08/09/2011

The 55th BFI London Film Festival (October 12-27) is packed with the best of European cinema, as is customary. In all the festival will screen a total of 204 fiction and documentary features, including 13 World Premieres, 18 International Premieres and 22 European Premieres.

As announced earlier, Fernando Meirelles’ 360 [+see also:
trailer
film profile] and Terence Davies’ The Deep Blue Sea [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Terence Davies
film profile] will open and close the festival. British highlights include Lynne Ramsay’s We Need To Talk About Kevin [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Lynne Ramsay
film profile], Michael Winterbottom’s Trishna, Ralph Fiennes’ Coriolanus [+see also:
trailer
film profile], Steve McQueen’s Shame [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] and Andrea Arnold’s Wuthering Heights [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Andrea Arnold
film profile].

European cinema is the bedrock on which the festival thrives and this year sees a powerful selection of films from the continent. Selections include Roland Emmerich’s Anonymous [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Rhys Ifans
interview: Roland Emmerich
interview: The cast of Roland Emmerich…
film profile] (UK/Germany), the Dardenne brothers’ The Kid With A Bike [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne
film profile], Roman Polanski’s Carnage [+see also:
trailer
film profile] (France/Germany/Poland), Werner Herzog’s Into The Abyss (Germany/Canada), Paolo Sorrentino’s This Must Be The Place [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Paolo Sorrentino
film profile] (Italy/Ireland/France), Nanni Moretti’s We Have A Pope [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Nanni Moretti
film profile] (Italy) and Joachim Trier’s Oslo [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Joachim Trier
film profile] (Norway).

France has several selections and a strand dedicated to French cinema. Highlights include Michel Hazanavicius’ The Artist [+see also:
trailer
film profile], Dominik Moll’s The Monk [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile], Mathieu Demy’s Americano, Jean-Marc Moutout’s Early One Morning and Mathieu Kassovitz’s Rebellion.

The festival is a champion of new British cinema and this year’s picks include D.R. Hood’s Wreckers, Tinge Krishnan’s Junkhearts [+see also:
trailer
film profile], Andrew Haigh’s Weekend [+see also:
trailer
film profile], Nirpal Bhogal’s Sket [+see also:
trailer
film profile], Alexandra McGuinness’ Lotus Eaters [+see also:
trailer
interview: Antonia Campbell-Huges
film profile], Frances Lea’s Strawberry Fields [+see also:
trailer
film profile], Richard Jobson’s The Somnambulists, Paul Kelly’s Lawrence Of Belgravia and Daniel Edelsyn’s How To Re-Establish A Vodka Empire [+see also:
trailer
film profile].