London film festival 2022 film premiere news and red carpet events

THE 66th BFI LONDON FILM FESTIVAL ANNOUNCES FULL 2022 PROGRAMME, IN CINEMAS FROM 5-16 OCTOBER

EXCLUSIVE:

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A host of celebrities are expected including Harry Styles,, Emma Thompson, Adam Driver, Bill Nighy, Hugh Jackman, Anthony Hopkins, Brendan Fraser, Olivia Colman, Colin Firth, Colin Farrell, Brendan Gleeson, Ewan McGregor, Christopher Waltz, Cate Blanchett, Whoopi Goldberg, Daniel Craig, Edward Norton, Emily Blunt, Jennifer Saunders Judi Dench, Woody Harrelson and many more confirm celebrity publicist Mark Boardman.

Opening with the World Premiere of ROALD DAHL’S MATILDA THE MUSICAL
Closing with European Premiere of Rian Johnson’s GLASS ONION: A KNIVES OUT MYSTERY

Sponsor Gala is the European Premiere of Sam Mendes’ EMPIRE OF LIGHT

The Festival also announces:

A dynamic and vibrant programme of 164 feature films from around the world (with all films screening to UK audiences for the first time, including 23 World, 6 International, 15 European Premieres)
In cinemas and venues across central London plus 10 LFF partner cinemas across the UK
A curated programme of 20+ features and 15 free short films available digitally across the whole of the UK on BFI Player until 23 October
41% of the programme is from female and non-binary directors/creators or co-directors/creators with 34% made by ethnically diverse directors/creators
Line up includes LFF Expanded, a programme of 20 new Immersive Art and Extended Realities strand, now in its third year
And for the second year, LFF Series, a showcase of international work made for television or digital platforms in series form, with 8 new works from 8 countries, including 3 World Premieres
LFF for Free offers audiences a vibrant wide-ranging programme of short films, immersive art works and talks, alongside imaginative, playful events, and filmmaker Q&A’s, both in-person at BFI Southbank and online across BFI Player, BFI YouTube and social media – all completely free of charge
Major alumni filmmakers returning to LFF include Johnson and Mendes as well as Darren Aronofsky, Noah Baumbach, the Dardennes, Mia Hansen-Løve, Joanna Hogg, Alejandro G. Iñárritu, Sebastián Lelio, Tobias Lindholm, Guy Maddin, Ruben Östlund, François Ozon, Park Chan-wook, Laura Poitras, Sarah Polley, Guillermo del Toro, Lars von Trier and Nora Twomey

The 66^th BFI London Film Festival (LFF) has revealed the full programme line-up to MarkMeets, which will be presented in cinemas and online, across the UK. Over twelve days from 5 – 16 October, the LFF will return to its fantastic flagship venues in the heart of London – BFI Southbank and the Southbank Centre’s Royal Festival Hall, which between them host Galas, Special Presentations and Official Competition. Films and series from all strands of the Festival screen in many of central London’s iconic cinemas with a curated selection of features showcased at 10 partner venues across the UK.

The full programme features films, series and immersive art works from over 63 countries with 41% of the programme made by female and non-binary directors/creators or co-directors/creators and 34% made by ethnically diverse directors/creators.

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HEADLINE GALAS:

Opening Night Gala – ROALD DAHL’S MATILDA THE MUSICAL (UK, dir. Matthew Warchus)
Closing Night Gala – GLASS ONION: A KNIVES OUT MYSTERY (USA, dir.-scr. Rian Johnson)
EMPIRE OF LIGHT (UK-USA, dir.-scr. Sam Mendes)
THE BANSHEES OF INISHERIN (Ireland-UK-USA, dir.-scr. Martin McDonagh)
BARDO, FALSE CHRONICLE OF A HANDFUL OF TRUTHS (Mexico, dir. Alejandro G. Iñárritu)
DECISION TO LEAVE (South Korea, dir.-prod. Park Chan-wook)
LIVING (UK, dir. Oliver Hermanus)
GUILLERMO DEL TORO’S PINOCCHIO (USA, dir. Guillermo del Toro, Mark Gustafson)
SHE SAID (USA, dir. Maria Schrader)
THE SON (UK, dir. Florian Zeller)
The Mayor of London’s Gala – TILL (USA, dir. Chinonye Chukwu)
BFI Patrons’ Gala – THE WHALE (USA, dir. Darren Aronofsky)
WHITE NOISE (USA, dir.-scr. Noah Baumbach)
THE WONDER (UK-Ireland, dir. Sebastián Lelio)

SPECIAL PRESENTATIONS:

ALLELUJAH (UK, dir. Richard Eyre)
CAUSEWAY (USA, dir. Lila Neugebauer)
Series Special Presentation – THE ENGLISH (UK-Spain, dir.-scr. Hugo Blick)
THE ETERNAL DAUGHTER (UK-USA, dir.-scr. Joanna Hogg)
HOLY SPIDER (Denmark-Germany-Sweden-France, dir. Ali Abbasi)
MY IMAGINARY COUNTRY (Chile-France, dir.-scr. Patricio Guzmán)
MY POLICEMAN (UK, dir. Michael Grandage)
NANNY (USA, dir.-scr. Nikyatu Jusu)
NIL BY MOUTH (UK, dir.-scr. Gary Oldman)
THE SWIMMERS (UK, dir. Sally El Hosaini)
TRIANGLE OF SADNESS (Sweden-Germany-France-UK, dir.-scr. Ruben Östlund) – in association with Time Out
WOMEN TALKING (USA, dir.-scr. Sarah Polley)
BFI Flare Special Presentation – THE INSPECTION (USA, dir.-scr. Elegance Bratton)
Experimenta Special Presentation – PIAFFE (Germany, dir. Ann Oren)

An impressive number of major alumni filmmakers return to LFF including: Darren Aronofsky, Noah Baumbach, James Benning, Marco Bellocchio, Bertrand Bonello, Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne, Richard Eyre, Kevin Jerome Everson, Patricio Guzmán, Mani Haghighi, Mia Hansen-Løve, Joanna Hogg, Alejandro G. Iñárritu, Rian Johnson, Asif Kapadia, Joe Lawlor and Christine Molloy, Sebastián Lelio, Sébastien Lifshitz, Tobias Lindholm, Edward Lovelace, Martin McDonagh, Santiago Mitre, Michel Ocelot, Ruben Östlund, François Ozon, Park Chan-wook, Alexandre O. Philippe, Laura Poitras, Sarah Polley, Lucía Puenzo, João Pedro Rodrigues, Jerzy Skolimowski, Paolo Taviani, Guillermo del Toro, Lars von Trier, Nora Twomey. Major emerging alumni returning to LFF with new features include: Ali Abassi, Fyzal Boulifa, Lukas Dhont, Alice Diop, Sally El Hosaini, Soudade Kaadan, Hlynur Pálmason, with the Festival also introducing audiences to a thrilling new generation of international filmmakers with 39 debut features in LFF.

Every feature and series screens to audiences in the UK for the very first time, with many shown publicly to for the first time ever anywhere in the world. Premieres include 23 feature film and 3 series World Premieres, 6 feature film International Premieres and 15 feature film and 2 series European Premieres. As previously announced the LFF Expanded programme of Immersive Art features 6 World Premieres. World Premieres from filmmakers and artists include: GUILLERMO DEL TORO’S PINOCCHIO; a new series from television auteur Hugo Blick, THE ENGLISH, starring Emily Blunt and a brand new commission AR from acclaimed filmmaker Guy Maddin, HAUNTED HOTEL: A MELODRAMA IN AUGMENTED REALITY. International Premieres include SHE SAID, starring Carey Mulligan and Zoe Kazan and based on the booked from New York Times journalists Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey, and award-winning documentary filmmaker Ondi Timoner’s LAST FLIGHT HOME. Major European Premieres include: EMPIRE OF LIGHT from Sam Mendes; GLASS ONION: A KNIVES OUT MYSTERY from Rian Johnson; MY POLICEMAN, directed by Michael Grandage and starring Emma Corrin, Harry Styles and Rupert Everett; Chinonye Chukwu’s TILL, starring Danielle Deadwyler and Whoopi Goldberg; ALLELUJAH, directed by Richard Eyre adapted from Alan Bennett’s play, with stars including Judi Dench and Jennifer Saunders; Frank Berry’s AISHA starring Letitia Wright and Josh O’Connor, and LADY CHATTERLEY’S LOVER, directed by Laure de Clermont-Tonnerre and also starring Emma Corrin alongside Jack O’Connell. LFF will host the European Premieres of several major new filmmaking voices: Sundance award-winner Nikyatu Jusu with NANNY; acclaimed theatre director Lila Neugebauer’s CAUSEWAY starring Jennifer Lawrence and Brian Tyree Henry and photographer and documentarian Elegance Bratton’s THE INSPECTION.

Audiences will enjoy a rich programme of fiction, documentary, animation, artists’ moving image, short film, newly restored classics from the world’s archives, and exciting international works made in immersive and episodic forms. LFF for Free will return to BFI Southbank with a programme of in-person events and screenings as well as a programme of free short films and events that will be available across the UK virtually. The Festival will also be accessible UK-wide via a specially curated programme of feature and short films on BFI Player, which viewers will be able to enjoy for a full week after the Festival (from 14 – 23 October).