The 60th BFI London Film Festival begins on 5th October and the movie schedule looks exciting indeed. Two weeks' worth of films runs to an impressive 13 page timetable.
The Festival will screen a total of 193 fiction and 52 documentary features, including 18 World Premieres, 8 International Premieres, 39 European Premieres. There will also be screenings of 144 short films, including documentary, live action and animated works.
Phew!
I took a look at the programme and singled out the 18 films that I would love to see. And, of course, I wanted to share these movies with you. After all, even if you are not planning on attending the festival, it's good to make a note of the films that have been selected.
So let's make a start...
Films To Catch At The BFI London Film Festival...
A United Kingdom
Festival Opening Film!
Director: Amma Asante
Starring: Rosamund Pike, David Oyelowo, Tom Felton and Laura Carmichael
Synopsis: The true story of Seretse Khama, the King of Bechuanaland (modern Botswana) and Ruth Williams, the London office worker that he married in 1948 in the face of fierce opposition from both their families and the British and South African governments.
Screenings
Wednesday 5 October
7pm at Odeon Leicester Square
7.45pm at Vue West End
Thursday 6 October
11.30am at Odeon Leicester Square
Tuesday 11 October
9pm at Curzon Mayfair
The 13th
Director: Ava DuVernay
Synopsis: A documentary investigating the high rate of incarceration in the US - particularly among African Americans.
Screenings:
Thursday 6 October
6pm at BFI Southbank
8.45pm at BFI Southbank
Christine
Director: Antonio Campos
Cast: Rebecca Hall, Michael C. Hall, Tracy Letts
Synopsis: The trouble life of 1970s TV reporter, Christine Chubbuck, who committed suicide live on air.
Screenings:
Thursday 6 October
6.15pm at Hackney Picturehouse
Friday 7 October
6pm at Vue West End
Monday 10 October
2.45pm at Vue7
La La Land
Director: Damien Chazelle
Cast: Emma Stone, Ryan Gosling and Finn Wittrock
Synopsis: A jazz pianist falls for an aspiring actress in Los Angeles.
Screenings:
Friday 7 October
6pm at Odeon Leicester Square
Saturday 8 October
10.30am at Odeon Leicester Square
Sunday 16 October
8.30pm at Curzon Mayfair
American Honey
Director: Andrea Arnold
Cast: Sasha Lane, Shai La Beouf, McCaul Lombardi, Arielle Holmes, Crystal B. Ice and Verronikah Ezell
Synopsis: A teenage girl who, after joining a traveling magazine sales crew, finds herself caught up in a whirlwind of hard partying, law bending and young love.
Screenings:
Friday 7 October
9.15pm at Odeon Leicester Square
Saturday 8 October
8pm at Hackney Picturehouse
Tuesday 11 October
2pm at Odeon Leicester Square
Manchester By Sea
Director: Kenneth Lonergan
Cast: Casey Affleck, Michelle Williams and Kyle Chandler
Synopsis: An uncle is forced to return to his hometown to take care of his teenage nephew after the boy's father dies.
Screenings:
Saturday 8 October
6pm at Odeon Leicester Square
Sunday 9 October
11am at Odeon Leicester Square
Tuesday 11 October
8.45pm at Cine Lumiere
Toni Erdmann
Director: Maren Ade
Cast: Peter Simonischek, Sandra Hüller and Michael Wittenborn
Synopsis: A lonely, prankster dad tries to cheer up his serious daughter.
Screenings:
Saturday 8 October
5pm at Embankment Garden Cinema
Sunday 9 October
11am at Embankment Garden Cinema
My Life As A Courgette
Director: Claude Barras
Cast: (the voices of) Gaspard Schlatter, Sixtine Murat and Paulin Jaccoud
Synopsis: After his mother's sudden death, Courgette is befriended by a police officer Raymond, who accompanies him to his new foster home filled with other orphans his age. At first he struggles to find his place in this strange, at times, hostile environment. Yet with Raymond's help and his new-found friends, Courgette eventually learns to trust, finds true love and at last a new family of his own.
Screenings:
Saturday/Sunday 9/10 October (tbc)
6pm at Cine Lumiere
3.30pm at Vue5
Queen Of Katwe
Director: Mira Nair
Cast: Lupita Nyong’o and David Oyelowo
Synopsis: The true story of a young girl selling corn on the streets of rural Uganda whose world changes when she is introduced to the game of chess.
Screenings:
Sunday 9 October
6.30pm at Odeon Leicester Square
Monday 10 October
11.30am at Odeon Leicester Square
Wednesday 12 October
6.15pm at Ritzy
Bleed For This
Director: Ben Younger
Cast: Miles Teller and Aaron Eckhart
Synopsis: Vinny “The Pazmanian Devil” Pazienza is a local Providence boxer who shot to stardom after winning two world title fights. After a near-fatal car accident leaves Vinny with a severed spine, he is told he may never walk again.
Against all odds and doctor’s orders, renowned trainer Kevin Rooney agrees to help Vinny return to the ring just a year after the accident for what could be the last fight of his life.
Screenings:
Sunday 9 October
5.30pm at Embankment Garden Cinema
Monday 10 October
11.30am at Embankment Garden Cinema
Wednesday 12 October
8.30pm at Hackney Picturehouse
Arrival
Director: Denis Villeneuve
Cast: Amy Adams, Jeremy Renner and Michael Stuhlbarg
Synopsis: A linguist is recruited by the military to assist in translating alien communications.
Screenings:
Monday 10 October
7.15pm at Odeon Leicester Square
Tuesday 11 October
11am at Odeon Leicester Square
Thursday 13 October
8.45pm at Hackney Picturehouse
Paterson
Director: Jim Jarmusch
Cast: Adam Driver, Golshifteh Farahani and Helen-Jean Arthur
Synopsis: Paterson is a bus driver in the city of Paterson, New Jersey. Every day, Paterson adheres to a simple routine: he drives his daily route, he writes poetry into a notebook; he stops in a bar and drinks exactly one beer; he goes home to his wife, Laura. By contrast, Laura´s world is ever changing. New dreams come to her almost daily.
Screenings:
Monday 10 October
8.50pm at Embankment Garden Cinema
Tuesday 11 October
2.15pm at Embankment Garden Cinema
Personal Shopper
Director: Olivier Assayas
Cast: Kristen Stewart, Lars Eidinger and Sigrid Bouaziz
Synopsis: A French psychological thriller about a personal shopper and a ghostly encounter.
Screenings:
Monday 10 October
6pm at Vue7
Tuesday 11 October
9pm at Picturehouse Central
Thursday 13 October
12.15pm at BFI Southbank
The Birth Of A Nation
Director: Nate Parker
Cast: Nate Parker, Armie Hammer and Mark Boone Junior
Synopsis: Nat Turner, a literate slave and preacher in the antebellum South, orchestrates an uprising against slavery.
Screenings:
Tuesday 11 October
7.15pm at Odeon Leicester Square
Wednesday 12 October
11.30am at Odeon Leicester Square
Thursday 13 October
6.15pm at Ritzy
Nocturnal Animals
Director: Tom Ford
Cast: Amy Adams, Isla Fisher and Jake Gyllenhaal
Synopsis: An art gallery owner is haunted by her ex-husband's novel, a violent thriller she interprets as a veiled threat and a symbolic revenge tale.
Screenings:
Friday 14 October
6pm at Odeon Leicester Square
Saturday 15 October
11.30am at Odeon Leicester Square
Sunday 16 October
3.30pm at Cine Lumiere
Snowden
Director: Oliver Stone
Cast: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Scott Eastwood, Shailene Woodley, Nicolas Cage and Zachary Quinto
Synopsis: Why NSA employee Edward Snowden leaked thousands of classified documents to the press.
Screenings:
Saturday 15 October
6pm at Odeon Leicester Square
Sunday 16 October
11.30am at Odeon Leicester Square
Richard Linklater - Dream Is Destiny
Director: Louis Black, Karen Bernstein
Synopsis: A documentary looking at the life of director, Richard Linklater.
Screenings:
Saturday 15 October
6.30pm at BFI Southbank
Sunday 16 October
6.30pm at Vue5
Free Fire
Festival Closing Film!
Director: Ben Wheatley
Cast: Brie Larson, Enzo Cilenti, Sam Riley and Michael Smiley
Synopsis: Set in Boston in 1978, a meeting in a deserted warehouse between two gangs turns into a shootout and a game of survival.
Screenings:
Sunday 16 October
7pm at Odeon Leicester Square
8pm at Embankment Garden Cinema
Film Festivals... Your Thoughts?
Do you plan to catch any of these films at the London Film Festival (LFF)? Or is there another movie that you are planning to watch? Do let me know!
If you are a BFI member, you can book your tickets now. Alternatively, you can secure your seats from 15th September.
If you are not planning to go to LFF, have you been to a film festival or are you planning to attend one soon? I would love to know your thoughts (and tips!) on film festivals!
Just leave me a comment in the box below :)