As the Venice Film Festival kicks off this week, so too does it begin the Fall film festival circuit. Telluride also starts this weekend, then onto TIFF, NYFF, and the BFI London Film Festival. And Variety has the scoop on the full line-up for London this October, which features several major films that premiered at Cannes and other fests earlier this year. Chief among them? Martin Scorsese‘s “Killers Of The Flower Moon,” Yorgos Lanthimos‘ “Poor Things,” and Bradley Cooper‘s “Maestro.”
READ MORE: Venice Film Festival 2023: The 17 Most Anticipated Movies To Watch
London Film Festival has several galas and special presentations in their schedule, including its previously announced opening films, Emerald Fennell‘s “Saltburn,” and its closing one, Kibwe Tavares and Daniel Kalyuuya‘s “The Kitchen. Other previously announced screenings include James Hawes‘ “One Life” as the American Express gala and Sam Fell‘s “Chicken Run: Dawn Of The Nugget” as the Mayor Of London gala.
But now BFI has its entire line-up ready for cinephiles to peruse. Scorsese, Lanthimos, and Cooper’s new films will all get screenings, but so will several other intriguing 2023 titles. David Fincher‘s “The Killer,” premiering on the Lido on September 3, will be in London. So too will Andrew Haigh‘s “All Of Us Strangers,” Jeff Nichols‘ “The Bikeriders,” Jeymes Samuel‘s “The Book Of Clarence, “Alexander Payne‘s “The Holdovers,” Todd Hayne‘s “May December,” and Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin‘s “Nyad.”
Other special presentations in the London line-up include Miyazaki Hayao’s “The Boy And The Heron,” Kim Jee-woon’s “Cobweb,” Mahalia Belo’s “The End We Start From,” Aki Kaurismäki’s “Fallen Leaves,” Garth Davis’ “Foe,” Abdou Cisse’s “Grime Kids,” Richard Linklater’s “Hit Man,” Goran Stolevski’s “Housekeeping For Beginners,” Ladj Ly’s “Les Indésirables,” Michel Franco’s “Memory,” Steve McQueen’s “Occupied City,” Sofia Coppola’s “Priscilla” and Jonathan Glazer’s “Zone of Interest.”
All told, this year’s London program has 252 titles, including features, shorts, XR works, and series that come from 92 countries and 79 languages. Amid those 252 titles, there’s 29 world premieres and 30 European premieres, with all features and series screening for UK audiences for the first time. As in previous years, the festival organises its feature film program into several separate categories: Love, Debates, Laugh, Dare, Thrill, Cult, Journey, Create, Experimental, Family, and Treasures.
Here’s a couple of quotes from Festival director Kristy Matheson and BFI CEO Ben Roberts about this year’s festival. “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,” said Matheson. Added Roberts: “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 line-up 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 U.K. this year.”
The BFI London Film Festival runs from October 4 to October 15. Check out the full line-up of the 67th edition here.
