London Film Festival's Lineup Includes 'Jay Kelly,' 'Hamnet,' 'Frankenstein,' 'After The Hunt,' and 'Is This Thing On?' as Major Premieres
2021 BFI London Film Festival Announces Exciting Lineup
The 2021 BFI London Film Festival is set to return from October 8-19, featuring a diverse and captivating lineup of over 247 titles from 79 countries.
Highlights of the festival include the world premiere of Park Chan-wook's No Other Choice, which has generated buzz on the Lido and will make its debut at the festival. Another anticipated premiere is Luca Guadagnino's After The Hunt, starring Julia Roberts, Ayo Edebiri, and Andrew Garfield.
Julia Jackson's 100 Nights of Hero is set to close the festival, while Chloé Zhao's Hamnet, starring Mescal alongside Jessie Buckley, will also premiere at the event.
Aitor Arregi's examination of elder queer desire, Maspalomas, will debut at the festival. This Spanish film, co-directed with Jose Mari Goenaga, follows the life of a 76-year-old man who came out late in life and his experiences within the queer community in Gran Canaria.
Other notable premieres include Noah Baumbach's film Jay Kelly, starring George Clooney, Majid Al Ansari's psychological horror The Vile, and Bradley Cooper's third directorial feature, Is This Thing On, with Will Arnett and Laura Dern.
The festival will also screen Yemi Bamiro's Black Is Beautiful: The Kwame Brathwaite Story, Hsu Ya-Tsing's documentary on Taiwan's leprosy Island of the Winds, and Banton's directorial debut More Life.
In addition to the film screenings, the festival will host Screen Talks with renowned figures such as Daniel Day-Lewis, Yorgos Lanthimos, Richard Linklater, Lynne Ramsay, Jafar Panahi, Tessa Thompson, and Chinese filmmaker Zhao.
The BFI London Film Festival will also feature a significant number of works by female and non-binary filmmakers. A total of 103 works make up 42 percent of the program, including Kelly Reichardt's The Mastermind and Siobhan McCarthy's new gender-swap comedy She's The He.
The Palme d'Or-winning It Was Just An Accident (Yek Tasadee Sadeh) from Jafar Panahi will also premiere at the festival. Other notable films include Oliver Hermanus' The History of Sound, Vincho Nchogu's One Woman One Bra, and Rowan Athale's British boxing drama Giant.
The festival will also showcase a variety of special presentations, including the Marianne Faithfull documentary Broken English, starring George MacKay and Tilda Swinton.
Rian Johnson's Knives Out installment, Wake Up Dead Man, was previously announced as the opening gala. Other exciting films include Channing Tatum and Kirsten Dunst's crime drama Roofman, and Isabella Eklöf's series adaptation of Nick Cave's novel The Death of Bunny Munro, with Matt Smith.
Elle Fanning stars alongside Stellan Skarsgard in Sentimental Value at the LFF, while Ralph Fiennes leads an ensemble cast in Alan Bennett's World War I drama The Choral at the festival. Rachel Abigail's ode to New York, Love, Brooklyn, will also screen at the event.
This year's BFI London Film Festival promises to be an exciting celebration of cinema, showcasing a diverse range of talent and stories from around the world.
