By Orla Smith.
The 2017 London Film Festival will run from October 4th to October 15th, showcasing a range of approximately 250 exciting new films ― many of which will figure in the upcoming awards season. Tickets are now on sale, and so in honour of this year’s fest we have picked out 20 must-see titles on the programme.
You can find the full programme here.
Battle of the Sexes
//www.youtube.com/watch?v=5AWP1K7FaFI
DIRECTOR: Valerie Faris & Jonathan Dayton
STARRING: Emma Stone, Steve Carell, Andrea Riseborough, Sarah Silverman, Elisabeth Shue, Alan Cumming
SYNOPSIS: The true story of the 1973 tennis match between world number one Billie Jean King and ex-champ and serial hustler Bobby Riggs.
UK RELEASE DATE: 24th November
Call Me By Your Name
//www.youtube.com/watch?v=pAYeaXFb9w4
DIRECTOR: Luca Guadagnino
STARRING: Timothée Chalamet, Armie Hammer, Michael Stuhlbarg
SYNOPSIS: A seventeen year old boy is enamoured by an American student who comes to study and live with his family in Italy. Together they share an unforgettable summer full of music, food, and romance that will change them forever.
UK RELEASE DATE: 27th October
Ex Libris – The New York Public Library
//www.youtube.com/watch?v=YzKrlOFZBD8
DIRECTOR: Frederick Wiseman
SYNOPSIS: A documentary look within the walls of the New York Public Library.
UK RELEASE DATE: None
Faces, Places
//www.youtube.com/watch?v=dmHG5HXYc9w
DIRECTOR: Agnès Varda & J.R.
SYNOPSIS: Director Agnès Varda and photographer/muralist J.R. journey through rural France and form an unlikely friendship.
UK RELEASE DATE: None
A Fantastic Woman
//www.youtube.com/watch?v=PJHex4ZitgA
DIRECTOR: Sebastián Lelio
STARRING: Daniela Vega
SYNOPSIS: Marina, a waitress who moonlights as a nightclub singer, is bowled over by the death of her older boyfriend.
UK RELEASE DATE: 2nd March 2018
The Florida Project
//www.youtube.com/watch?v=WwQ-NH1rRT4
DIRECTOR: Sean Baker
STARRING: Willem Dafoe, Brooklynn Prince, Valeria Cotto, Caleb Landry Jones, Macon Blair
SYNOPSIS: Over one summer, a precocious 6-year-old Moonee courts mischief and adventure with her ragtag playmates ― all while living in the shadows of Disney World.
UK RELEASE DATE: 10th November
I Am Not a Witch
I Am Not a Witch
DIRECTOR: Rungano Nyoni
STARRING: Maggie Mulubwa
SYNOPSIS: In a Zambian village, a small, silent girl is accused of being a witch. Her choice: join a travelling witch camp or become a goat.
UK RELEASE DATE: 20th October
Jeune Femme
Jeune Femme
DIRECTOR: Léonor Serraille
STARRING: Laetitia Dosch
SYNOPSIS: Broke, and with nothing but her cat, Paula is back in Paris after a long absence. She is determined to make a fresh start.
UK RELEASE DATE: 18th May 2018
The Killing of a Sacred Deer
//www.youtube.com/watch?v=CQFdGfwChtw
DIRECTOR: Yorgos Lanthimos
STARRING: Colin Farrell, Nicole Kidman, Barry Keoghan, Alicia Silverstone, Raffey Cassidy
SYNOPSIS: When the behaviour of a teenage boy he has taken under his wing turns sinister, Steven ― a charismatic surgeon ― is forced to make an unthinkable sacrifice.
UK RELEASE DATE: 3rd November
Lean On Pete
Lean on Pete
DIRECTOR: Andrew Haigh
STARRING: Charlie Plummer, Steve Buscemi, Travis Fimmel, Chloë Sevigny, Thomas Mann, Steve Zahn, Amy Seimetz
SYNOPSIS: A homeless fifteen-year-old boy befriends a racehorse named Lean on Pete.
UK RELEASE DATE: 16th February 2018
Let the Sunshine In
Let the Sunshine In
DIRECTOR: Claire Denis
STARRING: Juliette Binoche, Gérard Depardieu, Xavier Beauvois
SYNOPSIS: Isabelle ― a Parisian artist and divorced mother ― looks for true love.
UK RELEASE DATE: 20th April 2018
Mudbound
//www.youtube.com/watch?v=GPRj3egUHb8
DIRECTOR: Dee Rees
STARRING: Jason Mitchell, Garrett Hedlund, Mary J. Blige, Carey Mulligan, Jason Clarke, Jonathan Banks
SYNOPSIS: Two men return home from World War II to work on a farm in rural Mississippi, where they struggle to deal with racism and adjusting to life after war.
UK RELEASE DATE: 17th November
120 BPM (Beats Per Minute)
//www.youtube.com/watch?v=2fhO2A4SL24
DIRECTOR: Robin Campillo
STARRING: Nahuel Pérez Biscayart, Arnaud Valois, Adèle Haenel
SYNOPSIS: An account of AIDS activist group ACT UP-Paris in the 1990s.
UK RELEASE DATE: 6th April 2018
Find out more here
Professor Marston & the Wonder Women
//www.youtube.com/watch?v=r991pr4Fohk
DIRECTOR: Angela Robinson
STARRING: Luke Evans, Rebecca Hall, Bella Heathcote, Connie Britton, Oliver Platt
SYNOPSIS: The true story of William Moulton Marston and the polyamorous relationship that inspired the creation of his comic book character Wonder Woman.
UK RELEASE DATE: 10th November
The Rider
The Rider
DIRECTOR: Chloé Zhao
STARRING: Brady Jandreau
SYNOPSIS: After suffering a near fatal head injury, a young cowboy undertakes a search for new identity and what it means to be a man in the heartland of America.
UK RELEASE DATE: None
The Shape of Water
//www.youtube.com/watch?v=XFYWazblaUA
DIRECTOR: Guillermo del Toro
STARRING: Sally Hawkins, Michael Shannon, Michael Stuhlbarg, Richard Jenkins, Octavia Spencer, Doug Jones
SYNOPSIS: Against the backdrop of Cold War era America, a lonely, mute worker falls in love with a strange creature.
UK RELEASE DATE: 16th February 2018
Thelma
//www.youtube.com/watch?v=vgQMHG9SGlU
DIRECTOR: Joachim Trier
STARRING: Eili Harboe, Okay Kaya
SYNOPSIS: A woman begins to fall in love, only to discover that she has fantastic powers.
UK RELEASE DATE: 3rd November
Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
//www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jit3YhGx5pU
DIRECTOR: Martin McDonagh
STARRING: Frances McDormand, Woody Harrelson, Sam Rockwell, Abbie Cornish, Peter Dinklage, Caleb Landry Jones, Lucas Hedges, John Hawkes
SYNOPSIS: When they fail to catch the culprit, a mother personally challenges the authorities to solve her daughter’s murder.
UK RELEASE DATE: 12th January 2018
Wonderstruck
//www.youtube.com/watch?v=KDaSo8q7F64
DIRECTOR: Todd Haynes
STARRING: Millicent Simmonds, Oakes Fegley, Jaden Michael, Julianne Moore, Michelle Williams, Tom Noonan
SYNOPSIS: The story of a young boy in the Midwest is told simultaneously with a tale about a young girl in New York from fifty years before, as they both seek the same mysterious connection.
UK RELEASE DATE: None
You Were Never Really Here
//www.youtube.com/watch?v=k1APnf3Y_W8
DIRECTOR: Lynne Ramsay
STARRING: Joaquin Phoenix, Ekaterina Samsonov
SYNOPSIS: A missing teenage girl. A brutal and tormented enforcer on a rescue mission. Corrupt power and vengeance unleash a storm of violence that may lead to his awakening.
UK RELEASE DATE: None
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