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The BFI London Film Festival has announced its movie line-up for 2024.
New films set to screen at this year’s edition of the event include releases from directors Mike Leigh (Hard Truths), Andrea Arnold (Bird) and Pedro Almodóvar, whose first english-language film The Room Next Door reveived a staggering 17-minute standing ovation following its premiere at Venice Film Festival.
Sean Baker’s Cannes Palme d’Or winner Anora will also be shown alongside the latest films from All Quiet on the Western Front’s Edward Berger – Conclave, a psychological thriller starring an Oscar-touted Ralph Fiennes – and Can You Ever Forgive Me?’s Marielle Heller, whose long-awaited horror-comedy Nightbitch stars Amy Adams.
They join previously announced titles Blitz, the new film from 12 Years a Slave filmmaker Steve McQueen that will open the festival, as well as the closing film Piece by Piece, an animated biopic on the life of singer and record producer Pharrell Williams told using LEGO characters.
Blitz, which follows a group of Londoners during the Second World War, stars Saoirse Ronan, Harris Dickinson and Benjamin Clémentine.
Completing the headline gala screenings are Never Too Late, a documentary about Elton John co-directed by his husband David Furnish; Elton John; controversial Donald Trump filmThe Apprentice; musical Emilia Pérezstarring Zoe Saldaña and Selena Gomez; Pablo Larraín’s Maria Callas biopic starring Angelina Jolie; and We Live in Time, a romantic drama starring Florence Pugh and Andrew Garfield. There will also be Joy, Ben Taylor’s drama – written by Jack Thorne – about the invention of IVF. It stars Thomasin McKenzie, James Norton and Bill Nighy.
Highlights from the Special Presentations strand include Luca Guadagnino’s Queer, starring Daniel Craig, Colson Whitehead adaptation Nickel Boys, Jesse Eisenberg’s comedy-drama A Real Pain, co-starring Succession actor Kieran Culkin, and Payaal Kapadia’s All We Imagine as Light – the best film The Independent saw in Cannes earlier this year.
Other strands are separated by genre, with the line-up featuring new projects from directors Miguel Gomes (Grand Tour – another Cannes highlight), Alex Ross Perry (Payments), François Ozon (When Fall Is coming), Asif Kapadia (2073), Hong Sang-soo (A Traveller’s Needs), Jia Zhangke (Caught By the Tides), Aislinn Clarke (Fréwaka) and actor Sadie Frost, who will premiere a documentary on former supermodel Twiggy.
Peaky Blinders creator Steven Knight will debut his new show, boxing drama A Thousand Blows starring Malachi Kirby and Francis Lovehall.
Over 12 days, the LFF will showcase 255 works from 80 countries, featuring 64 languages and including 112 projects made by female and non-binary filmmakers.
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Kristy Matheson, BFI London Film Festival Director, said of this year’s line-up: “Cinematic ideas materialise 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. As the seasons change and we head into the Autumn, we invite everyone to come to the BFI London Film Festival to discover and enjoy the whole spectrum of moving image.”
Meanwhile, Ben Roberts, Chief Executive, BFI, said: “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. I want to thank our brilliant Festival team and everyone involved in bringing these films to our LFF audiences, with extra special thanks to American Express and our other partners and supporters.”
The 68th BFI London Film Festival in partnership with American Express takes place from 9-20 October2024. Tickets go on sale on 17 September.
