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| Author | Tom Linay |
Last Thursday, at Odeon Leicester Square, festival director, Clare Stewart launched the full programme for he 61st BFI London Film Festival. Over 12 jam-packed days the festival comprises of 242 feature programmes, 128 short films, with 67 countries are represented across both short film and features.The festival opens on Wednesday, 4 October and closes on Sunday, 15 October.
While the opening and closing night films, Breathe and Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri and the American Express gala, Battle of the Sexes, were announced a few weeks ago, the remainder of the programme is filled with striking films, many of which will be front runners come awards season. Notable galas include Alexander Payne's sci-fi dramedy, Downsizing, which just premiered to rapturous reviews at the Venice Film Festival, Guillermo Del Toro's The Shape of Water, starring a reportedly Oscar worthy, Sally Hawkins, Yorgos Lanthimos' follow-up to The Lobster, The Killing of a Sacred Deer, which won Best Screenplay at Cannes, and an adaptation of Ian McEwen's On Chesil Beach, starring Saoirse Ronan.
Outside of the galas the programme is rich and varied, with notable films including thriller, Good Time, starring Robert Pattinson, which played in competition at Cannes, Jake Gyllenhaal in Stronger, Paddy Considine's second directing outing, Journeyman, and Professor Marston and the Wonder Women, starring Rebecca Hall and Luke Evans, which tells the story of the creation of one the iconic superhero.
Tickets go on sale to BFI members at 10am on Thursday, 7 September and then go on general released on Thursday, 14 September. For full details on the programme please visit here.