63rd BFI London Film Festival (LFF) Announces Programme for 2019

Honestly, my mouth was watering long before the BFI London Film Festival were to announce their official programme for the 2019 line-up. And now, quite frankly, I am a blubbering mess, with a pounding headache to boot.

The 63rd BFI London Film Festival announced its full programme earlier today. With 229 feature films and 116 short films, you already have an idea just how immense this event is. If you are lucky to be part of this delicious festival between 2nd and 13th October, you are in for a treat for sure. Lots of treats.

BFI CEO, Amanda Nevill, spoke during the announcement: “At this moment when the UK is adapting and reshaping our place in the world, the BFI London Film Festival really underlines the soft power of the art of film and showcases the dynamism of global exchange and partnership.”

And BFI London Film Festival Director, Tricia Tuttle said: “While there are many talking points emerging from this year’s programme, a few really leap out: the strong instinct from filmmakers to explore urgent social and political issues through narrative and often through the use of genre; the striking emergence of a new generation of filmmakers exploding onto the international stage with startlingly bold, original and ambitious debuts; the continuing and welcome trend of increased gender balance in directing talent behind short film, first and second features.”

The core of British film will be engulfed in the flames of anticipation as new films from all over the world land in London. With near enough 80 nations represented, around 40% of films with a woman behind the camera, not to mention plenty of awards season juice to be sprayed around.

The BFI London Film Festival venues are also something to behold. The refurbished ODEON Luxe in Leicester Square offers luxurious seating for 800 bums. Many of the press will be invited to the Vue West End. And there are several other illustrious movie bases catering for the diverse range of films on display – including Embankment Garden Cinema, BFI Southbank, BFI IMAX, Curzon Mayfair and Soho, Empire Haymarket, Ciné Lumière, Prince Charles Cinema. Gulp!

And so many of those involved in these incredible films will be present to help showcase their work and meet the avid supporters. Fresh from the Cannes Film Festival – Mati Diop, Céline Sciamma, Kleber Mendonça Filho, Robert Eggers. Female filmmakers returning to the fray – Lauren Greenfield, Sarah Gavron, Marielle Heller. Let’s not forget the likes of eagerly anticipated films from Noah Baumbach, Armando Iannucci, Taika Waititi – oh and Martin Scorsese. You know what, check the ridiculously extensive line-up for yourselves:

Galas

THE PERSONAL HISTORY OF DAVID COPPERFIELD – Armando Iannucci
THE IRISHMAN – Martin Scorsese

KNIVES OUT – Rian Johnson
THE AERONAUTS – Tom Harper
A BEAUTIFUL DAY IN THE NEIGHBOURHOOD – Marielle Heller
GREED – Michael Winterbottom
HOPE GAP – William Nicholson
JOJO RABBIT – Taika Waititi
THE KING – David Michôd
LE MANS ’66 – James Mangold
MARRIAGE STORY – Noah Baumbach

Special Presentations

BAD EDUCATION – Cory Finley
BLACKBIRD – Roger Michell
BOMBAY ROSE – Gitanjali Rao
THE CAVE – Feras Fayyad
FIRST LOVE – Takashi Miike
GÖSTA – Lukas Moodysson
KRABI, 2562 – Anocha Suwichakornpong, Ben Rivers
LOVE, LIFE AND LAUGHTER
OUR LADIES – Michael Caton-Jones
PORTRAIT OF A LADY ON FIRE – Céline Sciamma
ROCKS – Sarah Gavron

Festival and Strand Galas

EMA – Pablo Larraín
ABOMINABLE – Jill Culton, Todd Wilderman
BACURAU – Kleber Mendonça Filho
THE DUDE IN ME – Hyo-jin Kang
JUDY & PUNCH – Mirrah Foulkes
THE LIGHTHOUSE – Robert Eggers
OFFICIAL SECRETS – Gavin Hood
THE PEANUT BUTTER FALCON – Michael Schwartz, Tyler Nilson
THE TWO POPES – Fernando Meirelles
WESTERN STARS – Thom Zimny, Bruce Springsteen

And just some of the films featuring here:

HAPPY BIRTHDAY – Cédric Kahn
A HIDDEN LIFE – Terrence Malick
LUCE – Julius Onah
THE REPORT – Scott Z Burns
WAITING FOR THE BARBARIANS – Ciro Guerra
SEBERG – Benedict Andrew
MR JONES – Agnieszka Holland
IT MUST BE HEAVEN – Elia Suleiman
FAMILY ROMANCE, LLC – Werner Herzog
LITTLE JOE – Jessica Hausner
GUEST OF HONOUR – Atom Egoyan
WOUNDS – Babak Anvari
AN EASY GIRL – Rebecca Zlotowski
SHOOTING THE MAFIA – Kim Longinotto
SOMEBODY UP THERE LIKES ME – Mike Figgis
WHITE SNAKE – Amp Wong, Ji Zhao

Awards and Competitions

Official Competition

FANNY LYE DELIVER’D – Thomas Clay
HONEY BOY – Alma Har’el
LINGUA FRANCA – Isabel Sandoval
LA LLORONA – Jayro Bustamante
MOFFIE – Oliver Hermanus
MONOS – Alejandro Landes
THE OTHER LAMB – Małgorzata Szumowska
THE PERFECT CANDIDATE – Haifaa Al Mansour
ROSE PLAYS JULIE – Christine Molloy, Joe Lawlor
SAINT MAUD – Rose Glass

First Feature Competition – Sutherland Award

ATLANTICS – Mati Diop
BABYTEETH – Shannon Murphy
CALM WITH HORSES – Nick Rowland
HOUSE OF HUMMINGBIRD – Bora Kim
INSTINCT – Halina Reijn
THE LAST BLACK MAN IN SAN FRANCISCO – Joe Talbot
MAKE UP – Claire Oakley
RELATIVITY – Mariko Minoguchi
SCALES – Shahad Ameen

Documentary Competition — Grierson Award

COLD CASE HAMMARSKJÖLD – Mads Brügger
COUP 53 – Taghi Amirani
CUNNINGHAM – Alla Kovgan
I AM (NOT) A MONSTER – Nelly Ben Hayoun-Stépanian
THE KINGMAKER – Lauren Greenfield
MYSTIFY: MICHAEL HUTCHENCE – Richard Lowenstein
OVERSEAS – Sung-A Yoon
A PLEASURE, COMRADES! – José Filipe Costa
WHITE RIOT – Rubika Shah

Short Film Award

IF YOU KNEW – Stroma Cairns
WHAT DO YOU KNOW ABOUT THE WATER AND THE MOON – Jian Luo
WHITE GIRL – Nadia Latif
FAULT LINE (GOSAL) – Soheil Amirsharifi
GUO4 – Peter Strickland
IN VITRO – Larissa Sansour, Søren Lind
ALGO-RHYTHM – Manu Luksch
BETWEEN (ENTRE) – Ana Carolina Marinho, Bárbara Santos
IN BETWEEN (NË MES) – Samir Karahoda
CHILD – Talia Zucker
WATERMELON JUICE (SUC DE SÍNDRIA) – Irene Moray
QUEERING DI TEKNOLOJIK – Timothy Smith

Please check out https://whatson.bfi.org.uk/lff/ for the full programme.