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| Author | Mia Blakeney |
This year’s BFI London Film Festival is underway, with screenings of some of the most anticipated films of 2022 and 2023.
Awards contenders such as Living, Empire of Light, Triangle of Sadness and Women Talking, held premieres and special presentations, drawing crowds as the films’ stars graced the red carpet.
The stars of Empire of Light, which tells a poignant story about human connection and the magic of cinema, spoke about the importance of showing films on the big screen, and the collective experience of viewing film in this environment:
“I think people want to have a collective experience, they want to share it... It's a pilgrimage.” Colin Firth.
“One of the great pleasures in life is to slip into a cinema and sit there with a group of strangers, and for a little moment just enjoy these characters.” Toby Jones.
Some of the DCM Team had the pleasure of attending exclusive screenings at the London Film Festival. Here are some of their highlights so far!
Bones and All
Bones & All is a wild film and I absolutely loved it. I am not sure I have ever seen a film like it. It manages to blend different styles of film and themes that you would normally expect to clash and does so with heaps of style. On the surface it is bloody and gruesome, but you quickly get used to it, focussing instead on the sweet young love story at its heart.
Triangle of Sadness
Triangle of Sadness is my new favourite Ruben Östlund film. It mocks the way we live, the things we value and the way we treat one other in a hilarious and captivating way. It had the whole cinema in hysterics. The cast are fantastic, and Harris Dickinson steals the show.
Bruno McKay, Agency Manager, DCM Studios
The Wonder
The Wonder takes its time, giving itself permission to straddle the line between thriller, mystery, and family drama. This makes it a little slow in the first half, full of landscape shots and a lens that often refuses to look away despite the stillness of a scene, but the pace is more than made up for in the final acts. Religious and generational trauma are core themes as many other reviews mention, though I’m surprised that a discussion of anorexia isn’t at the forefront of the film’s discourse as well. Sebastian Lelio depicts eating disorders with care and gravity that is not often seen and is a wholly moving experience. The rituals of grief are all-encompassing and it’s lovely to believe in stories where they can be broken.
Daisy Hills, Agency Assistant
Getting It Back: The Story of Cymande
The documentary film followed the story of a black British band in the 70's called Cymande – a band you may never have heard of, but you know their music. It was a heartfelt story about what it was like for talented musicians to be up against systemic issues that prevents their music being listened to in the masses.
As cinema is perfectly equipped with the best audio experience, it was an amazing chance to listen to music created 50 years ago, on the big screen and to spotlight a band's unique journey to create a new generation of fans.
Gaby Kirk, Agency Manager, DCM Studios