BFI London Film Festival 2015 full programme
The BFI London Film Festival is always a highlight on our film calendar, and the full programme for this year’s even, which takes place in the capital from 7th-18th October, has just been unveiled at an announcement presentation at the Odeon Leicester Square.
We’ve just stepped away from the famous cinema and have taken with us some thoughts on what this year’s festival has in store. As well as the previously announced opening film, Suffragette and the closing gala, Steve Jobs, a whole host of other films have caught our eye. This year’s programme is actually quite exciting.
BFI London Film Festival 2015 full programme – Steve Jobs will close this year’s festival
Cate Blanchett will be presented with the BFI Fellowship this year, and her film Carol, directed by Todd Haynes, will play as this year’s American Express gala on the evening of the 14th October. Also playing is the Bryan Cranston-led Trumbo, Scott Cooper’s crime epic Black Mass, starring Johnny Depp, Nicholas Hytner’s The Lady In The Van, Ben Wheatley’s adaptation of J.G. Ballard’s High Rise, Cannes favourite The Lobster, starring Colin Farrell opposite Rachel Weisz, Lance Armstrong biopic The Program, the Russell Brand documentary Brand: A Second Coming, and Bone Tomahawk starring Kurt Russell, a film billed as a cross between The Searchers and The Hills Have Eyes.
Beasts Of No Nation // BFI London Film Festival 2015 full programme
Other films that caught our eye include Sony Pictures’ Goosebumps movie, documentary He Named Me Malala, Beasts Of No Nation from director Cary Fukanaga, 17th century horror flick The Witch, Cannes Palme d’Or winner Dheepan, My Scientology Movie, which features British journalist, broadcaster and documentary maker Louis Theroux, short film 35mm: The Quays Meet Christopher Nolan (which is directed by Nolan), Belgian comedy Brand New Testament, British comedy Burn Burn Burn, and Bao Nguyen’s documentary about the television institution, Live From New York! Sebastian Schipper’s Victoria, Norwegian effort disaster film The Wave , Star Wars themed Elstree 1976 and Michael Caine and Harvey Keitel starrer Youth, also play.
Victoria // BFI London Film Festival 2015 full programme
Our coverage of the 59th BFI London Film Festival kicks off at the beginning of October, so join us then for reviews of all of the above and more. Here’s the full press release.
[quote_box_center]London, Tuesday 1 September 2015: – The programme for the 59th BFI London Film Festival in partnership with American Express® launched today, with Festival Director Clare Stewart presenting this year’s rich and diverse selection of films and events. BFI London Film Festival is Britain’s leading film event and one of the world’s oldest film festivals. It introduces the finest new British and international films to an expanding London and UK-wide audience. The Festival provides an essential platform for films seeking global success; and promotes the careers of British and international filmmakers through its industry and awards programmes. With this year’s industry programme stronger than ever, offering international filmmakers and leaders a programme of insightful events covering every area of the film industry? LFF positions London as the world’s leading creative city.
The Festival will screen a total of 238 fiction and documentary features, including 16 World Premieres, 8 International Premieres, 40 European Premieres and 11 Archive films including 5 Restoration World Premieres.[1] There will also be screenings of 182 live action and animated shorts. A stellar line-up of directors, cast and crew are expected to take part in career interviews, ScreenTalks, Q&As and a new programme of Industry Talks: LFF Connects. The 59th BFI London Film Festival will run Wednesday 7 – Sunday 18 October 2015.
Taking place over 12 days, the Festival’s screenings are at venues across the capital, from the West End cinemas – Vue West End and the iconic Odeon Leicester Square; central London venues – BFI Southbank, BFI IMAX, Picturehouse Central, the ICA, Curzon Mayfair, Curzon Soho, Cineworld Haymarket and Ciné Lumière; and local cinemas – Ritzy Brixton, Hackney Picturehouse, Curzon Chelsea, Vue Islington and Rich Mix. Additional screenings and events will take place at Tate Modern. Audiences across the UK can enjoy the Festival via simultaneous screenings in their local cinemas.
GALAS
OPENING & CLOSING NIGHT GALAS
The Festival opens with the European Premiere of SUFFRAGETTE, starring Carey Mulligan, Helena Bonham Carter, Anne-Marie Duff, Brendan Gleeson, Ben Whishaw and Meryl Streep. Director Sarah Gavron returns to the Festival for a third time with a film that tells the story of the ordinary British women at the turn of the last century who risked everything in the fight for equality and the right to vote.
Audiences around the UK will have the chance to enjoy a live cinecast from the Opening Night red carpet via satellite to cinemas across the UK, followed by an exclusive preview screening of Suffragette. All the red carpet action will also be live-streamed on the BFI’s YouTube channel, thanks to our partners at Pathé and Google.
The European Premiere of STEVE JOBS will close the Festival, directed by Danny Boyle whose films Slumdog Millionaire (2008) and 127 Hours (2010) previously closed the Festival. Based on Walter Isaacson’s best-selling biography, the film takes us behind the scenes of the digital revolution to create a revealing portrait of the man at its epicentre. The film stars Michael Fassbender in the title role, Academy Award® winner Kate Winslet, Seth Rogen, Jeff Daniels, Michael Stuhlbarg and Katherine Waterston.
HEADLINE GALAS
Among the other highly anticipated Galas are the previously announced American Express Gala of Todd Haynes’ CAROL, a beautiful 1950s romantic drama about a young woman working as a clerk in a department store who meets and falls in love with an alluring woman trapped in a loveless convenient marriage. The film stars Academy Award® winner Cate Blanchett and Rooney Mara, who won the Best Actress Award at this year’s Cannes Film Festival for her role in the film. The Accenture Gala is the European premiere of TRUMBO, directed by Jay Roach and starring Bryan Cranston in a cracking performance as Dalton Trumbo, the Hollywood screenwriter who was blacklisted after refusing to testify before the House Committee on Un-American Activities in 1947. Diane Lane, Helen Mirren, Elle Fanning, Louis C.K. and John Goodman round out the cast. We are delighted to welcome back Official Airline Partner to this year’s Festival, Virgin Atlantic who will present Scott Cooper’s chilling crime drama BLACK MASS starring Johnny Depp, Benedict Cumberbatch and Joel Edgerton. The May Fair Hotel Gala is the European Premiere of the stirring drama BROOKLYN starring Saoirse Ronan, Domhnall Gleeson and Emory Cohen, adapted for the screen by Nick Hornby from Colm Tóibin’s best-selling novel about the exquisite pain of choosing between an Irish homeland and the new promise of America. The Centrepiece Gala supported by the Mayor of London is the European Premiere of director Nicholas Hytner’s THE LADY IN THE VAN adapted from writer Alan Bennett’s play and starring Maggie Smith, Alex Jennings, Jim Broadbent, Frances De La Tour and Roger Allam. The Festival Gala is Ben Wheatley’s HIGH-RISE starring Tom Hiddleston as Dr. Robert Laing, a man who has just taken ownership of a luxurious apartment in this brilliant satire based on JG Ballard’s classic novel. The Archive Gala is the World Premiere of the BFI National Archive restoration of SHOOTING STARS, directed by A.V. Bramble and Anthony Asquith (1928).
SPECIAL PRESENTATIONS
This year, the Festival introduces three Special Presentations, they are: the Experimenta Special Presentation, Guy Maddin and Evan Johnson’s phantasmagoric opus THE FORBIDDEN ROOM which screens at BFI IMAX; the Documentary Special Presentation, Davis Guggenheim’s HE NAMED ME MALALA an inspiring portrait of an incredibly brave and resilient young woman who carries a message of hope for women in the world; and the previously announced Fellowship Special Presentation of James Vanderbilt’s TRUTH starring Cate Blanchett in honour of the actress receiving the BFI Fellowship at this year’s LFF Awards Ceremony.
STRAND GALAS
The nine programme strands are each headlined with a gala, they are: the Love Gala, Luca Guadagnino’s A BIGGER SPLASH; the Debate Gala, Stephen Frears’ THE PROGRAM; the Dare Gala, Yorgos Lanthimos’ THE LOBSTER; the Laugh Gala, Ondi Timoner’s BRAND: A SECOND COMING (European Premiere); the Thrill Gala, Deepa Mehta’s BEEBA BOYS (International Premiere); the Cult Gala, S. Craig Zahler’s BONE TOMAHAWK (International Premiere); the Journey Gala, Hou Hsiao-Hsien’s THE ASSASSIN; the Sonic Gala, Hany Abu-Assad’s THE IDOL (European Premiere) and the Family Gala is Rob Letterman’s GOOSEBUMPS (European Premiere).
AWARDS AND COMPETITIONS
The Best Film Award will again be handed out in Official Competition; the Sutherland Award in the First Feature Competition and the Grierson Award in Documentary Competition. This year there is also the newly introduced Short Film Award, presented to one of a shortlist of 12 films selected from across the programme. Each section is open to international and British films.
OFFICIAL COMPETITION
The Official Competition line-up, recognising inspiring, inventive and distinctive filmmaking, includes the following:
- Jerzy Skolimowski, 11 MINUTES
- Cary Fukunaga, BEASTS OF NO NATION
- Apichatpong Weerasethakul, CEMETERY OF SPLENDOUR
- Athina Rachel Tsangari, CHEVALIER
- Simon Stone, THE DAUGHTER
- Jonás Cuarón, DESIERTO (European Premiere)
- Lucile Hadžihalilovi?, EVOLUTION
- Johnnie To, OFFICE (European Premiere)
- Lenny Abrahamson, ROOM
- László Nemes, SON OF SAUL
- Terence Davies, SUNSET SONG
- Sean Baker, TANGERINE
- Mir-Jean Bou Chaaya, VERY BIG SHOT (European Premiere)
FIRST FEATURE COMPETITION
Titles in consideration for the Sutherland Award in the First Feature Competition recognising an original and imaginative directorial debut are:
- Mai Masri, 3000 NIGHTS (European Premiere)
- Eva Husson, BANG GANG (A MODERN LOVE STORY)
- Magnus von Horn, THE HERE AFTER
- Trey Edward Shults, KRISHA
- Yared Zeleke, LAMB
- Esther May Campbell, LIGHT YEARS
- Ariel Kleiman, PARTISAN
- Eugenio Canevari, PAULA
- Bentley Dean, Martin Butler, TANNA
- Piero Messina, THE WAIT
- Nitzan Gilady, WEDDING DOLL (European Premiere)
- Robert Eggers, THE WITCH
DOCUMENTARY COMPETITION
The Grierson Award in the Documentary Competition category recognises cinematic documentaries with integrity, originality, and social or cultural significance. This year the Festival is screening:
- João Pedro Plácido, (BE)LONGING
- Mor Loushy, CENSORED VOICES
- David Sington, THE FEAR OF 13 (World Premiere)
- Alexandria Bombach, Mo Scarpelli, FRAME BY FRAME (European Premiere)
- Alexander Sokurov, FRANCOFONIA
- Frederick Wiseman, IN JACKSON HEIGHTS
- Walter Salles, JIA ZHANGKE, A GUY FROM FENYANG
- Tomer Heymann, MR. GAGA (International Premiere)
- Patricio Guzmán, THE PEARL BUTTON
- Sarah Turner, PUBLIC HOUSE (World Premiere)
- Jennifer Peedom, SHERPA (European Premiere)
- Hanna Polak, SOMETHING BETTER TO COME
SHORT FILM AWARD
In its inaugural year, the Short Film Award recognises short form works with a unique cinematic voice and a confident handling of chosen theme and content. This year the Festival is screening:
- João Paulo Miranda Maria, COMMAND ACTION
- Till Nowak, DISSONANCE
- Nina Gantz, EDMOND
- Peter Tscherkassky, THE EXQUISITE CORPUS
- Mees Peijnenburg, A HOLE IN MY HEART
- An van Dienderen, LILI (International Premiere)
- Maïmouna Doucouré, MOTHER(S)
- Shai Heredia, Shumona Goel, AN OLD DOG’S DIARY (European Premiere)
- Caroline Bartleet, OPERATOR (World Premiere)
- Jörn Threlfall, OVER
- Vivienne Dick, RED MOON RISING (World Premiere)
- Ziya Demirel, TUESDAY
FILM GUESTS
Key filmmaking talent due to attend the Festival’s gala and special presentation screenings include: Carey Mulligan, Helena Bonham-Carter, Meryl Streep, Sarah Gavron, Michael Fassbender, Kate Winslet, Danny Boyle, Cate Blanchett, Rooney Mara, Todd Haynes, Bryan Cranston, Helen Mirren, Jay Roach, Benedict Cumberbatch, Scott Cooper, Saoirse Ronan, John Crowley, Nick Hornby, Colm Toíbín, Maggie Smith, Alex Jennings, Nicholas Hytner, Alan Bennett, Tom Hiddleston, Ben Wheatley, Luca Guadagnino, Colin Farrell, Rachel Weisz, Yorgos Lanthimos, Ben Foster, Stephen Frears, Ondi Timoner, Randeep Hooda, Deepa Mehta, S. Craig Zahler, Hany Abu-Assad, Guy Maddin and Davis Guggenheim.
Additional filmmaking talent attending for films in competition include: for Official Competition: Jerzy Skolimowski, Cary Fukunaga, Apichatpong Weerasethakul, Athina Rachel Tsangari, Jonás Cuarón, Lucile Hadžihalilovi?, Lenny Abrahamson, Brie Larson, Terence Davies, László Nemes, Sean Baker; First Feature Competition: Mai Masri, Eva Husson, Magnus von Horn, Trey Edward Shults, Yared Zaleke, Esther May Campbell, Nitzan Gilady, Ariel Kleiman, Eugenio Canevari, Robert Eggers, Piero Messina; Documentary Competition: João Pedro Plácido, Mor Loushy, David Sington, Walter Salles , Tomer Haymenn, Patricio Guzmán, Sarah Turner and Hanna Polak.
The Festival will announce its complete guest line-up for all sections in early October.[/quote_box_center]
