The programme for the 56th BFI London Film Festival in partnership with American Express launched on Wednesday 5 September under the new creative leadership of BFI’s Head of Exhibition and Festival Director, Clare Stewart, bringing a rich and diverse programme of international films and events from both established and upcoming talent over a 12 day celebration of cinema. The Festival will screen a total of 225 fiction and documentary features, including 12 World Premieres, 12 International Premieres and 35 European Premieres*. There will also be screenings of 111 live action and animated shorts. A stellar line-up of directors, cast and crew are expected to take part in career interviews, master classes, and other special events. The 56th BFI London Film Festival will run from 10-21 October 2012.
This year sees the introduction of several changes to the Festival’s format. Now taking place over 12 days, the Festival expands further from its traditional Leicester Square cinemas – Odeon West End, Vue West End, Odeon Leicester Square and Empire – and the BFI Southbank to include four additional new venues – Hackney Picturehouse, Renoir, Everyman Screen on the Green and Rich Mix, which join existing London venues the ICA, Curzon Mayfair, Ritzy Brixton and Ciné Lumière.
GALAS
The Festival opens with the European Premiere of Tim Burton’s 3D animation 'Frankenweenie', whilst Mike Newell’s visually stunning adaptation of 'Great Expectations', starring Helena Bonham Carter and Ralph Fiennes will close the Festival, with key talent from both films expected to attend. Among the highly anticipated Galas is the American Express Gala World Premiere of 'Crossfie Hurricane', a documentary celebrating 50 years of rock legendsThe Rolling Stones who are also expected to attend the Festival. For the first time this year both the Opening Night Gala and the American Express Gala red carpet events and screenings will be screened simultaneously to cinemas across the UK. Other Galas include the American Airlines Gala of Dustin Hoffman’s directorial debut, 'Quartet', featuring an outstanding British cast including Dame Maggie Smith, Billy Connolly and Michael Gambon; and Ben Affleck directs and stars in the Accenture Gala presentation of political thriller 'Argo' which he also produced with George Clooney. British film directors making their mark this year include Paul Andrew Williams with London-based comedy drama, 'Song For Marion', which screens as The May Fair Hotel Gala and features a sterling cast headed by Vanessa Redgrave, Terence Stamp, Gemma Arterton and Christopher Eccleston; and Roger Michell, whose 'Hyde Park On Hudson' is the
Centrepiece Gala supported by the Mayor of London, stars Bill Murray, Laura Linney, Olivia Colman and Olivia Williams and is set on the eve of WWII when the King and Queen of England make a visit to see Franklin D Roosevelt in upstate New York. Nintendo Gala 'The Sapphires', is an inspirational Australian musical comedy set in the 60s starring comic man of the moment Chris O’Dowd, who appears alongside Australian Idol star Jessica Mauboy; and 'The Sessions', is a moving drama, based on a true story with superb performances from John Hawkes, Helen Hunt and William H. Macy.
AWARDS AND COMPETITIONS
The BFI London Film Festival Awards have undergone a significant change this year by introducing competitive sections that are given much more prominence in the Festival campaign and programme. The Best Film Award in partnership with American Express; the Sutherland Award for Best First Feature and the Grierson Award for Best Documentary will now be presented to the winning films from three programme sections: Official Competition, First Feature Competition and Documentary Competition. Each section is open to international and British films and 12 films have been shortlisted for each Competition.
Official Competition
The inaugural Official Competition line-up, recognising inspiring, inventive and distinctive
filmmaking, includes four European premieres:
3 European premieres
4 World Premieres
This year’s nominees are:
1. Rowan Athale – director/screenwriter 'Wasteland'
2. Sally El Hosaini – director/screenwriter 'My Brother the Devil'
3. Fady Elsayed – actor 'My Brother the Devil'
4. Scott Graham – director/screenwriter 'Shell'
5. Eloise Laurence – actor 'Broken'
6. Rufus Norris – director 'Broken'
7. Chloe Pirrie actor 'Shell'
8. Tom Shkolnik – director/screenwriter 'The Comedian'
STRANDS / PATHWAYS
This year significant changes have been made to the structure of the Festival programme with new focused categories that are clustered around the themes of Love, Debate, Dare, Laugh, Thrill, Cult, Journey, Sonic and Family. With over 200 features screened during the Festival this new approach is designed to help Festival goers find the films that mean the most to them and to open up entry points for new audiences.
LOVE
Sweet, passionate, tough – LOVE is a complex and many splendoured thing.
The Love Gala is Michael Haneke’s Cannes Palme d’Or winner 'Amour', with Haneke making a welcome return to the Festival this year.
Other titles in this section include: 'Broken' starring Tim Roth and Cillian Murphy; Ira Sachs’ 'Keep The Lights on'; Xavier Dolan’s 'Laurence Anyways'; Liz Garbus’ documentary tribute to Marilyn Monroe 'Love, Marilyn'; 'Robot and Frank' starring Frank Langella and Susan Sarandon, and Ursula Meier’s 'Sister' with Léa Seydoux and Gillian Anderson.
DEBATE
Riveting films that amplify, scrutinise, argue and surprise screen in the DEBATE section and this year’s Gala is the European Premiere of 'The Pervert's Guide to Ideology' an absorbing documentary sequel to 'The Pervert's Guide to Cinema' from Sophie Fiennes featuring renegade philosopher and bionic cineaste Slavojiek who also takes part in an ‘In Conversation’ event during the Festival.
Other highlights in this section include Marco Bellocchio’s 'Dormant Beauty' featuring Toni Servillo and Isabelle Huppert, Thomas Vinterberg’s 'The Hunt' featuring Mads Mikkelsen’s Cannes award-winning performance, and the European Premiere of 'Zaytoun'.
DARE
In-your-face, up-front and arresting, the films in DARE will take audiences out of their comfort zone. The Dare Gala is Mira Nair’s Venice-opener 'The Reluctant Fundamentalist', starring Kate Hudson, Kiefer Sutherland, Riz Ahmed and Liev Schreiber.
Other highlights in this strand include: the European Premiere of 'Helter Skelter' featuring Japanese supermodel Erika Sawajiri, the World Premiere of 'Kelly + Victor' Kieran Evans’ adaptation of the acclaimed novel by Niall Griffiths, and the International Premiere of Antonio Campos’ 'Simon Killer', Carlos Reygadas’ Cannes-winner 'Post Tenebras Lux', Pablo Trapero’s gripping and intelligent drama, 'White Elephant', and Sergei Loznitsa’s critically celebrated 'In The Fog'.
LAUGH
From laugh out loud through romantic comedy to dry and understated – humour in all its forms can be seen in the LAUGH section. A romantic caravan trip quickly descends into chaos when a young couple’s dream holiday takes a wrong turn in acclaimed British director Ben Wheatley’s dark comedy 'Sightseers' which has its UK premiere as the Laugh Gala.
Other titles in this strand include the International Premiere of Bollywood-meets-Tollywood Amelie style 'Aiyaa', the UK Premiere of romantic comedy 'Celeste and Jesse Forever' starring Rashida Jones and Andy Samberg and the European Premiere of Stephen Gyllenhaal’s 'Grassroots', and the international Premiere of Australian cricketing ‘bro’mantic comedy 'Save Your Legs!'.
THRILL
The films in THRILL are nerve shredders that will get the adrenalin pumping and keep audiences on the edge of their seat; The Gala presentation for this section is the World Premiere of Bollywood action epic 'Chakravyuh', directed by Prakash Jha who will be attending the Festival.
Other highlights in this section include: controversial Sundance hit 'Compliance', Nordic Noir double bill of 'Easy Money' and its sequel; the Berlin Golden Bear winner 'Caesar Must Die' and Korean box office smash 'Nameless Gangster: Rules Of The Time'.
CULT
The CULT section features films from the mind-altering and unclassifiable, to fantasy, sci-fi and horror. The Cult Gala is the European Premiere of 'A Liar's Autobiography' chronicling the life of Monty Python’s Graham Chapman through multiple animation styles and featuring Chapman’s fellow Pythons in the voice cast.
Other highlights in this section include: 'Antiviral', the feature film debut of Brandon Cronenberg; the International Premiere of Actress Katie Aselton’s directorial outing, the survival horror 'Black Rock'; Japanese maestro Takashi Miike’s 'For Love’s Sake' and Juan Carlos Medina’s fantasy horror 'PAINLESS', along with documentaries 'My Amitville Horror', 'The Jeffrey Dahmer Files', and 'Room 237'.
JOURNEY
Whether it’s the journey or the destination, the films in JOURNEY will transport and shift perspectives.
Celebrated Romanian director Cristian Mungiu returns to the Festival with 'Beyond The Hills' screening as the Journey Gala . The film won Best Screenplay at the 2012 Cannes Film Festival, where actresses Cristina Flutur and Cosmina Stratan also shared best actress award.
Other titles in this strand include: riveting Moroccan drama 'Horses Of God', Raymond Depardon and Claudine Nougaret’s documentary 'Journal De France', Jem Cohen’s 'Museum Hours', Michel Gondry’s 'The We And The I' and the World Premiere of Marc Isaac’s new documentary about the 'A5 –The Road: A Story Of Life And Death'.
SONIC
Music inspired films and events that will have audiences dancing in the aisles can be discovered in SONIC.
Highlights in the Sonic screening programme include Mat Whitecross’ coming-of-age story 'Spike Island' about an Indie band of 1990 vintage, who are determined to see their heroes The Stone Roses; 'Good Vibrations', the biopic of Terri Hooley, 'Belfast’s Godfather of Punk', which was declared the best Irish film at Galway Film Fleadh earlier this year; and world music is represented with films from Africa and Chile, 'Kinshasa Kids' and 'Violeta Went To Heaven'.
The Festival is delighted to include two popular events from the year-round programme at BFI Southbank for the first time – BUG and Sonic Cinema, both celebrating the links between music and film. Sonic Cinema presentations include a focus on the Sigur Ros Valtari Mystery Film Experiment featuring premieres of new clips and, in celebration of Warp Films’ 10th Birthday, a special presentation of Shane Meadow’s 'This Is England' screening with a live score from composer Ludovico Einaudiand and musician Gavin Clark.
Regular BUG host Adam Buxton will present a special artist focus with talent to be announced.
FAMILY
The Festival showcases films for all ages in its FAMILY section and this year’s Family Gala is 'Ernest & Celestine, the delightful animated story of an unlikely friendship between a bear and a mouse from the directors of 'A Town Called Panic'. In addition to Opening Night Gala 'Frankenweeinie', there are five other animated features screening in the Festival as well as an animated shorts programme. Three of the family features are handdrawn films from France, and 'Wolf Children' is the new hotly anticipated animated title from Japanese director Mamoru Hosoda.
SHORTS
An original and innovative line-up of short films and animation that will enthral audiences young and old make up this year’s SHORTS programme including a dedicated section for younger audiences. Animated shorts for children include 'The Sandpixies: Da Capo George', 'The Missing Meatballs' and 'I Want To See Dwarfs'.
Short film compilation programmes include Crime & Punishment with films featuring criminals, their actions and the consequences; Blood is Thicker Than Water with films examining interactions and relationships between friends, lovers and families and Obsessive and Compulsive with films that examine far-from-healthy obsessions.
Once again the London Calling section features a selection of shorts from budding filmmakers from across the capital and this year student films from some of the UK’s best film schools will be showcased in Back to School.
These short films feature a host of well known faces including: Alison Steadman, Ralf Little, Tom Hollander, Martin Freeman, Stephen Graham and Julia Louis-Dreyfus.
EXPERIMENTA
This year’s the Festival will present its largest ever series of artists moving image programmes, culminating in the annual EXPERIMENTA Weekend from 19-21 October 2012.
In collaboration with the ICA, the Festival will also present several screenings of artists’ films to coincide with the Frieze Art Fair, from 10-13 October 2012. Peter Kubelka’s new work 'Antiphon' will screen with 'Arnulf Rainer' in an expanded projection event – Monument Film. Both films will be physically installed on the walls of the BFI Southbank Atrium for the duration of the Festival. The extraordinary presentation of Monument Film in the NFT1 cinema forms the centrepiece of an Experimenta Weekend which is full of outstanding visions. Thom Andersen, Nathaniel Dorsky and Laida Lertxundi return with new films, whilst Mati Diop introduces her award-winning work in London for the first time, and Beatrice Gibson premieres 'The Tiger’s Mind'.
TREASURES
Treasures brings recently restored cinematic treasures from archives around the world to the Festival.
This year’s previously announced Archive Gala is the World Premiere of the restoration of Alfred Hitchcock’s 'The Manxman' at the Empire Leicester Square with a live accompaniment by Stephen Horne. The Gala marks the grand finale of the BFI’s The Genius of Hitchcock project which commenced in June 2012 and is currently screening at BFI Southbank.
Digital restoration can have spectacular results, as shown in, David Lean’s 'Lawrence Of Arabia', the full length director’s cut of the brand new 4K digital restoration which will premiere at the NFT1 showcasing BFI Southbank’s new 4K projector for the first time. The screening will be accompanied by a presentation from Grover Crisp, who will give a talk about the restoration work. Sir Laurence Olivier’s iconic 'Richard III' also benefits from a fully restored print which will be screened at the Festival. Other highlights include silent movie 'The Spanish Dancer', a lavish costume romp with a live piano accompaniment; the BFI-backed revival of Roman Polanski’s 'Tess; a newly made documentary 'Bergman & Magnani: The War Of Volcanoes' screening alongside a restoration of Roberto Rossellini’s 'Viaggio In Italia' and the latest restoration by Martin Scorsese’s World Cinema Foundation, 'After The Curfew' which is a political commentary on what happened after Indonesia was liberated from Dutch occupation.
EVENTS & EXHIBITIONS
The EVENTS programme features the highly anticipated Screen Talks and Masterclasses.
This year’s Screen Talks in partnership with American Express, includes celebrated author Salman Rushdie whose adaptation of his own novel 'Midnight’s Children' screens in Official Competition and Academy Award-winning documentary filmmaker Alex Gibney who is at the Festival with his new film 'Mea Maxima Culpa: Silence In The House Of God' in Documentary Competition.
The Masterclasses, presented in partnership with Swarovski, feature leading music supervisor Ian Neil (SPIKE ISLAND) and production design team David Wasco and Sandy Reynolds-Wasco who designed Martin McDonagh’s 'Seven Psycopaths'. Time Out continues to support the free access ‘In Focus’ events, which this year sees four events with a focus on British Cinema.
The Art of Frankenweenie Exhibition supported by American Express is taking place at the Festival Village, Southbank Centre. In addition, the Festival is proud to be working alongside the V&A’s major autumn exhibition Hollywood Costume with two events celebrating the role of costume on film and featuring the exhibition’s senior curator, the Academy Award nominated costume designer Deborah Nadoolman Landis.
FILM GUESTS
Guests expected to attend include: Alex Gibney, Alice Englert, Alice Lowe, Allison Abbate, Barnaby Southcombe, Ben Affleck, Ben Wheatley, Benh Zeitlin, Benjamin Renner, Billy Connolly, Brandon Cronenberg, Cate Shortland, Catherine O’Hara, Charlie Paul, Charlie Watts, Charlotte Rampling, Chris O’Dowd, Cristian Mungiu, David Walliams, David Nicholls, David Wasco, Deepa Mehta, Dustin Hoffman, Eddie Marsan, Elle Fanning, François Ozon, Gabriel Byrne, Hayley Atwell, Helena Bonham Carter, Ian Neil, Jacques Audiard, Jake Schreier, Jeremy Irvine, Julian Roman Pölsler, Keith Richards, Liz Garbus, Marion Cotillard, Martin McDonagh, Martina Gedeck, Martin Landau, Martin Short, Matthias Schoenaerts, Melvil Poupaud, Michael Haneke, Michael Palin, Mick Jagger, Mike Newell, Nick Murphy,
Paolo Taviani, Pablo Larraín, Paul Andrew Williams, Pauline Collins, Quvenzhanée Wallis, Ronnie Wood, Rufus Norris, Sally EI Hosaini, Sally Potter, Salman Rushdie, Rodney Ascher, Sandy Reynolds Wasco, Saskia Rosendahl, Slavoj ?i?ek, Sophie Fiennes, Steve Oram, Suzanne Cléement,Tamzin Outhwaite,Terry Jones, Thomas Bidegain, Tim Burton, Tom Courtenay, Winona Ryder.
The Festival will announce its complete guest line-up in early October.
FOR FURTHER PRESS INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT:
56th BFI London Film Festival Press Office: +44 (0)20 7292 8330
Christelle Randall [email protected] Account Director
Linda Russel [email protected] Head of Print Press
Farah Yaqub [email protected] Head of Broadcast
Sanam Jehanfard [email protected] Head of Online
Annabel Hutton [email protected] International Press
Simone Devlin [email protected] Press Accreditation
Tom Westgate [email protected] Screenings Manager
Website: www.premiercomms.com
Opening and Closing Night Enquiries
Freud Communications: +44 (0)20 3003 6300
Bianca Boey [email protected] Ticket Requests
Aimee Hall [email protected]
For Opening Night media enquiries: [email protected]
Website: www.freud.com
BFI Press Enquiries +44 (0)20 7957 4833
Press Office [email protected]
FESTIVAL INFORMATION AND TICKET BOOKING
Tickets go on sale to the public on 24 September
Telephone Bookings: 0207 928 3232 between 09.30 – 20.30
Online: www.bfi.org.uk/lff (no booking or postal fee)
In person: BFI Southbank Office: 11.30 – 20.30
BFI Members receive priority booking : join at www.bfi.org.uk/join
nb. Tickets are available to be purchased on the day about 30 minutes prior to the screening at Festival venues
THE 56th BFI LONDON FILM FESTIVAL SPONSORS AND FUNDERS
The BFI welcomes back American Express for the third year as Principal Sponsor.
The BFI thanks DCMS and acknowledges and is very grateful for the support the Festival receives from the National Lottery.
We are proud to continue to work with American Airlines, the Festival’s long-standing official airline and are delighted to announce that Accenture is joining us this year as a Main Sponsor. New supporter Nintendo is welcomed as Gala Sponsor and Ciroc Ultra Premium Vodka is the Official Spirit sponsor of the Festival. Once again, the Festival will be supported by the Mayor of London through Film London, and also by Creative Skillset through Atlantic Film Group. TV5Monde return for their 8th year, this time as sponsor of the new Love strand/pathway and Swarovski return as sponsors of the Masterclasses for the second consecutive year and Best British Newcomer Award for the third consecutive year.
For the first time the Archive Gala will be presented in association with The Krasner Fund for the BFI: supporting film treasures in the BFI collections. The BFI also acknowledges its generous funders of the restoration of The Manxman, Daniel and Joanna Friel, Ronald T Shedlo and an anonymous donor. Additional in-kind support has been kindly provided by Deluxe 142.
Returning in-kind Sponsors include: Official Hotel The May Fair; Official Festival Car Supplier Renault photography partner Getty Images; cinema advertising partner Digital Cinema Media; and official make up brand MAC Cosmetics. Additionally, to the Festivalwelcomes Prime Focus for their first year and thanks Soho House, Midnite Express, Official water sponsor Icelandic Glacial, Green & Black’s Organic chocolate, CBS Outdoor, The Hospital Club, and Impact Distribution for their continued support.
Evening Standard is welcomed back as Media Partner, as well as valued Broadcast Partner BBC London. Thanks also go to returning Media Partners Empire, Time Out, Sight & Sound, Variety, Screen International, The Hollywood Reporter and LOVEFiLM for continuing to provide invaluable media support. The Festival also welcomes new media partner, Little White Lies.
Returning cinema partners this year are Odeon, Vue, Empire, Curzon, Picturehouses, Ciné Lumière and ICA, and new partners Rich Mix and Everyman Screen on the Green are welcomed this year.
The Festival would also like to give thanks to Christie digital projectors, DVS, root6, Newman Displays and Awards post production partner Molinare.
Finally, the Festival would like to thank Adobe, and the many embassies and cultural institutes who support it by helping to bring in filmmakers to present their work.
Notes to Editors
About the BFI
The BFI is the lead body for film in the UK with the ambition to create a flourishing film environment in which innovation, opportunity and creativity can thrive by:
BFI London Film Festival is an iconic international film festival that supports London’s position as the world’s leading creative city. It presents the best new British and international films to an expanding London and UK-wide audience. It provides career-enabling opportunities for British and international filmmakers through its industry and awards programmes.
facebook.com/lff
Twitter @bfi #lff
Clare Stewart biography
Clare Stewart’s sixteen year programming career has encompassed leadership roles as Festival Director, Sydney Film Festival (2006-2011) and the inaugural Head of Film Programs at the Australian Centre for the Moving Image in Melbourne (2002-2006) as well as various roles at the Australian Film Institute (1996-2001), including Exhibition Manager, and programmer and Committee Member of the Melbourne Cinémathèque (1995-2002)
By elmaestroole
This year sees the introduction of several changes to the Festival’s format. Now taking place over 12 days, the Festival expands further from its traditional Leicester Square cinemas – Odeon West End, Vue West End, Odeon Leicester Square and Empire – and the BFI Southbank to include four additional new venues – Hackney Picturehouse, Renoir, Everyman Screen on the Green and Rich Mix, which join existing London venues the ICA, Curzon Mayfair, Ritzy Brixton and Ciné Lumière.
GALAS
The Festival opens with the European Premiere of Tim Burton’s 3D animation 'Frankenweenie', whilst Mike Newell’s visually stunning adaptation of 'Great Expectations', starring Helena Bonham Carter and Ralph Fiennes will close the Festival, with key talent from both films expected to attend. Among the highly anticipated Galas is the American Express Gala World Premiere of 'Crossfie Hurricane', a documentary celebrating 50 years of rock legendsThe Rolling Stones who are also expected to attend the Festival. For the first time this year both the Opening Night Gala and the American Express Gala red carpet events and screenings will be screened simultaneously to cinemas across the UK. Other Galas include the American Airlines Gala of Dustin Hoffman’s directorial debut, 'Quartet', featuring an outstanding British cast including Dame Maggie Smith, Billy Connolly and Michael Gambon; and Ben Affleck directs and stars in the Accenture Gala presentation of political thriller 'Argo' which he also produced with George Clooney. British film directors making their mark this year include Paul Andrew Williams with London-based comedy drama, 'Song For Marion', which screens as The May Fair Hotel Gala and features a sterling cast headed by Vanessa Redgrave, Terence Stamp, Gemma Arterton and Christopher Eccleston; and Roger Michell, whose 'Hyde Park On Hudson' is the
Centrepiece Gala supported by the Mayor of London, stars Bill Murray, Laura Linney, Olivia Colman and Olivia Williams and is set on the eve of WWII when the King and Queen of England make a visit to see Franklin D Roosevelt in upstate New York. Nintendo Gala 'The Sapphires', is an inspirational Australian musical comedy set in the 60s starring comic man of the moment Chris O’Dowd, who appears alongside Australian Idol star Jessica Mauboy; and 'The Sessions', is a moving drama, based on a true story with superb performances from John Hawkes, Helen Hunt and William H. Macy.
AWARDS AND COMPETITIONS
The BFI London Film Festival Awards have undergone a significant change this year by introducing competitive sections that are given much more prominence in the Festival campaign and programme. The Best Film Award in partnership with American Express; the Sutherland Award for Best First Feature and the Grierson Award for Best Documentary will now be presented to the winning films from three programme sections: Official Competition, First Feature Competition and Documentary Competition. Each section is open to international and British films and 12 films have been shortlisted for each Competition.
Official Competition
The inaugural Official Competition line-up, recognising inspiring, inventive and distinctive
filmmaking, includes four European premieres:
- Michael Winterbottom’s 'Everyday'
- Sally Potter’s 'Ginger and Rosa'
- Deepa Mehta’s 'Midnight’s Children'
- Martin McDonagh’s 'Seven Psychopaths'
- Michel Franco’s 'After Lucia'
- David Ayer’s 'End of Watch'
- Rama Burshtein’s 'Fill the Void'
- Daniele Ciprì’s 'It Was the Son'
- François Ozon’s 'In The House'
- Cate Shortland’s 'Lore'
- Pablo Larraín’s 'No'
- Jacques Audiard’s 'Rust and Bone'
3 European premieres
- Masaaki Akahori’s 'The Samurai that Night'
- Anand Gandhi’s 'Ship of Theseus'
- Barry Berk’s 'Sleeper’s Wake'
- Benh Zeitlin’s 'Beasts of the Southern Wild'
- Tom Shkolnik’s 'The Comedian'
- Maja Miloš’ 'Clip'
- Gabriela Pichler’s 'Eat Sleep Die'
- Sébastien Lifshitz’s 'Les Invisibles'
- Sally El Hosaini’s 'My Brother the Devil'
- Kleber Mendonça Filho’s 'Neighbouring Sounds'
- Scott Graham’s 'Shell'
- Andrey Gryazev’s 'Tomorrow'
- Haifaa Al Mansour’s 'Wadjda'
4 World Premieres
- Charlie Paul’s 'For No Good Reason'
- Nick Ryan’s 'The Summit'
- Sarah Gavron’s 'Village at the End of the World'
- Greg Olliver’s 'Turned Towards the Sun'
- Jay Bulger’s 'Beware of Mr Baker'
- Shola Lynch’s 'Free Angela and All Political Prisoners'
- Alex Gibney’s 'Mea Maxima Culpa: Silence in the House of God'
- Katja Gauriloff’s 'Canned Dreams'
- Ken Burns, David McMahon and Sarah Burns’ 'The Central Park Five'
- Ulises Rosell’s 'The Ethnographer'
- Amy Berg’s 'West of Memphis'
This year’s nominees are:
1. Rowan Athale – director/screenwriter 'Wasteland'
2. Sally El Hosaini – director/screenwriter 'My Brother the Devil'
3. Fady Elsayed – actor 'My Brother the Devil'
4. Scott Graham – director/screenwriter 'Shell'
5. Eloise Laurence – actor 'Broken'
6. Rufus Norris – director 'Broken'
7. Chloe Pirrie actor 'Shell'
8. Tom Shkolnik – director/screenwriter 'The Comedian'
STRANDS / PATHWAYS
This year significant changes have been made to the structure of the Festival programme with new focused categories that are clustered around the themes of Love, Debate, Dare, Laugh, Thrill, Cult, Journey, Sonic and Family. With over 200 features screened during the Festival this new approach is designed to help Festival goers find the films that mean the most to them and to open up entry points for new audiences.
LOVE
Sweet, passionate, tough – LOVE is a complex and many splendoured thing.
The Love Gala is Michael Haneke’s Cannes Palme d’Or winner 'Amour', with Haneke making a welcome return to the Festival this year.
Other titles in this section include: 'Broken' starring Tim Roth and Cillian Murphy; Ira Sachs’ 'Keep The Lights on'; Xavier Dolan’s 'Laurence Anyways'; Liz Garbus’ documentary tribute to Marilyn Monroe 'Love, Marilyn'; 'Robot and Frank' starring Frank Langella and Susan Sarandon, and Ursula Meier’s 'Sister' with Léa Seydoux and Gillian Anderson.
DEBATE
Riveting films that amplify, scrutinise, argue and surprise screen in the DEBATE section and this year’s Gala is the European Premiere of 'The Pervert's Guide to Ideology' an absorbing documentary sequel to 'The Pervert's Guide to Cinema' from Sophie Fiennes featuring renegade philosopher and bionic cineaste Slavojiek who also takes part in an ‘In Conversation’ event during the Festival.
Other highlights in this section include Marco Bellocchio’s 'Dormant Beauty' featuring Toni Servillo and Isabelle Huppert, Thomas Vinterberg’s 'The Hunt' featuring Mads Mikkelsen’s Cannes award-winning performance, and the European Premiere of 'Zaytoun'.
DARE
In-your-face, up-front and arresting, the films in DARE will take audiences out of their comfort zone. The Dare Gala is Mira Nair’s Venice-opener 'The Reluctant Fundamentalist', starring Kate Hudson, Kiefer Sutherland, Riz Ahmed and Liev Schreiber.
Other highlights in this strand include: the European Premiere of 'Helter Skelter' featuring Japanese supermodel Erika Sawajiri, the World Premiere of 'Kelly + Victor' Kieran Evans’ adaptation of the acclaimed novel by Niall Griffiths, and the International Premiere of Antonio Campos’ 'Simon Killer', Carlos Reygadas’ Cannes-winner 'Post Tenebras Lux', Pablo Trapero’s gripping and intelligent drama, 'White Elephant', and Sergei Loznitsa’s critically celebrated 'In The Fog'.
LAUGH
From laugh out loud through romantic comedy to dry and understated – humour in all its forms can be seen in the LAUGH section. A romantic caravan trip quickly descends into chaos when a young couple’s dream holiday takes a wrong turn in acclaimed British director Ben Wheatley’s dark comedy 'Sightseers' which has its UK premiere as the Laugh Gala.
Other titles in this strand include the International Premiere of Bollywood-meets-Tollywood Amelie style 'Aiyaa', the UK Premiere of romantic comedy 'Celeste and Jesse Forever' starring Rashida Jones and Andy Samberg and the European Premiere of Stephen Gyllenhaal’s 'Grassroots', and the international Premiere of Australian cricketing ‘bro’mantic comedy 'Save Your Legs!'.
THRILL
The films in THRILL are nerve shredders that will get the adrenalin pumping and keep audiences on the edge of their seat; The Gala presentation for this section is the World Premiere of Bollywood action epic 'Chakravyuh', directed by Prakash Jha who will be attending the Festival.
Other highlights in this section include: controversial Sundance hit 'Compliance', Nordic Noir double bill of 'Easy Money' and its sequel; the Berlin Golden Bear winner 'Caesar Must Die' and Korean box office smash 'Nameless Gangster: Rules Of The Time'.
CULT
The CULT section features films from the mind-altering and unclassifiable, to fantasy, sci-fi and horror. The Cult Gala is the European Premiere of 'A Liar's Autobiography' chronicling the life of Monty Python’s Graham Chapman through multiple animation styles and featuring Chapman’s fellow Pythons in the voice cast.
Other highlights in this section include: 'Antiviral', the feature film debut of Brandon Cronenberg; the International Premiere of Actress Katie Aselton’s directorial outing, the survival horror 'Black Rock'; Japanese maestro Takashi Miike’s 'For Love’s Sake' and Juan Carlos Medina’s fantasy horror 'PAINLESS', along with documentaries 'My Amitville Horror', 'The Jeffrey Dahmer Files', and 'Room 237'.
JOURNEY
Whether it’s the journey or the destination, the films in JOURNEY will transport and shift perspectives.
Celebrated Romanian director Cristian Mungiu returns to the Festival with 'Beyond The Hills' screening as the Journey Gala . The film won Best Screenplay at the 2012 Cannes Film Festival, where actresses Cristina Flutur and Cosmina Stratan also shared best actress award.
Other titles in this strand include: riveting Moroccan drama 'Horses Of God', Raymond Depardon and Claudine Nougaret’s documentary 'Journal De France', Jem Cohen’s 'Museum Hours', Michel Gondry’s 'The We And The I' and the World Premiere of Marc Isaac’s new documentary about the 'A5 –The Road: A Story Of Life And Death'.
SONIC
Music inspired films and events that will have audiences dancing in the aisles can be discovered in SONIC.
Highlights in the Sonic screening programme include Mat Whitecross’ coming-of-age story 'Spike Island' about an Indie band of 1990 vintage, who are determined to see their heroes The Stone Roses; 'Good Vibrations', the biopic of Terri Hooley, 'Belfast’s Godfather of Punk', which was declared the best Irish film at Galway Film Fleadh earlier this year; and world music is represented with films from Africa and Chile, 'Kinshasa Kids' and 'Violeta Went To Heaven'.
The Festival is delighted to include two popular events from the year-round programme at BFI Southbank for the first time – BUG and Sonic Cinema, both celebrating the links between music and film. Sonic Cinema presentations include a focus on the Sigur Ros Valtari Mystery Film Experiment featuring premieres of new clips and, in celebration of Warp Films’ 10th Birthday, a special presentation of Shane Meadow’s 'This Is England' screening with a live score from composer Ludovico Einaudiand and musician Gavin Clark.
Regular BUG host Adam Buxton will present a special artist focus with talent to be announced.
FAMILY
The Festival showcases films for all ages in its FAMILY section and this year’s Family Gala is 'Ernest & Celestine, the delightful animated story of an unlikely friendship between a bear and a mouse from the directors of 'A Town Called Panic'. In addition to Opening Night Gala 'Frankenweeinie', there are five other animated features screening in the Festival as well as an animated shorts programme. Three of the family features are handdrawn films from France, and 'Wolf Children' is the new hotly anticipated animated title from Japanese director Mamoru Hosoda.
SHORTS
An original and innovative line-up of short films and animation that will enthral audiences young and old make up this year’s SHORTS programme including a dedicated section for younger audiences. Animated shorts for children include 'The Sandpixies: Da Capo George', 'The Missing Meatballs' and 'I Want To See Dwarfs'.
Short film compilation programmes include Crime & Punishment with films featuring criminals, their actions and the consequences; Blood is Thicker Than Water with films examining interactions and relationships between friends, lovers and families and Obsessive and Compulsive with films that examine far-from-healthy obsessions.
Once again the London Calling section features a selection of shorts from budding filmmakers from across the capital and this year student films from some of the UK’s best film schools will be showcased in Back to School.
These short films feature a host of well known faces including: Alison Steadman, Ralf Little, Tom Hollander, Martin Freeman, Stephen Graham and Julia Louis-Dreyfus.
EXPERIMENTA
This year’s the Festival will present its largest ever series of artists moving image programmes, culminating in the annual EXPERIMENTA Weekend from 19-21 October 2012.
In collaboration with the ICA, the Festival will also present several screenings of artists’ films to coincide with the Frieze Art Fair, from 10-13 October 2012. Peter Kubelka’s new work 'Antiphon' will screen with 'Arnulf Rainer' in an expanded projection event – Monument Film. Both films will be physically installed on the walls of the BFI Southbank Atrium for the duration of the Festival. The extraordinary presentation of Monument Film in the NFT1 cinema forms the centrepiece of an Experimenta Weekend which is full of outstanding visions. Thom Andersen, Nathaniel Dorsky and Laida Lertxundi return with new films, whilst Mati Diop introduces her award-winning work in London for the first time, and Beatrice Gibson premieres 'The Tiger’s Mind'.
TREASURES
Treasures brings recently restored cinematic treasures from archives around the world to the Festival.
This year’s previously announced Archive Gala is the World Premiere of the restoration of Alfred Hitchcock’s 'The Manxman' at the Empire Leicester Square with a live accompaniment by Stephen Horne. The Gala marks the grand finale of the BFI’s The Genius of Hitchcock project which commenced in June 2012 and is currently screening at BFI Southbank.
Digital restoration can have spectacular results, as shown in, David Lean’s 'Lawrence Of Arabia', the full length director’s cut of the brand new 4K digital restoration which will premiere at the NFT1 showcasing BFI Southbank’s new 4K projector for the first time. The screening will be accompanied by a presentation from Grover Crisp, who will give a talk about the restoration work. Sir Laurence Olivier’s iconic 'Richard III' also benefits from a fully restored print which will be screened at the Festival. Other highlights include silent movie 'The Spanish Dancer', a lavish costume romp with a live piano accompaniment; the BFI-backed revival of Roman Polanski’s 'Tess; a newly made documentary 'Bergman & Magnani: The War Of Volcanoes' screening alongside a restoration of Roberto Rossellini’s 'Viaggio In Italia' and the latest restoration by Martin Scorsese’s World Cinema Foundation, 'After The Curfew' which is a political commentary on what happened after Indonesia was liberated from Dutch occupation.
EVENTS & EXHIBITIONS
The EVENTS programme features the highly anticipated Screen Talks and Masterclasses.
This year’s Screen Talks in partnership with American Express, includes celebrated author Salman Rushdie whose adaptation of his own novel 'Midnight’s Children' screens in Official Competition and Academy Award-winning documentary filmmaker Alex Gibney who is at the Festival with his new film 'Mea Maxima Culpa: Silence In The House Of God' in Documentary Competition.
The Masterclasses, presented in partnership with Swarovski, feature leading music supervisor Ian Neil (SPIKE ISLAND) and production design team David Wasco and Sandy Reynolds-Wasco who designed Martin McDonagh’s 'Seven Psycopaths'. Time Out continues to support the free access ‘In Focus’ events, which this year sees four events with a focus on British Cinema.
The Art of Frankenweenie Exhibition supported by American Express is taking place at the Festival Village, Southbank Centre. In addition, the Festival is proud to be working alongside the V&A’s major autumn exhibition Hollywood Costume with two events celebrating the role of costume on film and featuring the exhibition’s senior curator, the Academy Award nominated costume designer Deborah Nadoolman Landis.
FILM GUESTS
Guests expected to attend include: Alex Gibney, Alice Englert, Alice Lowe, Allison Abbate, Barnaby Southcombe, Ben Affleck, Ben Wheatley, Benh Zeitlin, Benjamin Renner, Billy Connolly, Brandon Cronenberg, Cate Shortland, Catherine O’Hara, Charlie Paul, Charlie Watts, Charlotte Rampling, Chris O’Dowd, Cristian Mungiu, David Walliams, David Nicholls, David Wasco, Deepa Mehta, Dustin Hoffman, Eddie Marsan, Elle Fanning, François Ozon, Gabriel Byrne, Hayley Atwell, Helena Bonham Carter, Ian Neil, Jacques Audiard, Jake Schreier, Jeremy Irvine, Julian Roman Pölsler, Keith Richards, Liz Garbus, Marion Cotillard, Martin McDonagh, Martina Gedeck, Martin Landau, Martin Short, Matthias Schoenaerts, Melvil Poupaud, Michael Haneke, Michael Palin, Mick Jagger, Mike Newell, Nick Murphy,
Paolo Taviani, Pablo Larraín, Paul Andrew Williams, Pauline Collins, Quvenzhanée Wallis, Ronnie Wood, Rufus Norris, Sally EI Hosaini, Sally Potter, Salman Rushdie, Rodney Ascher, Sandy Reynolds Wasco, Saskia Rosendahl, Slavoj ?i?ek, Sophie Fiennes, Steve Oram, Suzanne Cléement,Tamzin Outhwaite,Terry Jones, Thomas Bidegain, Tim Burton, Tom Courtenay, Winona Ryder.
The Festival will announce its complete guest line-up in early October.
FOR FURTHER PRESS INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT:
56th BFI London Film Festival Press Office: +44 (0)20 7292 8330
Christelle Randall [email protected] Account Director
Linda Russel [email protected] Head of Print Press
Farah Yaqub [email protected] Head of Broadcast
Sanam Jehanfard [email protected] Head of Online
Annabel Hutton [email protected] International Press
Simone Devlin [email protected] Press Accreditation
Tom Westgate [email protected] Screenings Manager
Website: www.premiercomms.com
Opening and Closing Night Enquiries
Freud Communications: +44 (0)20 3003 6300
Bianca Boey [email protected] Ticket Requests
Aimee Hall [email protected]
For Opening Night media enquiries: [email protected]
Website: www.freud.com
BFI Press Enquiries +44 (0)20 7957 4833
Press Office [email protected]
FESTIVAL INFORMATION AND TICKET BOOKING
Tickets go on sale to the public on 24 September
Telephone Bookings: 0207 928 3232 between 09.30 – 20.30
Online: www.bfi.org.uk/lff (no booking or postal fee)
In person: BFI Southbank Office: 11.30 – 20.30
BFI Members receive priority booking : join at www.bfi.org.uk/join
nb. Tickets are available to be purchased on the day about 30 minutes prior to the screening at Festival venues
THE 56th BFI LONDON FILM FESTIVAL SPONSORS AND FUNDERS
The BFI welcomes back American Express for the third year as Principal Sponsor.
The BFI thanks DCMS and acknowledges and is very grateful for the support the Festival receives from the National Lottery.
We are proud to continue to work with American Airlines, the Festival’s long-standing official airline and are delighted to announce that Accenture is joining us this year as a Main Sponsor. New supporter Nintendo is welcomed as Gala Sponsor and Ciroc Ultra Premium Vodka is the Official Spirit sponsor of the Festival. Once again, the Festival will be supported by the Mayor of London through Film London, and also by Creative Skillset through Atlantic Film Group. TV5Monde return for their 8th year, this time as sponsor of the new Love strand/pathway and Swarovski return as sponsors of the Masterclasses for the second consecutive year and Best British Newcomer Award for the third consecutive year.
For the first time the Archive Gala will be presented in association with The Krasner Fund for the BFI: supporting film treasures in the BFI collections. The BFI also acknowledges its generous funders of the restoration of The Manxman, Daniel and Joanna Friel, Ronald T Shedlo and an anonymous donor. Additional in-kind support has been kindly provided by Deluxe 142.
Returning in-kind Sponsors include: Official Hotel The May Fair; Official Festival Car Supplier Renault photography partner Getty Images; cinema advertising partner Digital Cinema Media; and official make up brand MAC Cosmetics. Additionally, to the Festivalwelcomes Prime Focus for their first year and thanks Soho House, Midnite Express, Official water sponsor Icelandic Glacial, Green & Black’s Organic chocolate, CBS Outdoor, The Hospital Club, and Impact Distribution for their continued support.
Evening Standard is welcomed back as Media Partner, as well as valued Broadcast Partner BBC London. Thanks also go to returning Media Partners Empire, Time Out, Sight & Sound, Variety, Screen International, The Hollywood Reporter and LOVEFiLM for continuing to provide invaluable media support. The Festival also welcomes new media partner, Little White Lies.
Returning cinema partners this year are Odeon, Vue, Empire, Curzon, Picturehouses, Ciné Lumière and ICA, and new partners Rich Mix and Everyman Screen on the Green are welcomed this year.
The Festival would also like to give thanks to Christie digital projectors, DVS, root6, Newman Displays and Awards post production partner Molinare.
Finally, the Festival would like to thank Adobe, and the many embassies and cultural institutes who support it by helping to bring in filmmakers to present their work.
Notes to Editors
About the BFI
The BFI is the lead body for film in the UK with the ambition to create a flourishing film environment in which innovation, opportunity and creativity can thrive by:
- Connecting audiences to the widest choice of British and World cinema
- Preserving and restoring the most significant film collection in the world for today and
- future generations
- Championing emerging and world class film makers in the UK
- Investing in creative, distinctive and entertaining work
- Promoting British film and talent to the world
- Growing the next generation of film makers and audiences
BFI London Film Festival is an iconic international film festival that supports London’s position as the world’s leading creative city. It presents the best new British and international films to an expanding London and UK-wide audience. It provides career-enabling opportunities for British and international filmmakers through its industry and awards programmes.
facebook.com/lff
Twitter @bfi #lff
Clare Stewart biography
Clare Stewart’s sixteen year programming career has encompassed leadership roles as Festival Director, Sydney Film Festival (2006-2011) and the inaugural Head of Film Programs at the Australian Centre for the Moving Image in Melbourne (2002-2006) as well as various roles at the Australian Film Institute (1996-2001), including Exhibition Manager, and programmer and Committee Member of the Melbourne Cinémathèque (1995-2002)
By elmaestroole