While still ensconced in Venice, I must admit that the thought of diving into another festival makes me slightly dizzy — but the London Film Festival doesn’t care about that. LFF artistic director Sandra Hebron unveiled a strong lineup this morning, but the real news is that they have added a bevy of awards to their trophy cabinet.
In addition to their existing honors, including the Sutherland Trophy for best debut feature and the Grierson Award for best documentary, the festival will, for the first time, hand out an overall Best Film award, as well as an honor for Best British Newcomer. Meanwhile, the British Film Institute will award writing and directing fellowships. Compounding these changes, the festival will, for the first time, hold a formal awards ceremony on the final day.
Together with their added clout in securing major world premieres (“Frost/Nixon” opened proceedings in 2008, while this year, “Fantastic Mr. Fox” and John Lennon biopic “Nowhere Boy” will bow in the festival’s opening and closing slots), these awards are a sign of a festival keen to raise its global profile. Once merely a useful fortnight for local cinephiles to catch up on buzz films from the more glamorous overseas festivals, the LFF is gradually claiming an identity of its own.
That said, the festival’s programming policy of expert cherry-picking is still very much in place, with a mouthwatering selection of the cream from Cannes, Sundance, Toronto and Venice. I may have a head start in the latter section, but I’m still hungry for the Cannes crop of “The White Ribbon,” “A Prophet,” “Vincere,” “Bright Star” and Australian Camera d’Or winner “Samson and Delilah,” all of which appear on the menu.
Like Michelle Williams last year, George Clooney looks to be the face of this year’s festival — he’ll be in town for the triple-header of “Fantastic Mr. Fox,” “The Men Who Stare at Goats” (reviewed yesterday) and Telluride sensation “Up in the Air.”
Meanwhile, twin Sundance sensations “Precious” and “An Education” are also present, and many of the films I’ve been reporting on this week from the Lido will also show up, including Todd Solondz’s “Life During Wartime,” and my two favorite Venice titles thus far: Jessica Hausner’s “Lourdes” and Claire Denis’s breathtaking “White Material.”
None of this is especially crucial to people outside of London, though it’s an embarrassment of riches for the city’s residents. The lineup does, however, include 15 world premieres — most of them British, obviously — as well as the first European showings of such eagerly awaited titles as Jean-Pierre Jeunet’s “Micmacs,” Mike Judge’s “Extract” and a documentary that has had me intrigued for a while, “Mugabe and the White African.”
I will, of course, once more be bringing you festival news and reviews as it unfolds from the 14 to 29 October. A full report on the LFF lineup is available at the BFI’s website here.
Comments
3 responses to “London fest adds awards, goes heavy on Clooney”
That’s a specatcular line-up. Baring a few titles, you’ll literally get to see all there is to see this year. They also have the Coen’s A Serious Man and Gaspar Noé’s Enter The Void. Void got rather mixed reviews but was overall generally recognized as a great directing achievement in Cannes.
I believie the Informant! is also playing and Clooney is a producer on that film. So basically it’s the George Clooney London FF. nice.
I didn’t know Jeunet had a new movie! Oh and I simply can’t wait to see The Fantastic Mr. Fox so I’ll be looking forward to London’s first response.