This morning in the Odeon Leicester Square Amanda Nevill and Clare Stewart announced the lineup for the 57th London Film Festival. It was Stewart’s second launch event and the good work in embedding the new face of the Festival has paid off as this year not only features the strongest lineup in years but also solidifies the direction the BFI are taking in pitching the festival firmly in favour of the public.
In the chronological shadow of both Venice and Toronto the London Film Fesitval has rarely been able to command the industry pull nor the all important world premieres to garner attention and in previous years the lack of focus has left Londoners with a good festival but not a great one. What Stewart and her team have done this year is pick the best of the festivals and brought them to London for eleven impossibly attractive days. The film strands are back with perhaps a tighter and more obvious remit, and the film awards return, and with them we’ll see the focus falling on new filmmakers as well as British film.
Speaking at the launch Director Paul Greengrass, whose Captain Phillips opens the festival on the 9th of October, expanded on his speech at the festival’s launch to talk about the state of the film industry in the UK today,
We’re on an exciting journey in British film at the moment, and I think we have been for a good many years. It’s a journey that is about bringing together all the elements of a vibrant filmmaking culture. If you look at the big big movies, the biggest movies in the world – take Star Wars – it’s being made here. Look at a film like Gravity, Alfonso Cuaron’s movie, it was made here. It’s a hugely cutting edge movie, and he – like me and many directors around the world – know that British technicians are world class. That side of things, we’ve got big movies coming to Pinewood and Shepperton, they are packed out with films queueing to come in.
Then you look at distinctive British voices, distinctive British filmmakers – both established voices like Stephen Frears, who has done Philomena that is currently wowing at Venice, and you think about the emerging voices that are coming through, some of which we saw in there [at the LFF launch], you have to bring all of that together. You also have to bring together the overall macro-conditions, which involves government support, and we’ve had that from various governments of various persuasions. You’ve got leadership from the BFI, so you’ve got a body talking for film at a strategic level.
The full list of films can be found here, and booking opens shortly on the BFI LFF site, As stated it is among the strongest lineup in years with Steve McQueen’s 12 Years a Slave, Terry Gilliam’s The Zero Theorem, Richard Ayoade’s The Double Alfonso Cuaron’s Gravity four among the many exciting films playing this year.
As always the launch of the London Film Festival is an inspiring occasion and a timely reminder that there is thrilling, vibrant life outside the narrow window of a multiplex screen. Immerse yourself.
Big thanks to Cassam Looch for his sterling interviewing work. Find him here @cassamlooch
