As this years BFI London Film Festival fast approaches, the official competition selection has been announced. Alongside the announcement it has also been revealed that The Little Stranger filmmaker Lenny Abrahamson has been named as Jury President.
Starting off with the competition selection, The Best Film Award recognises inspiring, inventive and distinctive filmmaking and this year’s line-up showcases the enormous depth and diversity of talent working in the global film industry today, with 50% of the films from a female director or co-director.
The 10 films in Official Competition are:
- BIRDS OF PASSAGE (PÁJAROS DE VERANO) dirs. Cristina Gallego, Ciro Guerra
- DESTROYER dir. Karyn Kusama
- HAPPY AS LAZZARO (LAZZARO FELICE) dir. Alice Rohrwacher
- HAPPY NEW YEAR, COLIN BURSTEAD. dir. Ben Wheatley
- IN FABRIC dir. Peter Strickland
- JOY dir. Sudabeh Mortezai
- THE OLD MAN & THE GUN dir. David Lowery
- SHADOW (YING) dir. Zhang Yimou
- SUNSET (NAPSZÁLLTA ) dir. László Nemes
- TOO LATE TO DIE YOUNG (TARDE PARA MORIR JOVEN) dir. Dominga Sotomayor
Also, for a first in the history of LFF, audiences and film fans will be invited to the award presentation at a special screening of the winning film. The Festival also invites audiences to share responses to films seen in Competition throughout the Festival at #MyLFFAward.
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Following on from the announcement of Jury President, Abrahamson said
“I am delighted to continue my relationship with the BFI London Film Festival. It’s an honour to be this year’s Jury Chair and I very much look forward to deliberating with my fellow jurors on what is sure to be some of the most exciting, thought-provoking and original work in this year’s selection of films.”
Official Competition titles will screen nightly across the Festival in the two premier screens of the Vue Leicester Square, the LFF’s new home in 2018 for the Official Competition section, with a red carpet-style reception for the attending filmmakers each evening.
