18 Unmissable Films At London Film Fesitval

The 60th BFI London Film Festival begins on 5th October and the movie schedule looks exciting indeed.  Two weeks' worth of films runs to an impressive 13 page timetable. 

 

The Festival will screen a total of 193 fiction and 52 documentary features, including 18 World Premieres, 8 International Premieres, 39 European Premieres. There will also be screenings of 144 short films, including documentary, live action and animated works.

 

Phew!

 

I took a look at the programme and singled out the 18 films that I would love to see. And, of course, I wanted to share these movies with you. After all, even if you are not planning on attending the festival, it's good to make a note of the films that have been selected.  

 

So let's make a start... 

Films To Catch At The BFI London Film Festival...

A United Kingdom

Festival Opening Film!

Director: Amma Asante

Starring: Rosamund Pike, David Oyelowo, Tom Felton and Laura Carmichael

Synopsis: The true story of Seretse Khama, the King of Bechuanaland (modern Botswana) and Ruth Williams, the London office worker that he married in 1948 in the face of fierce opposition from both their families and the British and South African governments. 

 

Screenings

Wednesday 5 October

7pm at Odeon Leicester Square

7.45pm at Vue West End

 

Thursday 6 October

11.30am at Odeon Leicester Square

 

Tuesday 11 October

9pm at Curzon Mayfair

 

The 13th

Director: Ava DuVernay 

Synopsis: A documentary investigating the high rate of incarceration in the US - particularly among African Americans.

 

Screenings

Thursday 6 October

6pm at BFI Southbank

8.45pm at BFI Southbank

 

Christine

Director: Antonio Campos

Cast: Rebecca Hall, Michael C. Hall, Tracy Letts

Synopsis: The trouble life of 1970s TV reporter, Christine Chubbuck, who committed suicide live on air.

  

Screenings:

Thursday 6 October

6.15pm at Hackney Picturehouse

 

Friday 7 October

6pm at Vue West End

 

Monday 10 October

2.45pm at Vue7

 

La La Land

 

Director: Damien Chazelle

Cast: Emma Stone, Ryan Gosling and Finn Wittrock

Synopsis: A jazz pianist falls for an aspiring actress in Los Angeles.

 

Screenings:

Friday 7 October

6pm at Odeon Leicester Square

 

Saturday 8 October

10.30am at Odeon Leicester Square

 

Sunday 16 October

8.30pm at Curzon Mayfair

 

American Honey

 

Director: Andrea Arnold

Cast: Sasha Lane, Shai La Beouf, McCaul Lombardi, Arielle Holmes, Crystal B. Ice and Verronikah Ezell

Synopsis: A teenage girl who, after joining a traveling magazine sales crew, finds herself caught up in a whirlwind of hard partying, law bending and young love.

 

Screenings:

Friday 7 October

9.15pm at Odeon Leicester Square

 

Saturday 8 October

8pm at Hackney Picturehouse

 

Tuesday 11 October

2pm at Odeon Leicester Square

 

Manchester By Sea

 

Director: Kenneth Lonergan

Cast: Casey Affleck, Michelle Williams and Kyle Chandler

Synopsis: An uncle is forced to return to his hometown to take care of his teenage nephew after the boy's father dies.

 

Screenings:

Saturday 8 October

6pm at Odeon Leicester Square

 

Sunday 9 October

11am at Odeon Leicester Square

 

Tuesday 11 October

8.45pm at Cine Lumiere

 

Toni Erdmann

 

Director: Maren Ade

Cast: Peter Simonischek, Sandra Hüller and Michael Wittenborn

Synopsis: A lonely, prankster dad tries to cheer up his serious daughter.

 

Screenings:

Saturday 8 October

5pm at Embankment Garden Cinema

 

Sunday 9 October

11am at Embankment Garden Cinema

 

My Life As A Courgette

 

Director: Claude Barras

Cast: (the voices of) Gaspard Schlatter, Sixtine Murat and Paulin Jaccoud

Synopsis: After his mother's sudden death, Courgette is befriended by a police officer Raymond, who accompanies him to his new foster home filled with other orphans his age. At first he struggles to find his place in this strange, at times, hostile environment. Yet with Raymond's help and his new-found friends, Courgette eventually learns to trust, finds true love and at last a new family of his own.

 

Screenings:

Saturday/Sunday 9/10 October (tbc)

6pm at Cine Lumiere

3.30pm at Vue5

 

Queen Of Katwe

 

Director: Mira Nair

Cast: Lupita Nyong’o and David Oyelowo

Synopsis: The true story of a young girl selling corn on the streets of rural Uganda whose world changes when she is introduced to the game of chess.

 

Screenings:

Sunday 9 October

6.30pm at Odeon Leicester Square

 

Monday 10 October

11.30am at Odeon Leicester Square

 

Wednesday 12 October

6.15pm at Ritzy

 

Bleed For This

 

Director: Ben Younger

Cast: Miles Teller and Aaron Eckhart

Synopsis: Vinny “The Pazmanian Devil” Pazienza is a local Providence boxer who shot to stardom after winning two world title fights. After a near-fatal car accident leaves Vinny with a severed spine, he is told he may never walk again.

 

Against all odds and doctor’s orders, renowned trainer Kevin Rooney agrees to help Vinny return to the ring just a year after the accident for what could be the last fight of his life.

   

Screenings:

Sunday 9 October

5.30pm at Embankment Garden Cinema

 

Monday 10 October

11.30am at Embankment Garden Cinema

 

Wednesday 12 October

8.30pm at Hackney Picturehouse

 

Arrival

 

Director: Denis Villeneuve

Cast:  Amy Adams, Jeremy Renner and Michael Stuhlbarg 

Synopsis: A linguist is recruited by the military to assist in translating alien communications.

 

Screenings:

Monday 10 October

7.15pm at Odeon Leicester Square

 

Tuesday 11 October

11am at Odeon Leicester Square

 

Thursday 13 October

8.45pm at Hackney Picturehouse

 

Paterson

 

Director: Jim Jarmusch

Cast: Adam Driver, Golshifteh Farahani and Helen-Jean Arthur

Synopsis: Paterson is a bus driver in the city of Paterson, New Jersey. Every day, Paterson adheres to a simple routine: he drives his daily route, he writes poetry into a notebook; he stops in a bar and drinks exactly one beer; he goes home to his wife, Laura. By contrast, Laura´s world is ever changing. New dreams come to her almost daily.

   

Screenings:

Monday 10 October

8.50pm at Embankment Garden Cinema

 

Tuesday 11 October

2.15pm at Embankment Garden Cinema

 

Personal Shopper

 

Director: Olivier Assayas

Cast: Kristen Stewart, Lars Eidinger and Sigrid Bouaziz 

Synopsis: A French psychological thriller about a personal shopper and a ghostly encounter.

 

Screenings:

Monday 10 October

6pm at Vue7

 

Tuesday 11 October

9pm at Picturehouse Central

 

Thursday 13 October

12.15pm at BFI Southbank

 

The Birth Of A Nation

 

Director: Nate Parker

Cast: Nate Parker, Armie Hammer and Mark Boone Junior 

Synopsis: Nat Turner, a literate slave and preacher in the antebellum South, orchestrates an uprising against slavery.

 

Screenings:

Tuesday 11 October

7.15pm at Odeon Leicester Square

 

Wednesday 12 October

11.30am at Odeon Leicester Square

 

Thursday 13 October

6.15pm at Ritzy

 

Nocturnal Animals

Director: Tom Ford

Cast: Amy Adams, Isla Fisher and Jake Gyllenhaal

Synopsis: An art gallery owner is haunted by her ex-husband's novel, a violent thriller she interprets as a veiled threat and a symbolic revenge tale.

 

Screenings:

Friday 14 October

6pm at Odeon Leicester Square

 

Saturday 15 October

11.30am at Odeon Leicester Square

 

Sunday 16 October

3.30pm at Cine Lumiere

 

Snowden

 

Director: Oliver Stone

Cast: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Scott Eastwood, Shailene Woodley, Nicolas Cage and Zachary Quinto

Synopsis: Why NSA employee Edward Snowden leaked thousands of classified documents to the press.

 

Screenings:

Saturday 15 October

6pm at Odeon Leicester Square

 

Sunday 16 October

11.30am at Odeon Leicester Square

 

Richard Linklater - Dream Is Destiny

 

Director: Louis Black, Karen Bernstein

Synopsis: A documentary looking at the life of director, Richard Linklater.

 

Screenings:

Saturday 15 October

6.30pm at BFI Southbank

 

Sunday 16 October

6.30pm at Vue5

 

Free Fire

Festival Closing Film!

Director: Ben Wheatley

Cast: Brie Larson,  Enzo Cilenti, Sam Riley and Michael Smiley

Synopsis: Set in Boston in 1978, a meeting in a deserted warehouse between two gangs turns into a shootout and a game of survival.

 

Screenings:

Sunday 16 October

7pm at Odeon Leicester Square

8pm at Embankment Garden Cinema

 

Film Festivals... Your Thoughts?

Do you plan to catch any of these films at the London Film Festival (LFF)? Or is there another movie that you are planning to watch? Do let me know!

 

If you are a BFI member, you can book your tickets now. Alternatively, you can secure your seats from 15th September.

 

If you are not planning to go to LFF, have you been to a film festival or are you planning to attend one soon? I would love to know your thoughts (and tips!) on film festivals!

 

Just leave me a comment in the box below :)

 


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Jane Douglas-Jones
Jane Douglas-Jones

E: jane@500daysoffilm.com


Disclaimer:

This site contains my own

thoughts and opinions on

films. Other opinions are

available but may not be correct.