The British Film Institute (BFI) has revealed the plethora of titles that will make up the 69th edition of the BFI London Film Festival (8-19 October). There are a fulsome number of gala screenings, including the international premiere of Rian Johnson’s eagerly awaited new adventure for Southern sleuth Benoit Blanc in Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery, which will open the festival, and – as the closing film – the UK premiere of Julia Jackman’s 100 Nights of Hero [+leggi anche:
trailer
scheda film], the adaptation of the graphic novel fresh from its Venice premiere. Other galas include the European bow of Chloé Zhao’s Hamnet – an account of Shakespeare and his wife following the death of their 11-year-old son – and the UK premiere of Philippa Lowthorpe’s H Is for Hawk, an adaptation of Helen MacDonald’s biographical novel.

World premieres across the festival include Rowan Athale’s Giant, a biopic based on the life of British boxing legend “Prince” Naseem Hamed, starring Amir El-Masry and Pierce Brosnan, and Moss and Freud, in which filmmaker James Lucas creates a drama about the relationship between Kate Moss and artist Lucien Freud. In the LFF Series strand, Isabella Eklöf will unveil the first two episodes of the Matt Smith-starring The Death of Bunny Munro, an adaptation of the Nick Cave novel.

The festival’s Official Competition will be made up of ten titles from around the world, and will include Mark Jenkin’s Rose of Nevada [+leggi anche:
recensione
scheda film] – another recent premiere from Venice – and the documentary Hair, Paper, Water… [+leggi anche:
recensione
scheda film] by Nicolas Graux and Trương Minh Quý, which bowed at Locarno. The competition will also host the world premiere of Yemi Bamiro’s Black Is Beautiful: The Kwame Brathwaite Story, a documentary that follows the growth of the Afrocentric Black Is Beautiful movement of the 1960s and 1970s through the lens of Kwame Brathwaite, a pioneering Harlem photographer and its unsung godfather.

The festival’s First Features Competition includes three UK features: Imran Perretta’s Ish [+leggi anche:
recensione
intervista: Imran Perretta
scheda film], Joy Gharoro-Akpojotor’s Dreamers [+leggi anche:
recensione
scheda film] and Akinola Davies’ My Father’s Shadow [+leggi anche:
recensione
trailer
intervista: Akinola Davies Jr.
scheda film], while its Documentary Competition will play host to the world premiere of Super Nature, the debut feature by Ed Sayers – executive-produced by Asif Kapadia – who delves into the world of Mother Nature with a Super 8 camera.

The rest of the programme is divided into its usual strands – Love, Debate, Laugh, Dare, Thrill, Cult, Journey, Create, Experimenta, Family and Shorts – which include a large number of festival favourites from the likes of Berlin, Cannes and Venice.

Screen Talks will take place with Yorgos Lanthimos, Daniel Day-Lewis, Richard Linklater, Jafar Panahi, Lynne Ramsay, Tessa Thompson and Chloé Zhao, in person, and they will also be available online on the BFI Player and the BFI’s YouTube channel.

Full details of the festival’s Industry Forum will be announced in the coming weeks.

The event will take place at BFI Southbank and The Southbank Centre’s Royal Festival Hall, as well as in cinemas and venues across Central London. The festival will also visit 11 UK-wide partner venues, with two new additions: the National Science and Media Museum, Bradford (2025 City of Culture), and Filmhouse, Edinburgh.

The full programme is available to peruse here. Here is the full list of competition titles:

Official Competition

Black Is Beautiful: The Kwame Brathwaite Story - Yemi Bamiro (UK)
The Voice of Hind Rajab [+leggi anche:
recensione
scheda film] - Kaouther Ben Hania (Tunisia/France)
Hedda - Nia DaCosta (USA)
Bad Apples - Jonatan Etzler (UK)
The Testament of Ann Lee [+leggi anche:
recensione
scheda film] - Mona Fastvold (UK)
Hair, Paper, Water… [+leggi anche:
recensione
scheda film] - Nicolas Graux, Trương Minh Quý  (Belgium/France/Vietnam)
Rose of Nevada [+leggi anche:
recensione
scheda film] - Mark Jenkin (UK)
Landmarks - Lucrecia Martel (Argentina/USA/Mexico/France/Netherlands)
Black Rabbit, White Rabbit - Shahram Mokri (Tajikistan/UAE)
The World of Love - Yoon Ga-eun (South Korea)

First Feature Competition

A Useful Ghost [+leggi anche:
recensione
trailer
scheda film] - Ratchapoom Boonbunchachoke (Thailand/France/Singapore)
My Father’s Shadow [+leggi anche:
recensione
trailer
intervista: Akinola Davies Jr.
scheda film] - Akinola Davies (UK/Nigeria)
Sink - Zain Duraie (Jordan/Saudi Arabia/Qatar/France)
Dreamers [+leggi anche:
recensione
scheda film] - Joy Gharoro-Akpojotor (UK)
Becoming Human - Polen L (Cambodia)
One Woman One Bra - Vincho Nchogu (Kenya/Nigeria)
Ish [+leggi anche:
recensione
intervista: Imran Perretta
scheda film] - Imran Perretta (UK)
Songs of Forgotten Trees - Anuparna Roy (India)
Mad Bills to Pay - Joel Alfonso Vargas (USA)
Diamonds in the Sand - Janus Victoria (Philippines)

Documentary Competition

The Travelers - David Bingong (Cameroon/Spain)
Always - Deming Chen (USA/China/France/Taiwan)
Life After - Reid Davenport (USA)
Singing Wings - Hemen Khaledi  (Iran/Georgia/Belgium)
Only on Earth [+leggi anche:
intervista: Robin Petré
intervista: Robin Petré
scheda film] - Robin Petré (Denmark/Spain)
The Eyes of Ghana - Ben Proudfoot (USA)
Super Nature - Ed Sayers (UK)
Seeds - Brittany Shyne (USA)