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The C&TH Guide To The BFI London Film Festival (& The Best Films Showing In 2023)
Movie magic in the capital
By | 7 months ago
The BFI London Film Festival kicks off tomorrow (4 October), bringing a jam packed roster of movie magic to the capital. Whether you’re planning on going in person or you’re wondering how (and when) to catch the big hitters for yourself, here’s everything to know about the BFI London Film Festival 2023.
The Ultimate Guide To The BFI London Film Festival 2023
What Is The BFI London Film Festival?
The BFI London Film Festival is the capital’s annual movie extravaganza and the UK’s largest film festival, now in its 67th year. It takes place over two weeks in October, and is known for its opening and closing red carpet galas, which feature the premieres of the opening and closing films. This year, the opening film is the International Premiere of Emerald Fennell’s Saltburn, while closing is the World Premiere of Kibwe Tavares and Daniel Kaluuya’s The Kitchen.
Known for its diverse and accessible programme of events, expect the screening of 252 titles (comprising features, shorts, XR works and series) from 92 countries in 79 languages. Film screenings are open to the public (with tickets), with a plethora of partner venues also hosting screenings in London and across the UK, from Cardiff to Newcastle. Plus, thanks to LFF Expanded, 14 new Immersive Art and Extended Reality works will be presented at new venues, from the Oxo Tower to Outernet London, alongside free augmented reality walks around the city.
The Festival will culminate with the LFF’s Competition on the final day (15 October), awarding four of the cinematic talents behind the films screened across the fortnight, alongside the ever-popular Audience Award. The five winning films will be screened again on 15 October after being declared the winners.
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This year is Kristy Matheson’s first year as BFI London Film Festival Director. She says: ‘In preparing this 2023 festival, my colleagues and I have been endlessly buoyed by the artistry, ideas and talented individuals and communities that have come into our orbit. It’s now time to share all this wonder and we can’t wait for audiences to experience it all this October here in London and across the UK with LFF on Tour and online at BFI Player.’
Ben Roberts, BFI CEO, added: ‘Cinema has reclaimed its status as a cultural force, an art-form that can spark a conversation around the world, and which will resound loudly through the wide-ranging lineup of essential cinema that our 67th edition of the BFI London Film Festival will offer. I am particularly excited that the Festival will be sharing the exhilarating experience of new work from global filmmakers alongside so many debut features from the UK this year.
‘I congratulate Kristy on her first LFF programme and the talented team who continue to find creative ways to reach new audiences, including through our free programme,’ he added. ‘We couldn’t do it without our loyal supporters, including our principal partner of 14 years American Express, so huge thanks to them and our many other sponsors, funders, partners, including the UK Government and the UK’s National Lottery players who do so much to enable both the Festival and our work throughout the year.’
What To See In 2023
Films
There’s a broad variety of films on offer this year (as is typical of the LFF), including major established directors alongside 47 debut features. Every film and series will screen to UK audiences for the very first time, with LFF 2023 boasting 29 world premieres, seven international premieres and 30 European premieres. Here are the big hitters we’re looking forward to.
Saltburn
UK Release: 17 November 2023
‘Struggling to fit in at Oxford University, Oliver Quick finds himself drawn into the world of the charming and aristocratic Felix Catton, who invites him to Saltburn, his eccentric family’s sprawling estate, for a summer never to be forgotten.’
Read everything we know about Saltburn here
Poor Things
UK Release: 12 January 2024
‘Yorgos Lanthimos’ wild and beautiful firecracker of a film which sees Emma Stone star as a young woman in Victorian England who commits suicide and is re-animated by her defacto guardian, the scientist Dr Goodwin Baxter, played by Mark Ruffalo. Bella’s mind soon becomes increasingly alive to the opportunities the world offers and she embarks on a global adventure and sets her sights on sating all her carnal and spiritual desire.’
Read everything we know about Poor Things here
Emma Stone in POOR THINGS. Photo by Atsushi Nishijima. Courtesy of Searchlight Pictures. © 2023 20th Century Studios All Rights Reserved.
All Of Us Strangers
UK Release: 22 December 2023
‘Screenwriter Adam strikes up an uneasy acquaintance with his mysterious neighbour Harry which edges towards something more intimate. As time passes, Adam begins to question the turn his life has taken and whether it is to his detriment.’
Read everything we know about All Of Us Strangers here
© Searchlight Pictures/20th Century Studios
Wilding
UK Release: TBC
Based on Isabella Tree’s best-selling book of the same name, Wilding tells the story of a young couple that bets on nature for the future of their failing, 400-year-old estate. The young couple battles entrenched tradition and dares to place the fate of their farm in the hands of nature. Ripping down the fences, they set the land back to the wild and entrust its recovery to a motley mix of animals both tame and wild. It is the beginning of a grand experiment that will become one of the most significant rewilding experiments in Europe.
Image shows: Isabella Tree, as played by Rhainnon Hughes, meets a Tamworth pig sow at Knepp
The Kitchen
UK Release: Late 2023 (Netflix)
‘In a dystopian London, the gap between rich and poor has been stretched to its limits. All forms of social housing have been eradicated and only The Kitchen remains. A community that refuses to move out of the place they call home. The Kitchen follows an unlikely pair – the solitary Izi and 12-year-old Benji – as they struggle to forge a relationship in a system that is stacked against them.’
The Kitchen. (L to R) Kane Robinson as Izi, Jedaiah Bannerman as Benji in The Kitchen. Courtesy of Netflix © 2023
Chicken Run: Dawn Of The Nugget
UK Release: 15 December 2023 (Netflix)
‘The eagerly anticipated sequel to the beloved and highest-grossing stop-motion animated film of all time, Chicken Run. Having pulled off a death-defying escape from Tweedy’s farm, Ginger has finally found her dream – a peaceful island sanctuary for the whole flock, far from the dangers of the human world. When she and Rocky hatch a little girl called Molly, Ginger’s happy ending seems complete. But back on the mainland the whole of chicken-kind faces a new and terrible threat. For Ginger and her team, even if it means putting their own hard-won freedom at risk–this time, they’re breaking in!’
CHICKEN RUN: DAWN OF THE NUGGET – (L to R): Fetcher (Daniel Mays), Nick (Romesh Ranganathan), Mac (Lynn Ferguson), Bunty (Imelda Staunton), Ginger (Thandiwe Newton), Babs (Jane Horrocks) and Fowler (David Bradley). CHICKEN RUN: DAWN OF THE NUGGET will make its debut only on Netflix in 2023. Aardman/NETFLIX © 2023
The Bikeriders
UK Release: 1 December 2023
‘Jeff Nichols (Mud, Take Shelter) returns to cinema screens with his latest feature, The Bikeriders, which follows the lives of a Chicago motorcycle gang throughout the 1960s and 1970s, starring a critically acclaimed all-star cast including Tom Hardy, Michael Shannon, Jodie Comer and Austin Butler in an engrossing and dramatic slice of Americana. When Kathy first meets the Chicago Outlaws biker gang, she’s horrified. But she finds herself swept up in a whirlwind romance with the brooding Benny, and soon the Outlaws become her way of life.’
Austin Butler as “Benny” in 20th Century Studios’ THE BIKERIDERS. Photo credit: Kyle Kaplan. All Rights Reserved.
Priscilla
UK Release: 26 December 2023
‘Based on the memoir Elvis and Me by Priscilla Presley and Sandra Harmon, Coppola’s humanistic portrait of a young woman growing inside a gilded cage serves as a beautiful companion to her 2006 film Marie Antoinette, investigating another fascinating figure embedded within the culture psyche and in the company of a larger-than-life king.’
Read everything we know about Priscilla here
© A24
Maestro
UK Release: 22 November 2023
‘Bradley Cooper’s second feature Maestro is a passionate, enthralling biopic of Leonard Bernstein, the composer of West Side Story, winner of countless accolades and the first American conductor to receive world wide international acclaim. Cooper’s film encompasses Bernstein’s life through the prism of his 30-year marriage to Chilean American actor Felicia Montealegre, played by Carey Mulligan. Spanning the decades following the end of the Second World War, the film skilfully weaves thecouple’s story into the fabric of American cultural and political life and cements Cooper’s position as a world-class filmmaker.’
Maestro. (L to R) Carey Mulligan as Felicia Montealegre and Bradley Cooper as Leonard Bernstein (Director/Writer) in Maestro. Cr. Jason McDonald/Netflix © 2023.
The Zone of Interest
UK Release: TBD
‘The Zone of Interest sees Jonathan Glazer investigate the dream of Nazi Germany, a brilliantly penetrating rethink of Holocaust cinema, inspired by the Martin Amis novel. Rudolf, Hedwig and their family live the perfect suburban dream with their beautifully ordered house and garden, but audible from behind the wall are the sounds of mechanised death, for Rudolf Hoss is the commandant of Auschwitz. Glazer offers his most ambitious film yet, displacing the usual tropes of the Holocaust drama to depict the pampered life of executioners inhabiting the bubble of bourgeois denial, keeping the reality of genocide hermetically sealed on the inside.’
© A24/Mica Levi
Expats
UK Release: 2024 (Prime Video)
‘Writer-director Lulu Wang delves into the complex dynamics of Hong Kong’s Wealthy expat community in Expats, the series adaptation of Janice Y. K. Lee’s bestselling novel.’
Clarke (Brian Tee), Margaret (Nicole Kidman) in EXPATS. Courtesy of Prime Video.
Talks
The line up of Screen Talks hasn’t been announced yet. Come back here or visit whatson.bfi.org.uk to stay up to date.
Art
A new element of the LFF will launch this year: Immersive Art and Extended Realities, running 6–22 October 2023 at Bargehouse at OXO Tower Wharf and Gallery@OXO. Nine projects from British and international artists will invite audiences to explore and experience new ways of telling stories on screen, with a further series of works displayed for free. Plus, two free augmented reality walks will launch at Outernet London and Science Gallery London.
Free Events
Many of the events at the London Film Festival are free to attend. The LFF For Free programme includes screenings, Q&As, talks, seminars and even club nights. Highlights include:
- A preview screening of Loki Season 2: catch the first two episodes, plus an introduction from director Dan DeLeeuw and exec-producer Kevin R Wright. 5 October
- Little White Lies 100 exhibition: a show at the OXO Tower hosted by film magazine Little White Lies, marking its 100th issue. 4 October
- ‘Lights, Camera, Action!’ talks: listen to lunchtime talks from the likes of Saltburn choreographer Polly Bennett (5 October) and Hoard’s intimacy coordination Louise Kempton (10 October).
- LFF Expanded: a programme of immersive art and augmented reality, including an audiovisual electronica performance about a future world (7 October) and an immersive exhibition on Canadian filmmaker Guy Maddin exploring themes of desire and death (from 4 October).
- The Film Quiz: a big film quiz at BFI Southbank. 11 October
Where?
The BFI London Film Festival predominantly takes place on London’s South Bank at BFI Southbank and The Southbank Centre’s Royal Festival Hall. However, there are also a number of partner venues in London and across the UK.
The London partner cinemas are:
- BFI Southbank
- BFI IMAX
- Vue West End
- Prince Charles Cinema
- Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA)
- Curzon Soho
- Curzon Mayfair
Festival venues across the UK are:
- Broadway Cinema, Nottingham
- Chapter, Cardiff
- Glasgow Film Theatre
- HOME, Manchester
- MAC, Birmingham
- Queen’s Film Theatre, Belfast
- Showroom Cinema, Sheffield,
- Tyneside Cinema, Newcastle
- Watershed, Bristol
Plus, a curated programme of 14 free short films will be available digitally across the UK on BFI Player for the duration of the Festival.
When?
The London Film Festival will run from 4–15 October 2023, with Immersive Art and Extended Realities running from 6–22 October 2023.
How?
There are still some tickets available for the 2023 BFI London Film Festival, running 4–15 October 2023, including films not yet fully booked and new ticket releases for screenings that were previously sold out. Book online at whatson.bfi.org.uk
