THE TIMES BFI 50TH LONDON FILM FESTIVALFriday 3rd November
The Times BFI 50th London Film Festival rounded off a successful fortnight of film screenings and events with Babel. This year's 50th edition featured 183 feature films and 131 short films from 48 countries, 438 screenings and 1649 visiting international filmmakers and industry professionals.
International glamour on the red carpet featured throughout the Festival's 16 days. Alejandro Gonz�lez I��rritu was joined by actors Gael Garc�a Bernal and Rinko Kikuchi to introduce Babel, the Closing Night Gala in a record line-up of 13 Gala premieres. Will Ferrell, Emma Thompson and Dustin Hoffman introduced Stranger Than Fiction, and the audience were delighted to welcome on stage Emilio Estevez, Christian Slater and Freddy Rodriguez for The Times Gala screening of Bobby. Opening the Festival, Kevin Macdonald introduced The Last King of Scotland and his cast James McAvoy, Forest Whitaker, Gillian Anderson, Simon McBurney and Kerry Fox, while Kate Winslet and Todd Field graced the red carpet for Little Children the following week.
A wealth of British talent attended their premieres, including Roger Michell, Hanif Kureishi, Peter O'Toole, Leslie Phillips and Jodie Whittaker for Venus, and Anthony Minghella, Jude Law, Martin Freeman alongside Robin Wright Penn with newcomer Rafi Gavron all introduced the Breaking and Entering Gala. Andrea Arnold and lead actors Kate Dickie and Tony Curran introduced Red Road, while Terence Davies led a spirited Q&A after Distant Voices Still Lives. Sacha Baron Cohen braved the rain for Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan, and John Cameron Mitchell and cast arrived at the Odeon West End in style on a pink Routemaster bus for the Shortbus Gala.
Forest Whitaker and Dustin Hoffman were welcomed on stage again for the Five US Screen Talks, along with Christine Vachon, Tim Burton and Richard Linklater, and John Cameron Mitchell and Paul Verhoeven talked candidly about their careers at The Script Factory/NFTS Masterclasses.
It wasn't only Festival guests who were out to champion the films, Matt Damon, who is currently in town filming The Bourne Ultimatum, joined Ben Affleck, Adrien Brody, Bob Hoskins and Allen Coulter, at their premiere of Hollywoodland.
International filmmakers flew into London from around the globe including Phillip Noyce (Catch a Fire), Susanne Bier (After the Wedding), Goutam Ghose (Journey), Nuri Bilge Ceylan (Climates), Toa Fraser (No. 2), Kelly Reichardt (Old Joy), Davide Ferrario (Primo Levi's Journey), Jens Lien (The Bothersome Man), Nanni Moretti (The Caiman), Mira Nair (The Namesake), Julia Loktev (Day Night Day Night), Lukas Moodysson (Container), Barbara Albert (Dry Season) and legendary auteur Kenneth Anger.
Both of the Festival's special 50th Anniversary events were highlights in the jubilee programme, and even stopped the rain for the innovative 'Portrait of London' in Trafalgar Square. Mike Figgis was joined by contributing filmmakers Simon McBurney, Ngozi Onwurah, Alwin Kuchler and Jes Benstock as the live mix enraptured a large crowd. Two days later, film-goers across London had a choice of 50 venues for one of the world's largest surprise screenings (which includes an exclusive screening of The Prestige), with audiences including passengers at Heathrow Terminal 4, and patients at the Medicinema in St Thomas' Hospital.
Festival Artistic Director, Sandra Hebron, commented "We've been delighted by the enthusiastic response of filmmakers and audiences alike to our special birthday Festival. The diversity of the films on offer, the range and calibre of guests who've attended, and the success of our industry and educational events puts the Festival in a very strong position as we look forward to our next 50 years".
At the Closing Gala the following four awards were presented. Director Andrea Arnold received the Sutherland Trophy for Red Road, director Javier Rebollo was awarded the 9th FIPRESCI Internaional Critics Award for Lola. The Alfred Dunhill Award was presented to producer Mark Herbert and the 11th Annual Satyajit Ray Award went to The Lives of Others directed by Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck. Other awards include the TCM Short Film Award which went to Silence is Golden directed by Chris Shepherd and The Times BFI London Film Festival Grierson Award was presented to director Lauren Greenfield for Thin.
The Times BFI 50th London Film Festival Touring programme will run at venues across the UK from January 2007.
REVIEWS
BIG BANG LOVE
BOBBY
BORAT
BREAKING AND ENTERING
THE BRIDGE
CANDY
CLOSE TO HOME
FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION
HALF NELSON
HOLLYWOODLAND
INFAMOUS
LITTLE CHILDREN
MISCHIEF NIGHT
RED ROAD
ROMANZO CRIMINALE
SLEEPING DOGS LIE
THE BOSS OF IT ALL
THE NAMESAKE
Tuesday 31st October
A surprise visit from Matt Damon, currently in town filming The Bourne Ultimatum, had the crowds in frenzy last night for the UK premiere of Hollywoodland where Director Allen Coulter presented the film along with cast members Adrien Brody, Ben Affleck and Bob Hoskins.
Set to be an Oscar contender, Hollywoodland takes its cue from a true story, the mysterious death of George Reeves, an actor who found fame as Superman on American television in the 50s, and who was found dead in his Hollywood Hills apartment in 1959, an apparent suicide. Hollywoodland will be released in cinemas nationwide on 24th November.
6 Degrees Film spoke to actor Bob Hoskins and director Allen Coulter at the Gala screening of their new film.
You have played J Edgar Hoover and now Eddie Mannix [the mobster-like head of MGM in the 1940s], why do you think they always come to you with the "nice guy" roles?
[Bob Hoskins] Well, I'm a short, fat, middle-aged man with a bald 'ead and you know five foot six � it's a shame! That's what does it, it's between me and Danny DeVito!
Allen Coulter, you directed this movie Hollywoodland. How influenced were you by film noir movies, I'm particularly thinking of the detective thrillers we all know and love?
Well, you wouldn't want to make a film like this without having seen those films. But you don't sit around thinking 'how can I do it like that.' Actually you are thinking the opposite: how can I do something else because they have done what they did so well. With movies like Chinatown and L.A. Confidential, it's inevitable that you are influenced. You try not to think about them but their influence creeps in. This is as unusual film because we have a detective that is kinda self-conscious. Adrien [Brody] plays a guy who himself is playing a role; he's trying to act like a detective. You know, Bogart wasn't playing a role he just was that.
This film deals with the idea of Hollywood publicists and image control, how do think this area has changed since then?
Louis Simo [Adrien Brody's character] is trying to get his picture in the paper - very much like every guy in the joint these days. The other thing is that the old studio system really controlled the press so 'you guys' would have been told what to write and I know that Diane, Ben and Adrien all said that they kind of miss those days because people weren't going through their garbage! So I think it was a different age.
Monday 30th October
Sandra Hebron presented the Surprise Screening last night. The largest ever simultaneous surprise film screening took place across 50 London venues which included Terminal 4 Heathrow, Holloway Prison, St Thomas' Hospital and in someone's living room!
Amongst the surprise films screened across 49 venues included A Prairie Home Companion and Breaking and Entering, the exclusive screening held at the Odeon West End was Christopher Nolan's (Batman Begins) thriller The Prestige starring Christian Bale, Hugh Jackman, Michael Caine and Scarlett Johansson, with a cameo appearance from David Bowie, set for UK release 10th November.
Sunday 29th October
The BlackBerry Gala brought a huge crowd to Leicester Square, as the cast and crew from Breaking and Entering came to present their film. Jude Law, Robin Wright Penn and Martin Freeman joined Academy Award winning writer/director Anthony Minghella on the red carpet, and we spotted Natalie Portman sneaking into a seat, among other special guests including Gary Kemp, at the screening.
This lively and engaging contemporary drama marks both Anthony Minghella's return to working from one of his own original screenplays and his return to filmmaking in London.The film tells the story of a series of thefts taking place amidst London's geographical and cultural change.
On filming in London, Jude Law states "Showing London honestly and capturing it off guard was a really important and integral part of the film. It's true to say that Anthony saw this as his love letter to London and as Anthony does so well it shows all sides, warts and all. Whats extraordinary is the energy of the city especiallty when you live here it just jumps into the camera", adding ".. and it's nice to be able to walk to work sometimes." On working with Anthony, who has become a dear friend, Jude feels very trusting of him. "I always feel I do good work with him. I love him as a man he's very compassionate .. he always runs a very jolly set".
Friday 27th October
The London Film Festival attracted a frenzied crowd to London's West End last night when Emilio Estevez, Christian Slater and Freddy Rodriguez donned the red carpet for the European premiere of Bobby. Released in January 2007, the film focuses on the ordinary people who unwittingly found themselves at the centre of one of the most important events in America's recent past, the assassination of Robert F. Kennedy on the day of his presidential candidateship at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles.
On working with and directing his father Martin Sheen (The Departed, Wall Street, Apocalypse Now), who wasn't able to make it to the premiere as he was "..at home with 7 books studying for his University Degree", actor turned writer/director Emilio Estevez (St Elmo's Fire, The Breakfast Club) joked "I'll never do it again", but continued "he's amazing, he's brilliant, if I could work on every film with him I would. He's supportive, he shows up and knows his lines, he's a bit long winded and he likes to chat [laughs] and tell stories on the set but I adore him and would work with him again in a second".
On what inspired him to make a film about Robert Kennedy with such a stellar cast, Emilio said "I thought that no one was as big a star than Bobby Kennedy. He was charismatic, handsome, brilliant, and bright and if the movie had brought an opportunity for Bobby's word to be heard then it wouldn't be overshadowed by anyone. It wouldn't matter what star quality or what star power we had in the film. Kennedy was a true legend, more than a political leader .."
When asked what do you think it would be like if Robert Kennedy wasn't assassinated, Christian Slater (Broken Arrow, True Romance) said "We'll never know. This movie helps to clarify what kind of candidate we'd like to have in the future, someone who has that kind of compassion, integrity, and can lead the direction that America could have gone" and on working with such a strong cast "it was incredible to be around all the people but it was Anthony Hopkins that was true to set the bar, an extraordinary gentleman."
Also on the red carpet last night, British actor Toby Jones (Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Finding Neverland) and writer/director Douglas McGrath (Nicholas Nickleby, Emma) introduced Infamous. Beaten to the punch by last year's Capote, which saw Phillip Seymour Hoffman win an Academy Award for Best Actor, the film showed that there is more mileage in Truman Capote to make another very fine but very different film. Director Douglas McGrath said of Capote "he was one of the most interesting, complex, fascinating, contradictory, characters I could think of so was naturally drawn to him. I haven't seen the other Capote film but from what I have read I think his is much funnier and takes a much more earnest approach to his character."
For Toby, the main thing about preparing for his role was his voice and "trying to understand how anyone could sound so strange".
Based on Tom Perotta's acclaimed novel, Little Children, originally evolved from 'Revolutionary Road' which Director Todd Fields (In The Bedroom) couldn't get the rights to, balances witty snipes at the suburban dream with a more serious theme. Academy Award nominated actress Kate Winslet (Titanic, Finding Neverland), who has been tipped as a possible Oscar candidate again next year, said "the biggest challenge I faced was playing someone who wasn't a very good mother."
Pictured below, Sacha Baron Cohen (Ali G) in character attending the world premiere of Borat: Cultural Learning of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan (to quote its full title), set to be one of this years biggest hits, based on a comic creation by Sacha Baron Cohen (Ali G) which has caused some controversy with it's racial slurrings against Khazakhis and Jews.
THIS WEEKEND
This weekend will see award winning writer/director Anthony Minghella (Cold Mountain), Jude Law (The Talented Mr Ripley), Martin Freeman, Robin Wright Penn, Producer Sydney Pollack, and media mogul Harvey Weinstein on the red carpet for the world premier of Breaking and Entering.
For Your Consideration, the latest mockumentary comedy from writer/director Christopher Guest. This time he's poking fun at the pomposities of Hollywood actors, the Oscars and E! style entertainment programming.
Screen Talks: Richard Linklater (A Scanner Darkly, Before Sunset) in talks about his latest documentary Fast Food Nation (the SuperSize Me of 2006), and Tim Burton (Edward Scissorhands, Batman) followed by the Family Gala, a 3D screening of Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas.
Plus another chance to see Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan, a second screenings takes place this Saturday.
Tonight, a special 50th anniversary event will take place. The event is called "A Portrait of London" and will take place on Trafalgar Square from 7pm - a huge audio-visual display with film and music being mixed LIVE and projected onto a 120ft screen in front of the National Gallery. The event is free and will be creatively orchestrated by established film director Mike Figgis (Leaving Las Vegas, Timecode).
A selection of high-profile UK based directors (including Sophie Fiennes) have submitted short films (A.K.A "Digital Postcards") illustrating their impressions of London - these will all be edited together by Figgis and set LIVE to music (by music producers Roxbury who have worked with the likes of Goldfrapp, Richard Ashcroft and The Cure). The event will be the first of its kind to use Trafalgar Square as an exhibition platform for cutting edge digital film.
On Sunday, the largest ever simultaneous surprise film screening will take place across 50 London venues at 8.30pm - these will mostly be cinemas open to the public (and just �5 per ticket) but there is also a screening in a Church, at Terminal 4 Heathrow, at Holloway Prison, at St Thomas' Hospital and in someone's living room!
More pictures from the red carpet during the festival ...
Red Road Mischief Night
REVIEWS AND TRAILERS
BIG BANG LOVE
BOBBY
BORAT
BREAKING AND ENTERING
THE BRIDGE
CANDY
CLOSE TO HOME
FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION
HALF NELSON
HOLLYWOODLAND
INFAMOUS
LITTLE CHILDREN
MISCHIEF NIGHT
RED ROAD
ROMANZO CRIMINALE
SLEEPING DOGS LIE
THE BOSS OF IT ALL
THE NAMESAKE
Sunday 22nd October
The Festivals first big weekend hit off with the quirky comedy Stranger Than Fiction, the Sky Movies Gala, which had the audience in stitches at the Odeon West End on Friday 20th October, where the audience were treated to an on stage introduction by Dustin Hoffman, Emma Thompson and the brilliant Will Ferrell, who plays the lead Harold Crick, a tormented IRS taxman.
Dustin Hoffman then gave a brilliant Screen Talk the following day at the NFT to a packed auditorium.
Thursday 19th October
The Times bfi 50th London Film Festival kicked off last night with a remarkeable responce for the debut fiction feature The Last King of Scotland in London's Leicester Square. Director Kevin Macdonald was joined on stage by cast members, including Forest Whitaker, James McAvoy and Gillian Anderson.
There was also a huge festival buzz tonight at the Mayor of London Gala which was joined by Peter O'Toole and Roger Michell on the red carpet for his latest movie, Venus, the coming-of-very-old-age story that brings together two veteran English actors. The screenplay is written by the award winning author Hanif Kureishi.
Also receiving a great responce was Lars von Triers comedy The Boss of It All with actors Jens Albinus and Peter Gantzler opening the film with a Q and A about Triers latest innovative work using a more ascetic method of filmmaking based on the use of an automatic randomised camera (with each scene solely selected by a computer using a new process which Triers calls Automavision). From Australia, Candy, starring Heath Ledger, Geoffrey Rush and newcomer Nicole Kidman look-a-like Abbie Cornish, an emotionally charged love story about a couple caught up in another passion, the shared taste for heroin, and the Hungarian film Taxidermia, a highly original first feature, the story of three generations of men and a full on assault on the sences making social satire, art house surrealism and body horror.
If you missed any of the screenings from the opening days there are still plenty to choose from over the next two weeks. Highlights for this weekend in particular include Bug, a low budget adaptation of Tracy Letts' acclaimed off-Broadway play and Dustin Hoffman and Will Ferrell in Stranger Than Fiction on Friday night (Dustin Hoffman will also be holding a Screen Talk on Saturday), on Saturday the powerful documentary The US vs. John Lennon will be screened along with the world premiere of Mischief Night, and the highly acclaimed Red Road from Oscar winning Andrea Arnold will have it's UK premiere on Sunday.
Trailers and reviews of some of the films being screened throughout the festival are now running online (listed below), with new reviews and pictures from the red carpet update daily.
Friday 13th October
There are just a few days left to go until The Times BFI 50th London Film Festival opens its doors throughout the city for a celebration of cinema including the world's largest surprise film screening. Organisers announced the exciting line-up of 50 venues across all London boroughs for the special 50 Screens surprise film event on Sunday 29th October, in addition to a talent laden guest-list attending the 16 day Festival.
Inspired by regular Festival hot ticket � the Surprise Film Gala at the Odeon West End � 50 Screens provides a unique birthday celebration for the Festival's 50th Anniversary. Up to 10 surprise films will be revealed across 50 London cinemas and venues on the night, from Acton to Uxbridge, with special locations including Heathrow Terminal 4, HMP Holloway, St Ethelburga's Church and St Thomas's Hospital, bringing the Festival experience to thousands of people across the capital. Admission is only �5 and special guests are anticipated to introduce the films.
Attending the Opening Night Gala on Wednesday 18th October for the European premiere of the acclaimed The Last King of Scotland will be director Kevin Macdonald, accompanied by Forest Whitaker, James McAvoy, Gillian Anderson, Kerry Fox and Simon McBurney.
The Odeon West End will welcome an array of actors and filmmakers attending the premieres of their films over the 16 day Festival. Bob Hoskins and Ben Affleck will attend for Hollywoodland, Phillip Noyce will present Catch a Fire, Todd Field will be introducing Little Children with leading actress Kate Winslet, and Emilio Estevez will be joined by many of his Bobby cast members, including Martin Sheen, Freddy Rodriguez and Christian Slater. The Namesake will be introduced by director Mira Nair, while Rankin & Chris Cottam will be joined by guests at the premiere of The Lives of the Saints and Nanni Moretti will present The Caiman. Dustin Hoffman, Emma Thompson, Will Ferrell and writer Zach Helm will also attend the premiere of Stranger than Fiction.
Richard Linklater will be joined by writer Eric Schlosser and Fast Food Nation star Ashley Johnson. Other Screen Talk guests including producer Christine Vachon and John Cameron Mitchell will present the screenings of Infamous and Shortbus respectively, with Shortbus cast Sook-Yin Lee, PJ De Boy and Paul Dawson also attending. Tim Burton will introduce the Family Gala screening of The Nightmare before Christmas � 3D as well as taking part in the Screen Talk series, as will Paul Verhoeven who will be introducing Black Book.
British talent from both sides of the camera will be out in force, including Nick Broomfield with his film Ghosts, Penny Woolcock for the world premiere of Mischief Night, and Pete Postlethwaite and director Terence Davies will introduce the newly restored Distant Voices, Still Lives. Sacha Baron Cohen will be making an entrance at the UK premiere of Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan while Jude Law will join co-star Robin Wright Penn and director Anthony Minghella for Breaking and Entering. Director Andrea Arnold will be accompanied by Kate Dickie and Tony Curran to introduce the Cannes award-winning Red Road. And marking their third collaboration together, Roger Michell and Hanif Kureishi will introduce Venus alongside Peter O'Toole and Jodie Whittaker.
The high-profile roll call of international directors set to attend the Festival include Susanne Bier (After the Wedding), Abderrahmane Sissako (Bamako), Lukas Moodysson (Container), Nuri Bilge Ceylan (Climates), Toa Fraser (No.2), Michel Placido (Romanzo Criminale), Hans-Christian Schmid (Requiem), Auraeus Solito (The Blossoming of Maximo Oliveros), photographer Lauren Greenfield (Thin) and the legendary Kenneth Anger.
Music documentary filmmakers attending the Festival include Cecilia Peck, co-director of Dixie-Chicks: Shut Up & Sing, and Stephen Kijak, who will be joining guests at the much-anticipated world premiere of Scott Walker: 30 Century Man. John Scheinfeld will introduce The US v. John Lennon, while beloved band Yo La Tengo will be in conversation on stage.
A further announcement detailing the exciting line-up for the second 50th anniversary celebration will be made soon, confirming the creative names behind Trafalgar Square: A Portrait of London on Friday 27th October. Overseen by Artistic Director Mike Figgis, this free extravaganza will combine specially commissioned music and 'digital postcards' in a tribute to cinema and the city.
On Thursday 2nd November, Alejandro Gonz�lez I��rritu and actors Gael Garc�a Bernal and Rinko Kikuchi will attend the Closing Night Gala of Babel, bringing the 50th Festival celebrations to a close.
REVIEWS AND TRAILERS
BREAKING AND ENTERING
THE BRIDGE
INFAMOUS
MISCHIEF NIGHT
RED ROAD
ROMANZO CRIMINALE
Friday 28th September
Public bookings open today for this years The Times BFI 50th London Film Festival. Phone and online booking opens at 0930. Tickets will also be available to buy in person at the NFT box office from 1130.
This year's selection is full of hotly anticipated titles and some new recommendations. There are plenty of clips and trailers, along with programmers taling about there selection process and highlights of some of the titles they have chosen, on the official website to give you a glimpse of the films in the programme and help you decide what you want to see.
With almost half the screenings and events at 2005's Festival selling-out, this year's 50th cinematic celebrations look set to break box office records, so film fans need to be quick off the mark.
For further programme information and booking online go to www.lff.org.uk
Thursday 14th September 2006
The Times BFI 50TH London Film Festival's programme was announced today by Artistic Director Sandra Hebron, with the full line-up including 181 features and 131 shorts alongside a host of live events, special commissions, screen talks and masterclasses.
Book-ending the fortnight long Festival, the European premiere of Kevin Macdonald's The Last King Of Scotland with Forest Whitaker, James McAvoy, Kerry Washington and Gillian Anderson opens the event on Wednesday 18th October, and the Closing Gala on Thursday 2nd November brings the 50th celebrations to an end with the UK premiere of Alejandro Gonz�lez I��rratu's Babel, starring Cate Blanchett, Brad Pitt and Gael Garc�a Bernal.
Welcoming back many familiar faces and introducing a host of new ones, the Festival showcases established and emerging talent with equal passion, with 4 World premieres, 32 European and 123 UK premieres. The programme includes the latest work from Golden Lion winner Jia Zhang-ke (Still Life) Barbara Albert (Falling), Penny Woolcock (Mischief Night), Pablo Trapero (Born and Bred), Mira Nair (The Namesake), Lars Von Trier (The Boss Of It All), Phillip Noyce (Catch A Fire), Roger Michell (Venus), Lee Jun-Ik (The King And The Clown), Anthony Minghella (Breaking And Entering), Aki Kaurism�ki (Lights In The Dusk) and Nanni Moretti (The Caiman). Audiences will also discover debut feature directors including: Cam Archer (Wild Tigers I Have Known), Ryan Fleck (Half Nelson), Daniel S�nchez Ar�valo (Dark Blue Almost Black), Djamila Sahraoui (Barakat!) and Andrea Arnold (Red Road).
Films from around the globe will transport cinema-goers to over 50 countries from Israel, the Philippines, Latin America, Turkey and Bulgaria. Egypt's box office smash hit The Yacoubian Building by Marwan Hamed sits alongside Australia's 10 Canoes by Rolf de Heer, Iranian Ali-Reza Amini's hard-hitting Time Froze and Syndromes And A Century from Thai director Apichatpong Weerasethakul. Gianni Amelio's The Missing Star and St�phane Briz�'s Not Here To Be Loved are included among the European voices at the Festival.
Home-grown talent is as strongly represented with a British selection ranging from Nick Broomfield's Ghosts and Shane Meadows' This Is England to a variety of documentaries and shorts, and the UK's Sacha Baron Cohen stars in Larry Charles' Borat: Cultural Learnings Of America For Make Benefit Glorious Nation Of Kazakhstan.
Documentary fans are promised 22 factual features including Olivier Meyrou's Beyond Hatred, Sydney Pollack's Sketches of Frank Gehry and 37 Uses For A Dead Sheep from Ben Hopkins. Music lovers will also be spoilt for choice with Barbara Kopple and Cecilia Peck's Dixie Chicks: Shut Up And Sing; the world premieres of Mike Kerry and Chris Hall's Love Story and Stephen Kijak's Scott Walker: 30 Century Man; Garin Nugroho's gamelan scored Opera Jawa, and Mark Dornford-May's Africa set Son Of Man.
The Treasures from the Archives strand celebrates restorations from archives around the world, including the BFI National Archive's Great Expectations, Oliver Twist and Distant Voices Still Lives, which will be introduced by Terence Davies.
Dr Strangelove: Or, How I Learned To Stop Worrying And Love The Bomb will also feature alongside The Big Country, screening for the first time in all its newly restored 35mm glory.
Whilst Forest Whitaker, Richard Linklater, Tim Burton, Dustin Hoffman, Christine Vachon, Paul Verhoeven, John Cameron Mitchell and Yo La Tengo discuss their work in career interviews and masterclasses, the Festival also looks forward to welcoming other expected guests including Emilio Estevez, Lukas Moodysson, Roger Michell, Robin Wright Penn, Anthony Minghella, Kenneth Anger, Mira Nair, Peter O'Toole, Nuri Bilge Ceylan, Hanif Kureishi, Nanni Moretti, Toa Fraser and Todd Field to introduce their films.
Celebrating its jubilee year, the Festival plays host to two major special events: a free, outdoor live-mix screening A Portrait of London: Trafalgar Square, and the world's largest surprise film screening in 50 Screens.
Commenting on the 50th Festival line-up, Sandra Hebron said: "In this significant year, we're very excited to be able to bring such a strong selection of original and distinctive films to London, together with some truly innovative special events. We're looking forward to welcoming all our participating filmmakers, audiences and press and industry delegates to join us in celebrating the Festival's 50th anniversary and its promising future."
Robert Thomson, Editor, The Times, added: "The range and quality of the work gathered for the festival is extraordinary. There is no doubt that London's claim to being the world's most important and inclusive film festival has been enhanced. Given the riches on display, my advice is to book early."
Tickets can be booked online at www.lff.org.uk or by telephone on: 020 7928 3232 from Friday 29th September.
NFT members booking opens on Monday 18th September.
Programmes are distributed throughout London from September 18th.
Based on the award-winning novel by Giles Foden, the film stars Forest Whitaker as the tyrannical Ugandan President Idi Amin, alongside James McAvoy (The Chronicles Of Narnia), Gillian Anderson (A Cock And Bull Story), Kerry Washington (Fantastic Four) and Simon McBurney (Friends With Money). The novel is adapted by Peter Morgan (The Queen) and Jeremy Brock (Mrs Brown).
Shot in Uganda and the UK, the film follows an incredible twist of fate when a Scottish doctor, Garrigan (James McAvoy) becomes irreversibly entangled with one of the world's most notorious dictators, Idi Amin (Forest Whitaker).
The Last King of Scotland is the first fiction feature from Kevin Macdonald, who won an Academy Award for One Day In September, and a BAFTA for Touching The Void. It is executive produced by Andrew Macdonald, Allon Reich, and Tessa Ross and produced by Andrea Calderwood, Charles Steel and Lisa Bryer, co-produced by Christine Ruppert. Fox Searchlight Pictures will release the film in the UK in January 2007.
Sandra Hebron, the Festival's Artistic Director comments: "The Last King of Scotland is a perfect Opening Night film for us: a compellingly original British feature from an imaginative and talented young director. Kevin Macdonald and his cast and crew must be congratulated for balancing historical fact with psychological insight in such a lively, accessible and thought provoking way."
Kevin Macdonald adds: "It would be an honour to be chosen any year to open The Times BFI London Film Festival - but it's particularly great to be kicking off the 50th edition. I'm so pleased to be having the European premiere of The Last King of Scotland in my home city and at a Festival where I myself have discovered so many wonderful movies over the years."
The full programme for The Times BFI 50th London Film Festival will be announced on Thursday 14th September.
There's still an opportunity to catch the last screenings in 50 Years of the London Film Festival season at the NFT, which recreates the exceptional 1957 programme of the very first ever London Film Festival. Films include Luchino Visconti's White Nights and the second part of Satyajit Ray's wonderful Apu trilogy, Aparajito.
THE UK'S LEADING EVENT CELEBRATES 50TH YEAR
50 YEARS OF THE LONDON FILM FESTIVAL AT THE NFT
There is only one month to the programme deadline.
Festival Artistic Director Sandra Hebron has seen many potential titles, visiting Amsterdam and Paris to view some of the French films on offer. She also travelled to Italy for special screenings in the historic setting of Cinecitt�, the restored studio near Rome where masters such as Federico Fellini and Michelangelo Antonioni famously worked.
East and Southeast Asia expert Tony Rayns has been in China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan and South Korea to see new work and meet filmmakers, many of whom are showing him works in progress. He is also preparing the English subtitles for the world premieres of several important East Asian films, some of which hope to screen in the festival.
Sarah Lutton, the festival's Nordic film programme advisor, visited the Norwegian Film Institute's equivalent of the NFT in Oslo to see new Norwegian work. She also visited the Filmbyen studios outside Copenhagen - where a large proportion of Danish films are shot, including the work of Lars von Trier and Thomas Vinterberg - and the Nordisk film studios in Copenhagen (one of the oldest film studios in the world) to see new Danish films offered for festival selection.
Programmer Michael Hayden has been traveling around the UK watching some of the best new British work, including screenings hosted by Film London at Canary Wharf, and many of our other programme advisors are diligently working their way through the huge number of open submissions to this year's festival.
And with the submission deadline for short films now passed, new short film programmers Simon Young and Philip Ilson are busy putting together this year's short cuts and animation strand.
