16 Films You Won't Want To Miss At The BFI London Film Festival

Directed by: Paul Verhoeven

Staring: Isabelle Huppert, Laurent Lafitte, Anne Consigny

What's it all about: Elle is Paul Verhoeven's first full-length feature in over 10 years and follows the astonishing story of Michele leblanc (played by Isabelle Huppert), the director of a video game company who is raped in her own home by a masked intruder and reacts in a surprising way. Eschewing the police and authorities, Huppert begins her own pursuit of the attacker, and even when she learns of her attacker's identity, goes about her daily life ostensibly unscathed. A warm, funny and very thought-provoking approach to a serious issue, Elle is a portrait of a woman totally in command, against all odds.

Showing: Saturday 08 October 2016 20:40, Embankment Garden Cinema - Sold Out

Tuesday 11 October 2016 11:30, Embankment Garden Cinema

Directed by: Ava DuVernay

Staring: Ava DuVernay, Spencer Averick

What's it all about: DuVernay's timely documentary draws on the connection between the US Constitution's 13^th Amendment and the disproportionate criminalization of African Americans. It opens with a speech by Barack Obama, where he shockingly states how America has almost 5% of the world's population but 25% of the world's prisoners. The documentary mixes archival footage with contemporary testimonies from a mix of activists, politicians and formerly imprisoned men and women, to highlight the institutional racism in the US criminal justice system and the corporations and businesses that have profited from this mass incarceration. Powerfully incendiary and hugely relevant in tracing the history from slavery to #BlackLivesMatter, The 13^th is essential viewing.

Showing: Thursday 06 October 2016 18:00, BFI Southbank, NFT1

Thursday 06 October 2016 20:45, BFI Southbank, NFT2

Directed By: Ben Wheatley

Staring: Sharlto Copley, Armie Hammer, Brie Larson, Cillian Murphy, Jack Reynor

What's It All About: Ben Wheatley, who has been hailed as one of the UK's hottest cinematic talents of the moment, returns with a high-voltage action comedy thriller set in Boston in the era of 1970s Americana. Brie Larson plays Justine, who brokers a deal between two Irishmen and a gang led by Vernon (Copley) and Ord (Hammer), who intend to sell them a stash of guns. But when shots suddenly get fired, mayhem ensues and the film turns into a Tarantino-esque bloody brawl and game of survival. Although falling short of being a seriously convincing shootout comedy, it should hopefully provide enough blood and gunshots to sate the action thriller fans among you.

Showing: Sunday 16 October 2016 19:00, Odeon Leicester Square – sold out!

Sunday 16 October 2016 20:00, Embankment Garden Cinema

Directed by: Benedict Andrews

Staring: Rooney Mara, Ben Mendelsohn, Riz Ahmed

What's it all about: Adapted from David Harrower's prize-winning play Blackbird, and starring Rooney Mara and Ben Mendelsohn, Benedict Andrews' cinematic debut explores the relationship between a woman, Una (Mara) and Ray (Mendelsohn) the man who sexually abused her as a child, after she turns up and confronts him years later. Una explores the psychology of abuse, and the marks it bears on its victim long after. 

Showing: Sunday 09 October 2016 20:45, Embankment Garden Cinema – Sold out!

Monday 10 October 2016 14:15, Embankment Garden Cinema

Thursday 13 October 2016 21:00, Curzon Mayfair Cinema, Screen 1

Directed By: Olivier Assayas

Staring: Kristen Stewart, Lars Eidinger, Sigrid Bouaziz

What's It All About: Kristen Stewart plays Maureen, a spiritual medium who works in Paris as a personal shopper to the stars. Bored to death by her job, Maureen commits herself to reaching the spirit of her recently deceased twin brother, who died in the Parisian house they grew up in. Just when Maureen feels her pursuit is unfruitful, she begins to get strange text messages from an unknown source. This genre-bending part fashionista drama and part supernatural murder mystery features some hypnotic acting from Kristen Stewart, and is definitely on our watchlist.  

Screenings:  Monday 10 October 2016 18:00, Vue West End Cinema, Screen 7

Tuesday 11 October 2016 21:00, Picturehouse Central, Screen 1

Thursday 13 October 2016 12:15, BFI Southbank, NFT1

Directed By: Antonio Campos

Staring: Rebecca Hall

What's it all about: Antonio Campos directs the real-life horror story of the news anchor, played by Rebecca hall, who achieved fame in the 1970s for killing herself on live TV. Christine is an eerie and complex character study of a woman struggling against depression, incredibly acted by Hall.

Screenings: Oct 19, 2016 - 6:20 pm, BFI Southbank, NFT2

Oct 20, 2016 - 8:55 pm, BFI Southbank, Studio

Oct 23, 2016 - 8:30 pm, BFI Southbank, NFT3

Directed By: Kenneth Lonergan

Staring: Casey Affleck, Michelle Williams, Kyle Chandler, Lucas Hedges

What's It All About: One of the films which has garnered the most buzz within the festival, Lonergan's long-delayed Manchester by the sea sees Affleck playing a handyman with a knack for picking fights in bars who unwittingly finds himself the legal guardian of his teenage nephew after the death of his older brother, which forces him to return to his hometown and confront his skeletons. A profound and emotional study of a dysfunctional family, which deals with the hackneyed themes of grief and redemption in a nuanced way.

All screenings- Sold Out!

Directed By: Damien Chazelle


Staring: Ryan Gosling, Emma Stone, John Legend, JK Simmons
USA 2016
130min

What's It All About: Set against the backdrop of present-day Los Angeles and paying homage to the golden era of Hollywood musicals, La La Land is a cinematic injection of sunshine and magic on your dreary grey English afternoon. Directed by Damien Chazelle, mastermind behind the exhilarating rollercoaster of a psycho-drama, Whiplash, La La Land journeys through all the stages of a blossoming romance by way of free jazz and catchy showtunes. Emma Stone, who plays the aspiring actress Mia, and Ryan Gosling, who plays the unsuccessful pianist Sebastian, make a fabulously sugar-sweet and convincing pairing. One of the most hyped films of the season, this is one you don't wanna miss.

Screenings: Friday 07 October 2016 18:00, Odeon Leicester Square

Saturday 08 October 2016 10:30, Odeon Leicester Square

Sunday 16 October 2016 20:30, Curzon Mayfair Cinema, Screen 1

Directed By: Garth Davis


Staring: Dev Patel, Rooney Mara, David Wenham, Nicole Kidman, Sunny Pawar


What's It All About: Davis' adaptation of Saroo Brierley's memoir, A Long Way Home is a moving drama about a man, played by Patel, who uses Google Earth to track down his childhood residence in an impoverished rural township in India, having been adopted by an Australian couple. His quest sees him withdrawing from his adoptive parents and his girlfriend, played by Rooney Mara. It explores the complexities of growing up in an adopted family and themes of racial identity, and features captivating and emotional performances from Patel and Kidman, as well as beautiful cinematography of the Indian and Australian landscapes it's set in.

Screenings:Wednesday 12 October 2016 19:15, Odeon Leicester Square

Thursday 13 October 2016 11:15, Odeon Leicester Square

Saturday 15 October 2016 14:45. Hackney Picturehouse, Screen 1

Directed By: Tom Ford
 

Staring: Amy Adams, Jake Gyllenhaal, Michael Shannon, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Isla Fisher, Armie Hammer

What's It All About: Fashion darling Tom Ford has already proven his credentials as a director with his debut, A Single Man, but this time, he is reaching for the Oscars with his metafictional thriller adaptation of American author Austin Wright's book, Tony and Susan. The film stars Susan (played by Amy Adams), who is struggling in a disintegrating marriage, despite the high-trappings of wealth and success as an LA gallery director, and soon finds herself the central character of a horrifying chain of events after receiving a surprise manuscript from her revenge-seeking ex husband. Exploring the themes of intimacy, secrecy and guilt, it's a neo-noir that promises to be both chilling and every bit as stylish as Ford's debut.

Screenings: Friday 14 October 2016 18:00, Odeon Leicester Square

Saturday 15 October 2016 11:30, Odeon Leicester Square

Sunday 16 October 2016 15:30, Cine Lumiere

Directed by: Mira Nair 


Staring: David Oyelowo, Lupita Nyong'o, Madina Nalwanga


What's It All About: Queen of Katwe is based on the inspirational true story of the young Uganda chess champion, Phiona Mutesi (played by newcomer Nalwanga), whose natural ability for strategic thinking and risk-taking helps her climb to the top in local chess competitions. The story of a young woman's unyielding determination and drive to pursue her chess dream against all odds and escape the poverty and conflict that frames her upbringing.

Screenings:

Sunday 09 October 2016 18:30, Odeon Leicester Square

Monday 10 October 2016 11:30, Odeon Leicester Square

Wednesday 12 October 2016 18:15, Ritzy Cinema, Screen 2

Directed By: Andrea Arnold

Staring: Sasha Lane, Riley Keough, Shia LaBeouf
USA-UK 2016
165min

What's It All About: Arnold, the brilliant British filmmaker behind gritty cult classic, Fish Tank, returns with an arresting high-voltage millennial odyssey set on the American road. The film follows the story of Star, played by breakout star Sacha Lane, as she meets the Jake (Shia LaBeouf), the leader of a pack of stray youths and is persuaded to join their enterprise of travelling around peddling magazine subscriptions, and ultimately becomes sucked into their world of petty crime, parties and promiscuous sex, framed by a barrage of contemporary bangers like Rihanna's 'We found love'. Evoking Harmony Korine's Springbreakers, American Honey is poised to be the new film of our generation. Worth watching if only to laugh at LaBeouf's braided pigtail. 

Screenings: Friday 07 October 2016 21:15, Odeon Leicester Square

Saturday 08 October 2016 20:00, Hackney Picturehouse, Screen 1

Tuesday 11 October 2016 14:00, Odeon Leicester Square

Directed By: Denis Villeneuve


Staring: Amy Adams, Jeremy Renner, Forest Whitaker, Michael Stuhlbarg
USA 2016
116min

What's It All About: Canadian director Denis Villeneuve adaptation of the award-winning 'Story of Your Life' by Ted Chiang, is an emotionally arresting and inventive sci-fi. Amy Adams shines as the Professor of Linguistics, Dr Louise Banks who is enlisted by the US government to decipher the language of extra-terrestrials who initiated first contact and to determined the reasons for their visitation. As the operation becomes increasingly tense and the team race against time for answers, the two outsiders eventually come together in their search for understanding. Arrival is a heartfelt alien-contact movie which also explores the importance of language and translation in finding common ground and understanding the 'Other'.

Screenings: Monday 10 October 2016 19:15, Odeon Leicester Square

Tuesday 11 October 2016 11:00, Odeon Leicester Square

Thursday 13 October 2016 20:45, Hackney Picturehouse, Screen 1

Directed By: Barry Jenkins

Staring: Mahershala Ali, Naomie Harris, Trevante Rhodes

What's It All About:  LGBT people of colour have continuously been relegated to the margins of film, so Barry Jenkins' tale of a queer boy's journey to manhood, as he navigates his sexuality in the poor, drug-ridden neighbourhood of Miami, comes as a refreshing and long-overdue corrective to cinema's representation which manages to avoid all the clichés of poor African-American narratives. Based on the play by Tarell Alvin McCraney's 'In Moonlight Black Boys Look Blue', the film plays out in three acts, following the protagonist Chiron as a withdrawn and lonely child, as a more confident teenager, and as a fully grown man who develops a toxic masculinity as a guard against the world. Both honestly raw and poetically beautiful, Moonlight promises to be a real masterpiece. 

All screenings sold out!

Directed By: Kelly Reichardt

Staring: Laura Dern, Kristen Stewart, Michelle Williams

What's It All About: Never one to scream and shout, the fantastic director Kelly Reichardt delivers a beautifully delicate portrayal of the lives of three different women, a stressed lawyer, a torn mother and wife, and a lonely ranch girl; their stories connected by the small town setting of Livingstone, Montana. Told through three vignettes, the lives are drawn from Montana author Maile Meloy's short stories and played by the hand-picked cast of Michelle Williams, Kristen Stewart and Laura Dern -a soft and nuanced look at female power and resilience with enough dramatic bite to be a real competition contender.

Screenings: Sunday 09 October 2016 14:30, Embankment Garden Cinema

Wednesday 12 October 2016 18:00, Embankment Garden Cinema

Thursday 13 October 2016 18:15, Hackney Picturehouse, Screen 1