern District" ("Zona sur"), directed by Juan Carlos Valdivia (Bolivia)
UK premiere

"Spork," directed by JB Ghuman Jr. (US)
International premiere

"Strange Powers: Stephin Merritt and the Magnetic Fields," directed by Kerthy Fix, Gail O’Hara (US)
UK premiere

"Stray Bullet" ("Balle perdue"), directed by Georges Hachem (Lebanon)
World premiere

"Taipei Exchanges" ("Di shanshiliu ge gushi"), directed by Hsiao Ya-Chuan (Taiwan)
International premiere

"The Taqwacores," directed by Eyad Zahra (US)
International premiere

"Thomas Mao" ("Xiao dongxi"), directed by Zhu Wen (China)
International premiere

"The Tillman Story," directed by Amir Bar-Lev (US)
International premiere

"Two Gates of Sleep," directed by Alistair Banks Griffin (US)
UK premiere

"Udaan," directed by Vikramadity Motwane (India)
UK premiere

"What I Love the Most" ("Lo que más quiero"), directed by Delfina Castagnino (Argentina)
UK premiere

"When Love Comes" ("Dang ai lai de shihou"), directed by Chang Tso-Chi (Taiwan)
European premiere

"William S. Burroughs: A Man Within," directed by Yony Leyser (US)
International premiere

London Fest Sets Romanek's "Go" As Opener

Bryce J. Renninger — Thu, 05 Aug 2010 10:37:17 GMT

The BFI London Film Festival has announced that Mark Romanek's "Never Let Me Go" will open the fest's 54th installment on October 13, 2010. The film, which will have its European premiere at the festival, is directed by Mark Romanek ("One Hour Photo") and has a screenplay written by "The Beach" scribe Alex Garland ("28 Days Later"), adapted from the Kazuo Ishiguro bestseller.

"Never Let Me Go" stars Carey Mulligan, Keira Knightley, and Andrew Garfield as students in an English boarding school who begin to discover the truth behind the world they live in. The film chronicles their life around the time they realize what adulthood in this dystopian UK has in store for the close knit trio. Fox Searchlight will release the film theatrically in the U.S. September 15, 2010.

Commenting on the film, BFI London Film Fest Artistic Director Sandra Hebron said, "It is a great pleasure to be able to open the festival with a film as accomplished and imaginative as "Never Let Me Go." It combines impeccable film making, outstanding performances and a deeply moving story, and I couldn't wish for a stronger or more appropriate opening night.” Romanek added, “I think I can speak for the entire cast and crew when I say that we are deeply honored and excited to have been selected to open this year's festival. For me personally, it seems the perfect way to celebrate the conclusion of an incredible filmmaking experience in the UK.”

The BFI London Film Festival runs from October 13-28, 2010. The complete lineup for the fest will be released in early September.