61st BFI London Film Festival announces its full line-up

Today in London, the BFI announced their full line-up for the upcoming 61st London Film Festival, which takes place this October. Hundreds of films are set to appear as part of the festival this year and we have picked out a few choice ones for you, as well as the full list of those in competitions.

Already announced as opening and closing the festival are Andy Serkis’ Breathe and Martin McDonagh’s Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, with Battle of the Sexes appearing as the American Express Gala.B

Elsewhere, Lynn Ramsey’s Cannes winner You Were Never Really Here appears, as does Guillermo del Toro’s The Shape of Water; Yorgos Lanthimos’ The Killing of a Sacred Deer; Alexander Payne’s Downsizing; Richard Linklater’s Last Flag Flying; Dee Ree’s Mudbound; and Luca Guadagnino’s acclaimed Call Me By Your Name.

Notable additions are: Lean on Pete; Journey’s End; Stronger; Ingrid Goes West; Amant Double; Blade of the Immortal; On Chesil Beach; The Florida Project; Wonderstruck; Redoubtable; Thelma; Happy End; A Fantastic Woman and the first two episode of Mindhunter, Netflix’s thriller for which David Fincher has directed.

You can check out the full programme at the festival site here. The festival runs October 4th – 15th.

OFFICIAL COMPETITION

The Official Competition, recognising inspiring, inventive and distinctive filmmaking, includes the following shortlisted titles:

Robin Campillo, 120 BPM (BEATS PER MINUTE)
Vivian Qu, ANGELS WEAR WHITE
Majid Majidi, BEYOND THE CLOUDS (World Premiere)
Nora Twomey, THE BREADWINNER (European Premiere)
Juliana Rojas, Marco Dutra, GOOD MANNERS
Xavier Beauvois, THE GUARDIANS (European Premiere)
Andrew Haigh, LEAN ON PETE
Andrey Zvyagintsev, LOVELESS
Azazel Jacobs, THE LOVERS (European Premiere)
Warwick Thornton, SWEET COUNTRY
Cory Finley, THOROUGHBRED (International Premiere)
Annemarie Jacir, WAJIB

GALAS

Andy Serkis, BREATHE (Opening Film)
Martin McDonagh, THREE BILLBOARDS OUTSIDE EBBING, MISSOURI (Closing Film)
Jonathan Dayton & Valerie Faris, BATTLE OF THE SEXES
Luca Guadagnigno, CALL ME BY YOUR NAME
Alexander Payne, DOWNSIZING
Paul McGuigan, FILM STARS DON’T DIE IN LIVERPOOL
Guillermo Del Toro, THE SHAPE OF WATER
Dee Rees, MUDBOUND
Saul Dibb, JOURNEY’S END
Yorgos Lanthimos, THE KILLING OF A SACRED DEER
Richard Linklater, LAST FLAG FLYING
Lynne Ramsay, YOU WERE NEVER REALLY HERE
Francois Ozon, AMANT DOUBLE
Benjamin Renner, Patrick Imbert, THE BIG BAD FOX AND OTHER TALES
Takashi Miike, BLADE OF THE IMMORTAL
Samuel Moaz, FOXTROT
Noah Baumbach, THE MEYEROWITZ STORIES (NEW AND SELECTED)
Dominic Cooke, ON CHESIL BEACH
Joachim Trier, THELMA
Todd Haynes, WONDERSTRUCK

FIRST FEATURE COMPETITION

Titles in consideration for the Sutherland Award in the First Feature Competition recognising an original and imaginative directorial debut are:

Daniel Kokotajlo, APOSTASY
Léa Mysius, AVA
Michael Pearce, BEAST (European Premiere)
Ofir Raul Graizer, THE CAKEMAKER
Gilles Coulier, CARGO
Kogonada, COLUMBUS
Rungano Nyoni, I AM NOT A WITCH
Léonor Serraille, JEUNE FEMME
Ana Asensio, MOST BEAUTIFUL ISLAND
Carla Simón, SUMMER 1993
Hlynur Pálmason, WINTER BROTHERS
John Trengove, THE WOUND

DOCUMENTARY COMPETITION

The Grierson Award in the Documentary Competition category recognises cinematic documentaries with integrity, originality, and social or cultural significance. This year the Festival is screening:

Maryam Goormaghtigh, BEFORE SUMMER ENDS
Elvira Lind, BOBBI JENE
Arash Kamali Sarvestani, Behrouz Boochani, CHAUKA, PLEASE TELL US THE TIME (International Premiere)
Radu Jude, THE DEAD NATION
Shevaun Mizrahi, DISTANT CONSTELLATION
Frederick Wiseman, EX LIBRIS – THE NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY
Agnès Varda, JR, FACES PLACES
Austin Lynch, Matthew Booth, GRAY HOUSE
Brett Morgen, JANE (European Premiere)
Lucy Cohen, KINGDOM OF US (World Premiere)
Emmanuel Gras, MAKALA
Sonia Kronlund, THE PRINCE OF NOTHINGWOOD

SHORT FILM AWARD

The Short Film Award recognises short form works with a unique cinematic voice and a confident handling of chosen theme and content. This year the Festival is screening:

Gabriel Abrantes, THE ARTIFICIAL HUMORS
Phil Collins, DELETE BEACH
Billie Pleffer, FYSH (International Premiere)
Anna Cazenave Cambet, GABBER LOVER
Karishma Dube, GODDESS
Aegina Brahim, LAWS OF THE GAME
Jonathan Vinel, MARTIN CRIES
Patrick Bresnan THE RABBIT HUNT
Moin Hussain, REAL GODS REQUIRE BLOOD
Kibwe Tavares, ROBOT & SCARECROW
Kazik Radwanski, SCAFFOLD
Harry Lighton, WREN BOYS (World Premiere)