Martin Scorsese’s Killers Of The Flower Moon, David Fincher’s The Killer and Sofia Coppola’s Priscilla are among the titles screening at the 67th BFI London Film Festival (LFF, October 4-15).
The selection comprises 171 features, up from last year’s 164, and includes 14 world premieres, six international and 22 European.
This year’s festival marks the first edition under new director Kristy Matheson who officially took over the role from Tricia Tuttle in April. Matheson has kept the size and structure largely unchanged with thematic strands (Love, Debate, Laugh, Dare, Thrill, Cult, Journey, Create, Experimenta, Family and Treasures) all still in place.
Scroll down for full line-up
Over 90 countries are represented this year, a noticeable increase from last year’s approximately 60 , while 39% of the filmmakers are women or non-binary – a slight decrease from 2022 where it was 41%.
As previously announced, the festival will open with the international premiere of Emerald Fennell’s Saltburn from Amazon and MGM, and close with the world premiere of The Kitchen, directed by Kibwe Tavares and Daniel Kaluuya for Netflix. Also world premiering as a Headline Gala is The Book Of Clarence, the second feature from Jeymes Samuel who previously opened LFF in 2021 with his debut The Harder They Fall, and the already announced Chicken Run: Dawn Of The Nugget.
Further world premieres include Hansal Mehta’s The Buckingham Murders and Julia Jackman’s Bonus Track.
Theresa Ikoko’s Grime Kids will also world premiere as a series special presentation alongside J Blakeson’s Culprits starring Nathan Stewart-Jarrett and Gemma Arterton.
Auteurs and debuts
Many notable filmmakers will present their work at LFF after other festival outings including including Yorgos Lanthimos’ Poor Things, Bradley Cooper’s Maestro, and Richard Linklater’s Hit Man fresh from Venice while Todd Haynes’ May December, Aki Kaurismäki’s Fallen Leaves and Jonathan Glazer’s Zone Of Interest all premiered in Cannes.
This year’s line-up presents 47 debut features, up from last year’s 39, 11 of which will compete for the already announced Sutherland trophy for first feature. Additionally, former Screen Star Of Tomorrow Adura Onashile will screen Girl in the Love strand having premiered at Sundance and opened Glasgow Film Festival. Other debuts include Estibaliz Urresola Solaguren’s 20,000 Species Of Bees which won the guild film prize at Berlinale; Noora Niasari’s Shayda, recently selected as Australia’s Oscar entry; Ramata-Toulaye Sy’s Cannes competition title Banel & Adama; and Chris Pine’s Pool Man.
In addition to the in-person programme presented at London’s BFI Southbank and Royal Festival Hall, events and screenings will also take place at other various locations around the country including Glasgow Film Theatre, HOME in Manchester, MAC in Birmingham and Queen’s Film Theatre in Belfast. A collection of 14 short films will also be available for free online for the duration of the festival.
The full industry programme will be announced in the coming weeks.
Matheson said: “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.”
LFF 2023
*world premiere
Headline Galas
Saltburn (UK-US) - opening night
Dir. Emerald Fennell
The Kitchen* (UK-US) - closing night
Dirs. Kibwe Tavares, Daniel Kaluuya
One Life (UK)
Dir. James Hawes
All Of Us Strangers (UK)
Dir. Andrew Haigh
The Bikeriders (US)
Dir. Jeff Nichols
The Book Of Clarence* (US)
Dir. Jeymes Samuel
Chicken Run: Dawn Of The Nugget* (UK-US)
Dir. Sam Fell
The Holdovers (US)
Dir. Alexander Payne
The Killer (US)
Dir. David Fincher
Killers Of The Flower Moon (US)
Dir. Martin Scorsese
Maestro (US)
Dir. Bradley Cooper
May December (US)
Dir. Todd Haynes
Nyad (US)
Dirs. Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi, Jimmy Chin
Poor Things (UK-Ire-US)
Dir. Yorgos Lanthimos
Special Presentations
Cobweb (S. Kor)
Dir. Kim Jee-woon
The End We Start From (UK)
Dir. Mahalia Belo
Fallen Leaves (Fin)
Dir. Aki Kaurismäki
Foe (Aus)
Dir. Garth Davis
Grime Kids* (UK) - series
Dir. Abdou Cisse
Hit Man (US)
Dir. Richard Linklater
Housekeeping For Beginners (North Macedonia-Poland-Croatia-Serbia-Kosovo)
Dir. Goran Stolevski
Les Indesirables (Fr-Bel)
Dir. Ladj Ly
Memory (Mex-US)
Dir. Michel Franco
Occupied City (UK-Neth)
Dir. Steve McQueen
Priscilla (US-It)
Dir. Sofia Coppola
The Zone Of Interest (US-UK-Pol)
Dir. Jonathan Glazer
The Boy And The Heron (Jap)
Dir. Hayao Miyazaki
Love
20,000 Species Of Bees (Sp)
Dir. Estibaliz Urresola Solaguren
Ama Gloria (Fr)
Dir. Marie Amachoukeli
Banel & Adama (Fr-Sen-Mali)
Dir. Ramata-Toulaye Sy
Blackbird Blackbird Blackberry (Switz-Ger-Georgia)
Dir. Elene Naveriani
The Eternal Memory (Chile)
Dir. Maite Alberdi
Fancy Dance (US)
Dir. Erica Tremblay
Girl (UK)
Dir. Adura Onashile
Goodbye Julia (Sudan-Egypt-Germany-France-Saudi Arabia-Swe)
Dir. Mohamed Kordofani
Monster (Jap)
Dir. Hirokazu Kore-eda
Our Body (Fr)
Dir. Claire Simon
Perfect Days (Jap)
Dir. Wim Wenders
Robot Dreams (Sp-Fr)
Dir. Pablo Berger
Silver Haze (Neth-UK)
Dir. Sacha Polak
Slow (Lith-Sp-Swe)
Dir. Marija Kavtaradze
Totem (Mex-Den-Fr)
Dir. Lila Avilés
Unicorns (UK)
Dirs. Sally El Hosaini, James Krishna Floyd
Debate
Allensworth (US)
Dir. James Benning
Fire Through Dry Grass (US)
Dirs. Alexis Neophytides, Andres ‘Jay’ Molina
Four Daughters (Fr-Tun-Ger-S. Arabia)
Dir. Kaouther Ben Hania
The Goldman Case (Fr)
Dir. Cédric Kahn
High & Low - John Galliano (Fr-US-UK)
Dir. Kevin Macdonald
Kidnapped (It-Fr-Ger)
Dir. Marco Bellocchio
The Mission (US)
Dirs. Jesse Moss, Amanda McBaine
On The Adamant (Fr-Jap)
Dir. Nicolas Philibert
The Pigeon Tunnel (UK)
Dir. Errol Morris
The Rye Horn (Sp-Port-Bel)
Dir. Jaione Camborda
Shoshana (UK-It)
Dir. Michael Winterbottom
Wilding* (UK)
Dir. David Allen
Youth (Spring) (Fr-Lux-Neth)
Dir. Wang Bing
Laugh
Asog (Phil-Can)
Dir. Seán Devlin
Bonus Track* (UK)
Dir. Julia Jackman
The Book Of Solutions (Fr)
Dir. Michel Gondry
Daaaaaali! (Fr)
Dir. Quentin Dupieux
The Hypnosis (Swe-Nor-Fr)
Dir. Ernst De Geer
Molli And Max In The Future (US)
Dir. Michael Lukk Litwak
The Nature Of Love (Can-Fr)
Dir. Monia Chokri
The Practice (Arg-Chile-Port)
Dir. Martín Rejtman
Poolman (US)
Dir. Chris Pine
Shortcomings (US)
Dir. Randall Park
Terrestial Verses (Iran)
Dirs. Ali Asgari, Alireza Khatami
Dare
Animalia (Fr-Mor-Qat)
Dir. Sofia Alaoui
Behind The Mountains (Tun-Fr-Bel-It-S. Arabia-Qat)
Dir. Mohamed Ben Attia
Do Not Expect Too Much From The End Of The World (Rom-Lux-Fr-Cro)
Dir. Radu Jude
Eileen (US)
Dir. William Oldroyd
Foremost By Night (Sp-Port-Fr)
Dir. Víctor Iriarte
Inside The Yellow Cocoon Shell (Viet-Sing-Fr-Sp)
Dir. Thien An Pham
Last Summer (Fr)
Dir. Catherine Breillat
Little Girl Blue (Fr-Bel)
Dir. Mona Achache
Music (Ger-Fr-Serb)
Dir. Angela Schanelec
Omen (Bel-Neth-Congo-Fr-S. Afr)
Dir. Baloji
The Peasants (Pol-Serb-Lith)
Dir. DK Welchman, Hugh Welchman
Power Alley (Bra-Fr-Uru)
Dir. Lillah Halla
A Prince (Fr)
Dir. Pierre Creton
Red Island (Fr-Bel-Mad)
Dir. Robin Campillo
Samsara (Sp)
Dir. Lois Patiño
Thrill
The Animal Kingdom (Fr)
Dir. Thomas Cailley
The Buckingham Murders* (Ind-UK)
Dir. Hansal Mehta
Copa ’71 (UK)
Dirs. Rachel Ramsay, James Erskine
Culprits* (UK)
Dir. J Blakeson
Gassed Up* (UK)
Dir. George Amponsah
Lost In The Night (Mex-Ger-Neth)
Dir. Amat Escalante
Lubo (It-Switz)
Dir. Giorgio Diritti
Only The River Flows (Chi)
Dir. Shujun Wei
Shame On Dry Land (Swe-Malta)
Dir. Axel Petersén
Stolen (Ind)
Dir. Karan Tejpal
Unmoored* (UK-Pol-Swe)
Dir. Caroline Ingvarsson
Cult
The Beast (Fr-Can)
Dir. Bertrand Bonello
Birth/Rebirth (US)
Dir. Laura Moss
Late Night With The Devil (Australia)
Dirs. Cameron Cairnes, Colin Cairnes
Nightwatch - Demons Are Forever* (Den)
Dir. Ole Bornedal
Red Rooms (Can)
Dir. Pascal Plante
Scala!!! (UK)
Dirs. Jane Giles, Ali Catterall
Stopmotion (UK)
Dir. Robert Morgan
Vincent Must Die (Fr-Bel)
Dir. Stéphan Castang
Journey
All Dirt Roads Taste Of Salt (US)
Dir. Raven Jackson
The Bride (Rwa)
Dir. Myriam U. Birara
The Delinquents (Arg)
Dir. Rodrigo Moreno
The Echo (Mex-Ger)
Dir. Tatiana Huezo
Expats (US-Hong Kong)
Dir. Lulu Wang
Haar* (UK)
Dir. Ben Hecking
How To Have Sex (UK-Gre)
Dir. Molly Manning Walker
If Only I Could Hibernate (Mon-Fr-Switz-Qat)
Dir. Zoljargal Purevdash
Inshallah A Boy (Jor-Fr-S. Ara-Qat-Egy)
Dir. Amjad Al Rasheed
The Lost Boys (Bel-Fr)
Dir. Zeno Graton
The New Boy (Australia)
Dir. Warwick Thornton
Ramona (Dom Rep-UK)
Dir. Victoria Linares Villegas
The Settlers (Chile-Arg-Fr-Den-UK-Tai-Swe-Ger)
Dir. Felipe Gálvez Haberle
Shayda (Australia)
Dir. Noora Niasari
The Spectre Of Boko Haram (Cam-Fr)
Dir. Cyrielle Raingo
The Sweet East (US)
Dir. Sean Price Williams
That They May Face The Rising Sun (Ire-UK)
Dir. Pat Collins
Create
Anita (US)
Dirs. Alexis Bloom, Svetlana Zill
Anselm (Ger)
Dir. Wim Wenders
Apolonia, Apolonia (Den-Pol-Fr)
Dir. Lea Glob
Close Your Eyes (Sp-Arg)
Dir. Víctor Erice
The Daughters Of Fire (Port)
Dir. Pedro Costa
Croma Kid (Dom Reb)
Dir. Pablo Chea
Going To Mars: The Nikki Giovanni Project (US)
Dirs. Michèle Stephenson, Joe Brewster
In Restless Dreams: The Music Of Paul Simon
Dir. Alex Gibney
Menu-Plaisirs Les Troisgros (US)
Dir. Frederick Wiseman
The Pot Au Feu (Fr)
Dir. Anh Hung Tran
Ryuichi Sakamoto | Opus (Jap)
Dir. Neo Sora
Swan Song (Can)
Dir. Chelsea McMullan
They Shot The Piano Player (Sp-Fr-Neth)
Dirs. Fernando Trueba, Javier Mariscal
This Is Going To Be Big (Australia)
Dir. Thomas Charles Hyland
You Can Call Me Bill (US)
Dir. Alexandre O. Philippe
Experimenta
The Lost Art Of The Future (Can)
Dir. Theo Cuthand
A Radical Duet (UK)
Dir. Onyeka Igwe
Speech For A Melting Statue (Bel-Congo)
Dir. Collectif Faire-part
Wells Of Despair (Neth)
Dir. sata taas
The Archive: Queer Nigerians (UK)
Dir. Simisolaoluwa Akande
Everything Worthwhile Is Done With Other People (UK)
Dir. Rehana Zaman
Night Fishing With The Ancestors (Australia)
Dir. Elizabeth Povinelli
Minevissam (UK)
Dir. Niki Kohandel
Notes From Gog Magog (Indo)
Dir. Riar Rizaldi
Coders (Lith)
Dir. Anastasia Sosunova
Platform Ghosts - Turker, Farmer, Bot (Ind)
Dir. Aarti Sunder
Onset (UK-Pol)
Dirs. Anna Engelhardt, Mark Cinkevich
Gush (US)
Dir. Fox Maxy
Pacific Club (Fr-Qat)
Dir. Valentin Noujaïm
It Can’t Be That Nothing Can Be Returned (Ukr)
Dir. Dana Kavelina
Timekeepers Of The Anthropocene (Mex-US)
Dir. Federico Cuatlacuatl
Tristxtotl (UK)
Dir. Mădălina Zaharia
Mangosteen (Thai)
Dir. Tulapop Saenjaroen
The Goose’s Excuse (Egy-UK)
Dirs. Mahdy Abo Bahat, Abdo Zin Eldin
Room In A Crowd (Phil)
Dir. John Torres
Temp (Jap)
Dir. Yu Araki
All Of The Days Of May (Can)
Dir. Miryam Charles
Wood For The Trees (Ger)
Dir. Rob Crosse
Sunflower Siege Engine (US)
Dir. Sky Hopinka
A Throwing Forth (US-China)
Dir. Xiao Zhang
Levitate (It-Sp-Fr)
Dir. Iván Argote
Desert Dreaming (Sri Lanka)
Dir. Abdul Halik Azeez
Khabur (Ger-Iran)
Dir. Nafis Fathollahzadeh
LFF Expanded
Colored (Fr-Tai)
Lead Artists - Pierre-Alain Giraud, Stéphane Foenkinos, Tania de Montaigne
Consensus Gentium (UK-Australia-US)
Lead Artist - Karen Palmer
Flow (Neth-Fr)
Lead Artist - Adriaan Lokman
Forager (US)
Lead Artists - Winslow Porter, Elie Zananiri
The Fury (US)
Lead Artist - Shirin Neshat
The Imaginary Friend (Neth-Bel)
Lead Artist - Steye Hallema
Letters From Drancy (UK-US)
Lead Artist - Darren Emerson
Murals (Pol-Ukr-US)
Lead Artists - Alex Topaller, Daniel Shapiro, Artem Ivaneko
Things Fall Apart: A Musical Installation In Mixed Reality (Ger-Isr-Ind)
Lead Artist - CyberRäuber
Haunted Hotel - A Melodrama In Augmented Reality (Ger)
Lead Artist - Guy Maddin
Fleeting Figures (Swe-UK)
Lead Artists - Åsa Cederqvist, Lundahl & Setil, Untold Garden, Pastelae, Oscar Häggström, SONG
Ghosts Of Solid Air (UK)
Lead Artist - Amy Rose
My Trip 2023* (UK)
Lead Artist - Bjarne Melgaard
Elsewhere India (Ind-UK-US)
Lead Artists - Murthovic, Thiruda
Family
Dancing Queen (Nor)
Dir. Aurora Gossé
Deep Sea 3D (China)
Dir. Xiaopeng Tian
Kensuke’s Kingdom (UK-Lux-Fr)
Dirs. Kirk Hendry, Neil Boyle
The Sacred Cave (Cam-Burkina Faso-Fr)
Dir. Daniel Minlo
Treasures
The Black Pirate (US)
Dir. Albert Parker
The Dupes (Syria)
Dir. Tewfik Saleh
Macario (Mex)
Dir. Roberto Gavaldón
Peeping Tom (UK)
Dir. Michael Powell
Pressure (UK)
Dir. Horace Ové
The Stranger And The Fog (Iran)
Dir. Bahram Beyzaie
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