This morning
the 56th BFI London Film Festival
announced its line up for this years festivities revealing a new
competitive look. The new look is to get in line with the premier
international festivals will be launching it’s own formal competition
with 12 films going head to head for the inaugural competition which
will include films from
Michael Winterbottom (Everyday),
Martin McDonagh (seven psychopaths),
David Ayer (End Of Watch) and
Jacques Audiard (Rust and Bone).
Over the 12 day period next month 225 feature & documentary
films, including 14 World Premieres, 15 International Premieres and 34
European Premieres. There will also be screenings of 111 live action and
animated shorts will grace the London venues. We already knew
Tim Burton’s stop animation Frankenweenie was to open the festival with it’s European premier with
Mike Newell’s gritty rendition of the Charles Dickens classic Great Expectations closing the proceedings.
The revamped festival has also seens its ‘strands’ get the new look
too with a selection of films based around those strands which are Love,
Debate, Dare, Laugh, Thrill, Cult, Journey, Sonic and Family. Films
such as
Michael Haneke‘s Palme d’Or winner(and now Austria Oscar entry)
Amour representing ‘love’ and Ben Wheatley’s darkly comical
Sightseers ‘laughs’. One notable world premier is
Crossfire Hurricane
by Brett Morgen celebrating The Rolling Stones 50 years in rock, a
screening the band is expected to attend and the screening will be
simultaneously in selected UK cinemas.
Below is a highly detailed press release sent to us from BFI which gives out more information on other films been shown.
56th BFI London Film Festival will take place on
10th October until 21st October, as usual we will do our best coverage as we can.
London, Wednesday 5 September: The
programme for the 56th BFI London Film Festival in partnership with
American Express launched today under the new creative leadership of
BFI’s Head of Exhibition and Festival Director, Clare Stewart, bringing a
rich and diverse programme of international films and events from both
established and upcoming talent over a 12 day celebration of cinema. The
Festival will screen a total of 225 fiction and documentary features,
including 14 World Premieres, 15 International Premieres and 34 European
Premieres. There will also be screenings of 111 live action and
animated shorts. A stellar line-up of directors, cast and crew are
expected to take part in career interviews, master classes, and other
special events. The 56th BFI London Film Festival will run from 10-21
October 2012.
This year sees the introduction of several changes to the Festival’s
format. Now taking place over 12 days, the Festival expands further
from its traditional Leicester Square cinemas – Odeon West End, Vue West
End, Odeon Leicester Square and Empire – and the BFI Southbank to
include four additional new venues – Hackney Picturehouse, Renoir,
Everyman Screen on the Green and Rich Mix, which join existing London
venues the ICA, Curzon Mayfair, Ritzy Brixton and Ciné Lumière.
GALAS
The Festival opens with the European Premiere of Tim Burton’s 3D
animation FRANKENWEENIE, whilst Mike Newell’s visually stunning
adaptation of GREAT EXPECTATIONS, starring Helena Bonham Carter and
Ralph Fiennes will close the Festival, with key talent from both films
expected to attend. Among the highly anticipated Galas is the American
Express Gala World Premiere of CROSSFIRE HURRICANE, a documentary
celebrating 50 years of rock legendsThe Rolling Stones who are also
expected to attend the Festival. For the first time this year both the
Opening Night Gala and the American Express Gala red carpet events and
screenings will be screened simultaneously to cinemas across the UK.
Other Galas include the American Airlines Gala of Dustin Hoffman’s
directorial debut, QUARTET, featuring an outstanding British cast
including Dame Maggie Smith, Billy Connolly and Michael Gambon; and Ben
Affleck directs and stars in the Accenture Gala presentation of
political thriller ARGO which he also produced with George Clooney.
British film directors making their mark this year include Paul Andrew
Williams with London-based comedy drama, SONG FOR MARION, which screens
as The Mayfair Hotel Gala and features a sterling cast headed by
Vanessa Redgrave, Terence Stamp, Gemma Arterton and Christopher
Eccleston; and Roger Michell, whose HYDE PARK ON HUDSON is the
Centrepiece Gala supported by the Mayor of London, stars Bill Murray,
Laura Linney, Olivia Colman and Olivia Williams and is set on the eve of
WWII when the King and Queen of England make a visit to see Franklin D
Roosevelt in upstate New York. Nintendo Gala THE SAPPHIRES, is an
inspirational Australian musical comedy set in the 60s starring comic
man of the moment Chris O’Dowd, who appears alongside Australian Idol
star Jessica Mauboy; and THE SESSIONS, is a moving drama, based on a
true story with superb performances from John Hawkes, Helen Hunt and
William H. Macy.
AWARDS AND COMPETITIONS
The BFI London Film Festival Awards have undergone a significant change
this year by introducing competitive sections that are given much more
prominence in the Festival campaign and programme. The Best Film Award
in partnership with American Express; the Sutherland Award for Best
First Feature and the Grierson Award for Best Documentary will now be
presented to the winning films from three programme sections: Official
Competition, First Feature Competition and Documentary Competition. Each
section is open to international and British films and 12 films have
been shortlisted for each Competition.
Official Competition
The inaugural Official Competition line-up, recognising inspiring,
inventive and distinctive filmmaking, includes four European premieres:
· Michael Winterbottom’s EVERYDAY
· Sally Potter’s Ginger and Rosa
· Deepa Mehta’s Midnight’s Children
· Martin McDonagh’s Seven Psychopaths
Together with UK premieres of
· 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
Closing the Awards section is the prize for Best British Newcomer, in
partnership with Swarovski, which highlights new British talent and is
presented to an emerging writer, actor, producer or director. The
recipient of this prize will also receive a £5,000 bursary, courtesy of
Swarovski.
This year’s nominees are:
1. Rowan Athale – director/screenwriter Wasteland
2. Sally El Hosaini – director/screenwriter My Brother the Devil
3. Fady Elsayed – actor My Brother the Devil
4. Scott Graham – director/screenwriter Shell
5. Eloise Laurence – actor Broken
6. Rufus Norris – director Broken
7. Chloe Pirrie actor Shell
8. Tom Shkolnik – director/screenwriter The Comedian
STRANDS / PATHWAYS
This year significant changes have been made to the structure of the
Festival programme with new focused categories that are clustered around
the themes of Love, Debate, Dare, Laugh, Thrill, Cult, Journey, Sonic
and Family. With over 200 features screened during the Festival this new
approach is designed to help Festival goers find the films that mean
the most to them and to open up entry points for new audiences.
LOVE
Sweet, passionate, tough – LOVE is a complex and many splendoured thing.
The Love Gala is Michael Haneke’s Cannes Palme d’Or winner AMOUR, with Haneke making a welcome return to the Festival this year.
Other titles in this section include: BROKEN starring Tim Roth and
Cillian Murphy; Ira Sachs’ KEEP THE LIGHTS ON; Xavier Dolan’s LAURENCE
ANYWAYS; Liz Garbus’ documentary tribute to Marilyn Monroe LOVE,
MARILYN; ROBOT AND FRANK starring Frank Langella and Susan Sarandon, and
Ursula Meier’s SISTER with Léa Seydoux and Gillian Anderson.
DEBATE
Riveting films that amplify, scrutinise, argue and surprise screen in the DEBATE section and this year’s Gala is the European Premiere of THE PERVERT’S
GUIDE TO IDEOLOGY an absorbing documentary sequel to THE PERVERT’S
GUIDE TO CINEMA from Sophie Fiennes featuring renegade philosopher and
bionic cineaste Slavoj Žižek who also takes part in an ‘In Conversation’
event during the Festival.
Other highlights in this section include Marco Bellocchio’s DORMANT
BEAUTY featuring Toni Servillo and Isabelle Huppert, Thomas Vinterberg’s
THE HUNT featuring Mads Mikkelsen’s Cannes award-winning performance,
and the European Premiere of ZAYTOUN.
DARE
In-your-face, up-front and arresting, the films in DARE
will take audiences out of their comfort zone. The Dare Gala is Mira
Nair’s Venice-opener THE RELUCTANT FUNDAMENTALIST, starring Kate Hudson,
Kiefer Sutherland, Riz Ahmed and Liev Schreiber.
Other highlights in this strand include: the European Premiere of
HELTER SKELTER featuring Japanese supermodel Erika Sawajiri, the World
Premiere of KELLY + VICTOR Kieran Evans’ adaptation of the acclaimed
novel by Niall Griffiths, and the International Premiere of Antonio
Campos’ SIMON KILLER, Carlos Reygadas’ Cannes-winner POST TENEBRAS LUX,
Pablo Trapero’s gripping and intelligent drama, WHITE ELEPHANT, and
Sergei Loznitsa’s critically celebrated IN THE FOG.
LAUGH
From laugh out loud through romantic comedy to dry and understated – humour in all its forms can be seen in the LAUGH
section. A romantic caravan trip quickly descends into chaos when a
young couple’s dream holiday takes a wrong turn in acclaimed British
director Ben Wheatley’s dark comedy SIGHTSEERS which has its UK premiere as the Laugh Gala.
Other titles in this strand include the International Premiere of
Bollywood-meets-Tollywood Amelie style AIYYA, the UK Premiere of
romantic comedy CELESTE AND JESSE FOREVER starring Rashida Jones and
Andy Samberg and the European Premiere of Stephen Gyllenhaal’s
GRASSROOTS, and the International Premiere of Australian cricketing
‘bro’mantic comedy SAVE YOUR LEGS!
THRILL
The films in THRILL are nerve shredders that will get
the adrenalin pumping and keep audiences on the edge of their seat; The
Gala presentation for this section is the World Premiere of Bollywood
action epic CHAKRAVYUH, directed by Prakash Jha who will be attending
the Festival.
Other highlights in this section include: controversial Sundance hit
COMPLIANCE, Nordic Noir double bill of EASY MONEY and its sequel; the
Berlin Golden Bear winner CAESAR MUST DIE and Korean box office smash
NAMELESS GANGSTER: RULES OF THE TIME.
CULT
The CULT section features films from the mind-altering
and unclassifiable, to fantasy, sci-fi and horror. The Cult Gala is the
European Premiere of A LIAR’S AUTOBIOGRAPHY chronicling the life of
Monty Python’s Graham Chapman through multiple animation styles and
featuring Chapman’s fellow Pythons in the voice cast.
Other highlights in this section include: ANTIVIRAL, the feature film
debut of Brandon Cronenberg; the International Premiere of Actress
Katie Aselton’s directorial outing, the survival horror BLACK ROCK;
Japanese maestro Takashi Miike’s FOR LOVE’S SAKE and Juan Carlos
Medina’s fantasy horror PAINLESS, along with documentaries MY AMITYVILLE
HORROR, THE JEFFREY DAHMER FILES, and ROOM 237.
JOURNEY
Whether it’s the journey or the destination, the films in JOURNEY will transport and shift perspectives.
Celebrated Romanian director Cristian Mungiu returns to the Festival
with BEYOND THE HILLS screening as the Journey Gala . The film won Best
Screenplay at the 2012 Cannes Film Festival, where actresses Cristina
Flutur and Cosmina Stratan also shared best actress award.
Other titles in this strand include: riveting Moroccan drama HORSES
OF GOD, Raymond Depardon and Claudine Nougaret’s documentary JOURNAL DE
FRANCE, Jem Cohen’s MUSEUM HOURS, Michel Gondry’s THE WE AND THE I and
the World Premiere of Marc Isaac’s new documentary about the A5 –THE
ROAD: A STORY OF LIFE AND DEATH
SONIC
Music inspired films and events that will have audiences dancing in the aisles can be discovered in SONIC.
Highlights in the Sonic screening programme include Mat Whitecross’
coming-of-age story SPIKE ISLAND about an Indie band of 1990 vintage,
who are determined to see their heroes The Stone Roses; GOOD VIBRATIONS,
the biopic of Terri Hooley, Belfast’s Godfather of Punk, which was
declared the best Irish film at Galway Film Fleadh earlier this year;
and world music is represented with films from Africa and Chile,
KINSHASA KIDS and VIOLETA WENT TO HEAVEN.
The Festival is delighted to include two popular events from the
year-round programme at BFI Southbank for the first time – BUG and Sonic
Cinema, both celebrating the links between music and film. Sonic Cinema
presentations include a focus on the Sigur Ros Valtari Mystery Film
Experiment featuring premieres of new clips and, in celebration of Warp
Films’ 10th Birthday, a special presentation of Shane
Meadow’s THIS IS ENGLAND screening with a live score from composer
Ludovico Einaudiand and musician Gavin Clark. Regular BUG host Adam
Buxton will present a special artist focus with talent to be announced.
FAMILY
The Festival showcases films for all ages in its FAMILY
section and this year’s Family Gala is ERNEST & CELESTINE, the
delightful animated story of an unlikely friendship between a bear and a
mouse from the directors of A TOWN CALLED PANIC. In addition to Opening
Night Gala FRANKENWEENIE, there are five other animated features
screening in the Festival as well as an animated shorts programme. Three
of the family features are hand-drawn films from France, and WOLF
CHILDREN is the new hotly anticipated animated title from Japanese
director Mamoru Hosoda.
SHORTS
An original and innovative line-up of short films and animation that will enthral audiences young and old make up this year’s SHORTS
programme including a dedicated section for younger audiences. Animated
shorts for children include THE SANDPIXIES: DA CAPO GEORGE, THE MISSING
MEATBALLS and I WANT TO SEE DWARFS.
Short film compilation programmes include Crime & Punishment with films featuring criminals, their actions and the consequences; Blood is Thicker Than Water with films examining interactions and relationships between friends, lovers and families and Obsessive and Compulsive with films that examine far-from-healthy obsessions.
Once again the London Calling section features a
selection of shorts from budding filmmakers from across the capital and
this year student films from some of the UK’s best film schools will be
showcased in Back to School
These short films feature a host of well known faces including:
Alison Steadman, Ralf Little, Tom Hollander, Martin Freeman, Stephen
Graham and Julia Louis-Dreyfus.
EXPERIMENTA
This year’s the Festival will present its largest ever series of artists moving image programmes, culminating in the annual EXPERIMENTA
Weekend from 19-21 October 2012. In collaboration with the ICA, the
Festival will also present several screenings of artists’ films to
coincide with the Frieze Art Fair, from 10-13 October 2012. Peter
Kubelka’s new work ANTIPHON will screen with ARNULF RAINER in an
expanded projection event – Monument Film. Both films will be physically
installed on the walls of the BFI Southbank Atrium for the duration of
the Festival. The extraordinary presentation of Monument Film in the
NFT1 cinema forms the centrepiece of an Experimenta Weekend which is
full of outstanding visions. Thom Andersen, Nathaniel Dorsky and Laida
Lertxundi return with new films, whilst Mati Diop introduces her
award-winning work in London for the first time, and Beatrice Gibson
premieres THE TIGER’S MIND.
TREASURES
Treasures brings recently restored cinematic treasures from archives around the world to the Festival.
This year’s previously announced Archive Gala is the World Premiere
of the restoration of Alfred Hitchcock’s THE MANXMAN at the Empire
Leicester Square with a live accompaniment by Stephen Horne. The Gala
marks the grand finale of the BFI’s The Genius of Hitchcock project which commenced in June 2012 and is currently screening at BFI Southbank.
Digital restoration can have spectacular results, as shown in, David
Lean’s LAWRENCE OF ARABIA, the full length director’s cut of the brand
new 4K digital restoration which will premiere at the NFT1 showcasing
BFI Southbank’s new 4K projector for the first time. The screening will
be accompanied by a presentation from Grover Crisp, who will give a talk
about the restoration work. Sir Laurence Olivier’s iconic RICHARD III
also benefits from a fully restored print which will be screened at the
Festival. Other highlights include silent movie THE SPANISH DANCER, a
lavish costume romp with a live piano accompaniment; the BFI-backed
revival of Roman Polanski’s TESS; a newly made documentary BERGMAN &
MAGNANI:THE WAR OF VOLCANOES screening alongside a restoration of
Roberto Rossellini’s VIAGGIO IN ITALIA and the latest restoration by
Martin Scorsese’s World Cinema Foundation, AFTER THE CURFEW which is a
political commentary on what happened after Indonesia was liberated from
Dutch occupation.
EVENTS And EXHIBITIONS
The EVENTS programme features the highly anticipated Screen Talks and Masterclasses.
This year’s Screen Talks in partnership with American Express,
includes celebrated author Salman Rushdie whose adaptation of his own
novel MIDNIGHT’S CHILDREN screens in Official Competition and Academy
Award-winning documentary filmmaker Alex Gibney who is at the Festival
with his new film MEA MAXIMA CULPA: SILENCE IN THE HOUSE OF GOD in
Documentary Competition.
The Masterclasses, presented in partnership with Swarovski,
feature leading music supervisor Ian Neil (SPIKE ISLAND) and production
design team David Wasco and Sandy Reynolds-Wasco who designed Martin
McDonagh’s SEVEN PSYCHOPATHS. Time Out continues to support the free
access ‘In Focus’ events, which this year sees four events with a focus
on British Cinema.
The Art of Frankenweenie Exhibition supported by American Express is
taking place at the Festival Village, Southbank Centre. In addition, the
Festival is proud to be working alongside the V&A’s major autumn
exhibition Hollywood Costume with two events celebrating the role of
costume on film and featuring the exhibition’s senior curator, the
Academy Award- nominated costume designer Deborah Nadoolman Landis.
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.
The Festival will announce its complete guest line-up in early October.
Find out more on the official LFF website
here.
