Londonist attended the London Film Festival press launch this morning - we're suckers for a free breakfast.
This year is the festivals 50th birthday and by all accounts all the stops have been pulled out to make this years line up a little bit special. Of particular interest to us was the news that Trafalgar Square will play host to A Portrait of London - director Mike Figgis is overseeing a specially commissioned event that will include "a series of digital postcards that will serve both as a homage to the capital and its people but also as a wider reflection of the possibilities of filmmaking within London". Not sure exactly what this will entail but something interesting will be projected as a free event to create a mix of moving images and sound.
The 50 Screens event is also shaping up to be something a little different:
The world's largest ever screening of Surprise Films, across 50 different venues in the London area. Screenings will take place in traditional film venues and in places you would least expect, from recording studios to a hospital to a prison. Building on the success of our longstanding Festival highlight (and often our quickest sell out screening), the Surprise Film, we are taking the idea one stage further (actually 50 stages further!)
This is just part of 181 features and 131 shorts playing between the 18th of October and the 2nd of November. There's also a LOT of special guests this year:
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.
Keep an eye on the official site and try to book as early as possible.
