The festival’s headline gala screenings will showcase a range of high-profile films. The world premiere of Steve McQueen’s “Blitz” starring Ronan opens the festival, while Morgan Neville’s “Piece by Piece” closes it.
Other gala screenings include R.J. Cutler and David Furnish’s “Elton John: Never Too Late,” Sean Baker’s “Anora,” Ali Abbasi’s “The Apprentice” starring Sebastian Stan, Andrea Arnold’s “Bird,” Edward Berger’s “Conclave” with Ralph Fiennes, Jacques Audiard’s “Emilia Pérez,” Mike Leigh’s “Hard Truths,” Ben Taylor’s “Joy,” Pablo Larraín’s “Maria” featuring Jolie, Marielle Heller’s “Nightbitch” starring Amy Adams, Pedro Almodóvar’s “The Room Next Door” with Julianne Moore and Tilda Swinton, Simon Otto’s “That Christmas” and John Crowley’s “We Live in Time” with Pugh and Garfield.
World premieres also include Darren Thornton’s Irish comedy “Four Mothers,” Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin’s documentary “Endurance,” Milko Lazarov’s Bulgarian drama “Tarika,” Laila Abbas’ “Thank You for Banking with Us,” Eloise King’s documentary “The Shadow Scholars,” Adam Wong Sau-Ping’s “The Way We Talk,” Gino Evans’ “Treading Water” and a restoration of Martin Rosen’s “Watership Down.”
International premieres include Roshan Sethi’s “A Nice Indian Boy” with Karan Soni and Jonathan Groff, Sadie Frost’s documentary “Twiggy,” Kimberly Reed’s “I’m Your Venus,” and Jane Mingay’s “Pauline Black: A 2-Tone Story.”
Special presentations at the festival include Payal Kapadia’s “All We Imagine as Light,” Madeleine Hunt-Ehrlich’s “The Ballad of Suzanne Césaire,” Mati Diop’s “Dahomey,” Athina Rachel Tsangari’s “Harvest,” Walter Salles’ “I’m Still Here,” RaMell Ross’ “Nickel Boys,” Luca Guadagnino’s “Queer” with Craig, Jesse Eisenberg’s “A Real Pain” and Mohammad Rasoulof’s “The Seed of the Sacred Fig.”
Exploring a Spectrum of Moving Images
The festival’s feature film program is organized into thematic strands to encourage discovery and open up the festival to new audiences. These strands include Love, Debate, Laugh, Dare, Thrill, Cult, Journey, Create, Experimenta, Family and Treasures.
Immersive Art and Extended Reality
LFF Expanded, the festival’s immersive art and extended reality program, returns with installations at Bargehouse at Oxo Tower Wharf, BFI Southbank, BFI IMAX and Outernet London. This year’s program features works from leading British and international artists, including Liam Young, Adrien M & Claire B, Anagram, Darkfield and Memo Akten & Katie Peyton Hofstadter. For the first time, LFF Expanded will also showcase video games in an interactive Games Lounge.
A Festival of Global Voices
The festival, running from Oct. 9-20, will screen works from 79 countries in 63 languages, with 44% of the program made by female and non-binary filmmakers.
Kristy Matheson, BFI London Film Festival director, said: “Cinematic ideas materialize in many forms, and this year artists have taken us to some giddy highs and poked at our tender underbellies. Troubled histories linger close to the surface alongside optimistic futures, all explored in unique and creative ways.”
Ben Roberts, chief executive, BFI, added: “The real joy of LFF for me is seeing the hard work of so many talented filmmakers come to life and given the prominence and noise that they deserve.”
A Diverse Selection of Films
The festival’s diverse selection of films includes several world and international premieres. “Endurance,” a documentary about the epic search to find the lost ship of Antarctic explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton by Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin, will premiere at the festival. Another notable film is Sean Baker’s “Anora,” which won the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival. “Nightbitch,” a dark comedy starring Amy Adams and directed by Marielle Heller, is another highly anticipated film.
A Diverse Lineup of Programs
Beyond the headline gala screenings, the festival features several other programs showcasing a wide range of films. The First Feature Competition highlights debut directors, while the series programming features highly anticipated television shows. The festival also includes a dedicated program for short films, documentaries, and animated films.
The LFF Series strand returns for its fourth year and will screen Alfonso Cuarón’s novel adaptation “Disclaimer” starring Cate Blanchett, Thomas Vinterberg’s first foray into TV with “Families Like Ours,” and Peaky Blinders creator Steven Knight’s latest series “A Thousand Blows” starring Stephen Graham.
Bringing Filmmakers and Audiences Together
The festival’s Screen Talks program features in-depth interviews with some of the most prominent figures in contemporary cinema. This year’s lineup includes Andrea Arnold, Steve McQueen, Mike Leigh, Denis Villeneuve, Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin, Lupita Nyong’o, Zoe Saldaña and Daniel Kaluuya.
The London Film Festival provides a platform for showcasing the best of international cinema while fostering a vibrant community of film enthusiasts. The festival also provides a platform for emerging filmmakers and is committed to promoting diversity and inclusivity in the film industry. With its impressive lineup and diverse programs, the 2024 BFI London Film Festival promises to be an unforgettable cinematic experience.
