11/09/2007

Tuesday, October 30--------- As the London Film Festival moves into its final days, it has, it might be argued, saved the best for last. In the next few days, the Festival will present a strong array of films and will welcome an international group of film talents to the Red Carpet. On Tuesday, the Festival will offer the UK Premiere of FAR NORTH, director Asif Kapadia's thrilling epic tale set in the forbidding tundra of the Arctic North. Joining the director on the Red Carpet are co-writers Tim Miller, Dario Maeianelli and Sarah Maitland.

The UK's own Nick Broomfield is up next with his documentary/fiction mix BATTLE FOR HADITHA. This is the European premiere of the film, which deftly mixes dramatic style with the director's documentary technique to produce a scathing story of soldier abuses in the "war against terror". Director Nick Broomfield will be joined on the Red Carpet with actor Elliot Ruiz and editor Stuart Gazzard.

Tomorrow night, French director Francois Ozon, one of the leading lights of international cinema, will be in London for the UK Premiere of his first English-language film, the period piece ANGEL. The film is a rags-to-riches melodrama about a young woman who becomes a romance novelist in turn of the century England. The film's sweeping visuals and over-the-top performances offer a glossy period film that they just don't make anymore, but Ozon does. In his own way, the director is reviving the glamour of old time Hollywood, while also offering a feminist take on a classic success-comes-with-loss scenario. Romola Garai gives a memorable performance as the young woman who dares to dream, fulfils her fantasies and ends up learning that fame is not everything.

Sandy Mandelberger