We know the opener (A United Kingdom) and the closing film (Free Fire) of the BFI London Film Festival, but now the full line-up for October has been revealed, including Empire’s own gala screening. On the slate this year are the Sundance-hailed The Birth Of A Nation, Denis Villeneuve’s Arrival and Emma Stone/Ryan Gosling musical La La Land.
Also gala’ing at the festival alongside that trio will be Garth Davis’ Lion, starring Dev Patel and Rooney Mara, J.A. Bayona’s A Monster Calls, Tom Ford’s sophomore effort Nocturnal Animals and Oliver Stone’s sure-to-be-headline-grabbing thriller Snowden. Lone ‘An Education’ Scherfig is coming back to London with her new film, Their Finest, a comedy-drama that will get its European premiere in Leicester Square, and Mira Nair’s Queen Of Katwe will bring more big names to the West End in David Oyelowo and Lupita Nyong’o.
Empire is joining the fun by hosting the European premiere of Miles Teller boxing drama Bleed For This, the topliner in the 'Thrill’ strand of the programme. The other strands – Dare, Laugh, Debate, Cult, Journey, Sonic, Family, Experimenta and Love – are throwing up new films from Park Chan-wook (The Handmaiden), Maren Ade (the Cannes-acclaimed Toni Erdmann), Jim Jarmusch (Paterson) and Spike Lee (Chi-Raq), among many others.
Head to the BFI London Film Festival website for the full line-up and here for more on Empire’s own gala. The 60th BFI London Film Festival runs from 5-16 October.