BFI London Film Fest Does Itself Proud

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Parent Category: Film Festivals

Category: Previews

Published on Thursday, 06 October 2011 05:00

Written by L E Shannon

The 55th BFI London Film Festival 2011 is being held October 12 - 27, 2011 at the BFI Southbank, Empire Leicester Square and the Vue West End, among other theaters in London, England.

This year‛s Festival is bigger than ever, with more than 240 films, more venues, more tracks, and a wider array of events for meeting filmmakers.

The Opening Night film is 360, directed by Fernando Meirelles and starring Rachel Weisz, Jude Law and Sir Anthony Hopkins. A simple decision -- to remain faithful to his wife -- made by one man evolves into a series of unforeseen consequences that trail through Vienna, Paris, London, Bratislava, Rio de Janeiro, to Denver, Colorado and Phoenix, Arizona.

This year, the BFI National Archive Gala is screening the newly restored film from 1928, The First Born, directed by Miles Mander from his own novle and play. He also co-starred with Madeleine Carroll. Alma Reville assisted Mander in the adaptation, one of the films she did not work on with her husband, Alfred Hitchcock.

The Closing Night film is The Deep Blue Sea, directed by Terence Davies and starring Rachel Weisz, Tom Hiddleston and Simon Russell Beale. This is a new adaptation of the postwar-Britain stage play by Terence Rattigan.

This year‛s tracks are

• New British Cinema
• French Revolutions
• Cinema Europa
• World Cinema
• Experimenta
• Short Cuts & Animation
• Family Gala

Other special screenings include

Dreams of A Life
dir. Carol Morley (UK, Ireland)
A woman's skeleton was found in a London flat three years after her demise. The filmmaker goes on a quest to learn who she was, how she lived, and how a young woman purportedly attractive and popular came to die alone and unknown.

How to Re-Establish a Vodka Empire
dir. Daniel Edelstyn
When Edelstyn found his grandmother‛s diary, he cracked open a bygone world he never knew existed. He traveled to Ukraine to explore his family history further, and in the ancestral village he discovered a vodka distillery the family had owned. The documentary is a rich blend of family lore, the liquor business, and glimpses of early 20th century history.

Americano
dir. Mathieu Demy (France)
starring Mathieu Demy, Salma Hayek, Chiara Mastroianni, Geraldine Chaplin
The son of Agnes Varda and Jacques Demy makes his directorial debut with a character he played in Varda‛s Documenteur as a boy, now all grown up and ready for Memory Lane. But he also wants to find the Mexican girl had befriended in LA all those years ago, and the quest takes him to Mexico.

The Screen Illusion
dir. Mathieu Amalric (France)
starring Loïc Corbery, Suliane Brahim, Hervé Pierre, Alain Lenglet, Denis Podalydès
A brand new update for the digital age of Corneille‛s classic comedy, L'Illusion Comique.

Breathing
dir. Karl Markovics (Austria)
starring Thomas Schubert, Karin Lischka, Gerhard Liebmann, Georg Friedrich, Stefan Matousch
An solitary ex-con on a work program stumbles on a piece of information that could lead to his finding out who he really is.

Walking Too Fast
dir. Radim Špacek (Czech Republic)
starring Ondrej Malý, Kristína Farkaöová, Martin Finger, Oldrich Kaiser
The Czech Republic‛s answer to The Lives of Others. A police investigator observes the lives of dissidents and eventually finds himself falling for one.

Trishna
dir. Michael Winterbottom
starring Freida Pinto, Riz Ahmed, Roshan Seth
The Thomas Hardy classic Tess of the d'Urbervilles returns as a tale for the Outsourcing Age in modern day India, with Freida Pinto in the title role.

W.E.
dir. Madonna
starring Abbie Cornish, Andrea Riseborough, Oscar Isaac, James D'Arcy
"W.E. is a rich, elegantly structured exploration of the connection between two women, decades apart, both confronting the consequences of desire." Madonna‛s directorial debut is well worth the wait and not to be missed.

Hara-Kiri: Death of a Samurai
dir. Takashi Miike (Japan)
starring Ebizo Ichikawa, Eita, Koji Yakusho, Hikari Mitsushima
Miike strikes again with his own remake of the classic tale filmed by Kobayashi, using the original story by Yasuhiko Takiguchi as his springboard. Ryuichi Sakamoto handles the music.

It is now London‛s turn to enjoy the feast of festival favorites from all over the world this past year, including:

• 50/50
• Anonymous
• Like Crazy
• Martha Marcy May Marlene
• Miss Bala
• Ralph Fiennes‛ Coriolanus
• Terri
• We Need to Talk About Kevin

The Archive Feature Restorations are screenings of newly restored features:

• America, America (aka The Anatolian Smile), dir. Elia Kazan
• Bye Bye Birdie, dir. George Sidney
• The Caine Mutiny, dir. Edward Dmytryk
• Cry Danger, dir. Robert Parrish
• The Goose Woman, dir. Clarence Brown
• Rainbow Over Texas, dir. Frank MacDonald
• Shoes, dir. Lois Weber
• Under Western Stars, dir. Joe Kane
• Wanda, dir. Barbara Loden
• We Can't Go Home Again, dir. Nicholas Ray

Panels include:

• 100 Cult Films – Filmmakers, journalists and programmers discuss what makes a cult film, using clips from their cult favorites.
• Fact vs Fiction – Where is the line drawn?
• From Stage to Screen – Choices and challenges involved in adapting a play into a movie.
• In Glorious Technicolor – Francine Stock will discuss her fascinating new book.
• The Producers – Wherein producers attempt to answer the question, "What does a producer do?"
• The YouTube Interview with Seth Rogen and Will Reiser
• New Austrian Cinema – Panelists include directors Michael Glawogger (Whore's Glory) and Markus Schleinzer (Michael)

Master Classes are presented by:

• Abi Morgan, writer
• Alexandre Desplat, composer
• Barry Ackroyd, cinematographer
• Miranda July, director

Screen Talks are held with:

• Alexander Payne
• Michael Winterbottom
• Woody Harrelson

for further information, go to http://www.bfi.org.uk/lff.

The 55th BFI London Film Festival 2011
October 12 - 27, 2011

BFI Southbank
Belvedere Road
South Bank
London SE1 8XT
020 7928 3232

Ciné Lumière
17 Queensbury Place
London SW7 2DT
020 7073 1350

Curzon Mayfair
38 Curzon Street
London W1J 7TY
0871 7033 989

Empire Leicester Square
5-6 Leicester Square
London WC2h 7NA
0871 471 4714

ICA Cinema
The Mall
London SW1Y 5AH
020 7930 3647

Odeon Leicester Square
24-26 Leicester Square
London WC 2H 7JY
0871 22 44 007

Odeon West End
40 Leicester Square
London WC2H 7NA
0871 22 44 007

Queen Elizabeth Hall
Southbank Centre
Belvedere Road
London SE1
020 7960 4200

Ritzy Cinema
Brixton Oval
Coldharbour Lane
London SW2 1JG
0871 704 2065

Vue West End
3 Cranbourn Street
Leicester Square
London WC2H 7AL
08712 240 240

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