One of Europe’s most highly anticipated film festivals kicks off later this week. Founded in 1933, the British Film Institute (BFI) has hosted a film festival every October since 1957. While the 2020 edition was only online due to Covid, the film festival has since returned to its usual format – and moviegoers will love this year’s lineup.
So, what are the standout features, the big surprises and who are the new names to keep an eye out for? Here’s what to expect at BFI London 2022.
Talking to the Stars: Janelle Monáe and Bill Nighy
As usual at BFI London, there will be a whole host of panels featuring the best and brightest of the film world, such as Janelle Monáe. The most eagerly anticipated film to hit the festival is Glass Onion: A Knife Mysterya sequel to 2019 Blades off, with Daniel Craig, Edward Norton and Janelle Monáe. After premiering at the Toronto International Film Festival last month to critical acclaim, the multi-talented Monáe’s performance has already been acclaimed.
The discussion at London’s BFI Southbank on October 14 will cover her varied career and fencing work, including winning turns in Hidden Figures (2016) and Moonlight (2016), and more recently, opposite Eric Lange in pre-war (2020).
Three days earlier, it is British actor Bill Nighy’s turn to take center stage. The veteran actor is known for his impressive range. His comedic work includes films like Edgar Wright Shaun of the Dead (2004), The Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy (2005), and a BAFTA-winning performance in Richard Curtis’s Love actually (2003), while roles in historical dramas, war films, and sci-fi blockbusters such as The Limehouse Golem (2016), Valkyrie (2008), and the 2012 reboot Total Recall speak respectively to a remarkable ability in all genres.
Next month, Nighy’s most recent film, the Kazuo Ishiguro-written to live, premieres in the UK, and is already receiving acclaim for Nighy’s nuanced, gripping performance. Nighy’s event is scheduled for October 11 at the Curzon Soho Cinema, while to live will be screened later that day at the Southbank Center’s Royal Festival Hall.
Big festival screenings
A variety of new films will see premieres or early screenings during the festival. One of the most notable displays is that of Darren Aronofsky The whale; Brendan Fraser’s triumphant lead role was already lauded at the Toronto International Film Festival last month, where he received the award for Best Actor. Guillermo del Toro .’s stop motion animation feature Pinocchio has also attracted attention with its portrayal of the well-known fairy tale against the stark backdrop of Mussolini’s Italy; the film will have its world premiere at the festival on October 15 and will be streamed on Netflix in December.
Chinonye Chukwus Until, a historical drama about Mamie Till-Mobley, the mother whose son, Emmett Till, was brutally murdered in Mississippi in 1955—an event that outraged public opinion at the time and encouraged the development of the civil rights movement—is likely to return after its world premiere. week in New York again become a major attraction. The film tells the harrowing true story of Till, who was just fourteen when two white men murdered him. After being found innocent, the men then admitted to the murder in a magazine interview. Till-Mobley’s experience is told by a star-studded cast, including Danielle Deadwyler (Jane and Emma, The harder they fall), Frankie Faison (The Silence of the Lambs, The murder of Kenneth Chamberlain), and Whoopi Goldberg, who also co-produces.
The LFF Awards
The London Film Festival Awards will also recognize a range of new filmmakers for their efforts. The Sutherland Award is presented to films by debuting directors. In the running this year are films from around the world, including Pakistani director Saim Sadiq’s meditation on queerness and sexuality, Joylandwhich won the Un Certain Regard jury prize at Cannes in the summer, and Our Lady of the Chinese Shopan unusual Angolan film by Ery Claver in which a plastic statue of the Virgin Mary brings remarkable changes in the lives of those who come into contact with it.
Meanwhile, the Grierson Award is presented to the best documentary. nominees Involving All the beauty and the bloodshedLaura Poitras’ biography of artist and activist Nan Goldin; Call me Lawand, Edward Lovelace’s moving portrait of the life of a deaf Kurdish boy; and The future timeChristine Molloy and Joe Lawlor’s exploration of the links between Irish identity, English colonialism and life in the United Kingdom.
How and when to watch?
The British Film Institute London Film Festival 2022 kicks off on Wednesday, October 5 at various locations in London and the UK and will run until October 16. Events will be streamed on BFI Player from October 14 to October 23. Go to bfi.org.uk for locations, the schedule and ticketing details.