Emerald Fennell’s ‘Saltburn’ set as opening night gala for the 67th BFI London Film Festival

The 67^th BFI London Film Festival in partnership with has announced that this year’s Opening Night Gala will be ‘Saltburn’, directed, produced and written by Academy Award Winner Emerald Fennell (Promising Young Woman). 

Saltburn opens Kristy Matheson’s first festival in her new role as BFI Festivals Director, and stars Barry Keoghan, Jacob Elordi, Rosamund Pike, Richard E. Grant, Alison Oliver, Archie Madekwe and Carey Mulligan.

The film, which is a wicked tale of privilege and desire, will receive its International Premiere on Wednesday 4 October at the Southbank Centre’s Royal Festival Hall. Amazon Studios and MGM will release the MRC and LuckyChap Entertainment-produced film exclusively in cinemas on 24 November. There will also be simultaneous preview screenings of the film taking place at multiple cinemas across the UK.

Set in the mid-2000s and shot in a variety of locations around the UK, student Oliver Quick (Barry Keoghan) is struggling to find his place at Oxford University and finds himself drawn into the world of the charming and aristocratic Felix Catton (Jacob Elordi), who invites him to Saltburn, his eccentric family’s sprawling estate, for a summer never to be forgotten.

Exclusive: Daniel Kaluuya’s ‘The Kitchen’ the close 67th BFI London Film Festival

The 67^th BFI London Film Festival (4-15 October) in partnership with American Express has announced that this year’s Closing Night Gala, supported by BMW, will be Kibwe Tavares & Daniel Kaluuya’s ‘The Kitchen.’

Starring Kane Robinson, Jedaiah Bannerman, Hope Ikpoku Jr, Teija Kabs, Demmy Ladipo, Cristale & BackRoad Gee, the movie explores themes of community, inequality, family, resilience, defiance, and care in a dystopian London.

The synopsis reads; In a dystopian London, the gap between rich and poor has been stretched to its limits. All forms of social housing have been eradicated and only The Kitchen remains. A community that refuses to move out of the place they call home. This is where we meet a solitary Izi (Kane Robinson), living here by necessity and desperately trying to find a way out, and a 12-year-old Benji (Jedaiah Bannerman), who has lost his mother and is searching for a family. We follow our unlikely pair as they struggle to forge a relationship in a system that is stacked against them.

Directed by British filmmakers Kibwe Tavares and Daniel Kaluuya. Kaluuya is also a co-screenwriter with Joe Murtagh. The film will receive its World Premiere on Sunday 15 October at the Southbank Centre’s Royal Festival Hall, ahead of its release into UK cinemas and subsequent launch on Netflix. The Kitchen was made in association with Film4 who also supported the film’s development and is produced by DMC Film and 59% Productions.

The 67^th BFI London Film Festival in partnership takes place from Wednesday 4 October – Sunday 15 October, 2023.