London’s annual date with the best movies from around the planet is about to begin. Reaching its 55th edition, The BFI London Film Festival takes place from October the 12th until the 27th and offers a fortnight packed with glamorous galas and a carefully selected program, whose usual sections showcase the most inventive and boundary pushing in British; French; European and World cinema, alongside a complete selection of recent documentaries; experimental works and short films, plus an impressive amount of recovered treasures from the archives.
The event kicks off with Fernando Meirelles’ vision of contemporary relationships in ‘360’ and will be closing with Terence Davies’ adaptation of the classic play by Terence Rattigan, ‘The Deep Blue Sea’, both starring Rachel Weisz, who this way can unofficially claim to be the face of the festival. Other stars featured in several of the featured films include George Clooney; Michael Fassbender; Vanessa Redgrave and the ubiquitous Jessica Chastain. Stargazers can also look forward to appearances by Seth Rogen; Felicity Jones; Anna Kendrick; Ralph Fiennes; Harry Belafonte; Evan Rachel Wood; Michael Shannon; Elizabeth Olsen; Romola Garai; Madonna; Freida Pinto; Viggo Mortensen; Harry Belafonte; Rhys Ifans and Minnie Driver, among many others.
Well regarded auteurs such as David Cronemberg; The Dardennes; Nuri Bilge Ceylan; Steve McQueen; Yorgos Lanthimos; Jonas Mekas; Nanni Moretti; Michael Winterbottom; Andrea Arnold; Lynne Ramsay; Mathieu Kasovitz; Paolo Sorrentino and Alexander Payne, putting an end to a long career hiatus, will also be at the festival introducing their recent work.
Once again, we’ll be covering the festival. Check our posts for news and the side of our home page for a ranking of our favorites as we see them. You can also get our daily updates in the blog of our friends at Blinkbox.
8 days non stop watching films… Like kid in a candystore!!!