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It’s that time of year again, when there is a cluster of highly-regarded film festivals taking place, these festivals are a celebration of film, filmmakers, and the artistry that goes into their creation. They are the art exhibitions of the industry, where the sector’s finest showcase their works to a selection of the world’s most discerning critics, as well as the general public before their official, international release dates. While most will be seeking invitations from one of the big five in Venice, Cannes, Toronto, Sundance, or Berlin to premiere their movies, it’s arguably at the lesser renowned festivals that some real hidden gems can be discovered.
While the BFI Festival takes place in the globalized city that is London, it’s certainly considered a more low-key affair than some like TIFF or NYFF; however, that doesn’t detract from the hotly-anticipated spectacle on offer and the promise of some exciting new movies making their British and European premieres. Here are some of the most eagerly-awaited films featuring at the BFI film festival next month…
7 Pinocchio
Guillermo Del Toro’s Pinocchio is set to make its world premiere at the London Film Festival just a month after Robert Zemeckis’ own Disney-backed Pinocchio project is released for public consumption. While the two films are ostensibly drawn from the same narrative pool, Del Toro’s version promises a darker spin on the children’s classic. With Ewan Mcgregor, Tilda Swinton, Finn Wolfhard, Christoph Waltz, Cate Blanchett, and John Turturro poised to star as Pinocchio and his animated friends, this film is likely to be one of the best adaptations of Pinocchio yet. The Netflix original is due to be available on the streaming platform in December 2022.
6 The Banshees of Inisherin
Former west-end playwright Martin McDonagh’s new movie, starring two of the director’s staples in Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson, The Banshees of Inisherin debuted at Venice Film Festival earlier this month, and it has been announced that its UK curtain-raiser will be at the BFI festival.
Set against the backdrop of the Irish Civil War of 1923, the film follows the story of two old friends, Padraic (Farrell) and Colm (Gleeson), when Colm decides he no longer wants to be acquainted with Padraic for an unspecified reason. McDonagh’s distinct style and razor-sharp scripts have turned him into quite the revered director and screenwriter, and expect The Banshees of Inisherin to continue in the same vein.
5 Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery
Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig) returns for Glass Onion, the second installment of the murder mystery Knives Out. The first edition of Rian Johnson’s hit was an enthralling investigative drama that didn’t take itself too seriously, and it’s ready to return with a further stellar ensemble with Craig returning as the suave Knives Out character Detective Blanc. Tech tycoon Miles Bron (Edward Norton) hosts a party on his getaway Greek island when the inevitable dead body is discovered, and the finger-pointing begins, the whodunit starts to unravel when Benoit Blanc is called in to inspect.
4 Bardo
In Bardo: False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths, Alejandro G. Inarritu delivers his first movie since his Academy Award-winning The Revenant. After a seven-year hiatus, the Mexican director’s homecoming is exactly that, set in Mexico; Bardo traverses the tale of a journalist and documentarian in this three-hour epic that aired for the first time at the Venice Film Festival. Inarritu has revealed that Bardo is in fact partly semi-biographical, and details some trials and tribulations of his own life and his decision to move his young family from Mexico to the United States in 2001.
3 White Noise
Noah Baumbach’s White Noise includes past collaborators Adam Driver (Marriage Story, Frances Ha), and Greta Gerwig (Frances Ha) and recently received its world premiere at Venice. An apocalyptic dark comedy, White Noise documents the misfortunes of a town, and husband and wife, Professor Jack Gladney, and Babette Gladney as a toxic chemical event wreaks havoc after a train crash. Baumbach’s quirky, idiosyncratic style always makes his screenplays fun, charming, and quick-witted, and with the unconventional, masterful source novel from Don DeLillo, this film is sure to follow suit.
2 Decision to Leave
Park Chan-Wook, made famous by his Vengeance trilogy (Oldboy, Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance, and Lady Vengeance), is set to exhibit his new film Decision to Leave at London Film Festival. After the critical success enjoyed by his last film, The Handmaiden, Chan-Wook will no doubt be eyeing further acclaim and go one step further like his South Korean counterpart, Bong Joon-Ho. Decision to Leave is said to follow the story of a detective, who, in the midst of investigating a man’s murder, falls in love with the dead man’s wife. Winning awards at Cannes, the erotic thriller should continue the director’s iconoclastic oeuvre with just more brilliance.
1 Empire of Light
The 2019 movie 1917 was a cinematic triumph, and was in part, down to the brilliant work of legendary cinematographer Roger Deakins, who partners up with director Sam Mendes again for his new film, Empire of Light. The movie’s narrative has been kept fairly well-hidden with neither the trailer, nor Mendes himself revealing much in the way of substance other than it is set during the 1980s at an English coastal cinema and revolves around a romantic development.
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