BFI London Film Festival 2020
Towards the bitter end of one of the most disruptive years in recent human history, in the middle of a global pandemic and during some of the most uncertain times in the century-old history of the global film industry, cinema returns to “The Big Smoke” and appreciative London cinephiles courtesy of the the British Film Institute (BFI) in the form of the 64th London Film Festival (LFF)—one of the world’s most accessible major film festivals.
Like some of the other global festivals returning at around the same time this year, the LLF was a hybrid affair blending virtual screenings with limited theatre showings, and a programme which saw a hugely slimmed down selection of films, about 80% smaller than in previous years. As the major studios and their indie labels largely and understandably decided to forego the festival season, as did now regular attendees Netflix, leaving the BFI without the luxury of being able to cherry-pick the best from a normally large selection of the year’s preceding festivals.
As a result the full focus of audiences and the media was on the smaller British, American and global indie cinema which always graces the festival but never gets as much of the attention, and without the distraction (albeit also promotion) of glitzy red carpets and star-studded gala premieres, the cinematic work done was all that mattered this most regrettable of years. You can see the full schedule of this year’s LFF feature films, once again divided into thematic strands, and much more on the official BFI site at https://www.bfi.org.uk/london-film-festival/, and all of our LFF reviews so far here . . . but stay tuned for many more to come.
Screenings
Week 1
Wednesday the 7th
Mangrove
Image Source: BBC
After opening the 2018 edition of the LFF with ‘Widows’ two years ago, British writer/director Steve McQueen returned to the festival once again in an opening role but with something which hits closer to home, treating UK audiences to the first episode of his anthology mini-series ‘Small Axe’—a BBC and Amazon co-production covering the experiences of London’s black West-Indian community from the late 60s to the early 80s.
Yet with a runtime of over two hours, the first episode ‘Mangrove’ is practically a feature film unto itself, one which covers the real events surrounding the “Mangrove Nine” in 1970 West London, who clashed with police over racial discrimination and harassment and whose trial resulted in the first official acknowledgment of institutional racism and behaviour motivated by racial bias from the Metropolitan Police. Needles to say a period piece with timely echoes, available in the UK on the BBC from the 20th on November, and on Amazon Prime Video in the US, and stars Letitia Wright, Shaun Parkes and Malachi Kirby among others. You can check out our review here.
Mangrove trailer (courtesy of BFI)
Kajillionaire
Image Source: Universal
After making a splash at Sundance at the start of the year and releasing her latest quirky character dramedy in the US last month, actress-turned-writer/director Miranda July grabbed the opportunity for some last minute promotion for ‘Kajillionaire’ ahead of its 9th of October UK release. The story of an idiosyncratic young woman raised as a skilled petty thief by her neglectful hustler parents on the fringes of L.A. society, whose world is turned upside down when an outsider joins their tight group, pulling her out of a stunted existence and placing her bizarre upbringing into a sobering perspective. ‘Kajillionaire’ stars Evan Rachel Wood, Richard Jenkins, Debra Winger and Gina Rodriguez among others, and is out now in the UK and US. You can check out our review here.
Kajillionaire trailer (courtesy of BFI)
The Disciple
Image Source: Zoo Entertainment
Day one at the LFF this year also brought not only India cinema but musicality back to the festival with the return of writer/director Chaitanya Tamhane—after his debut ‘Court’ graced festival screens back in 2014—this time bringing us a meditation on expectation, excellence and artistry set in Mumbai and the Indian classical music scene, where a young apprentice struggles between the egoistic pull of success and the anti-materialistic teachings of his elderly maestro. ‘The Disciple’ stars Aditya Modak, Arun Dravid and Sumitra Bhave among others, and has no confirmed release dates yet.
The Disciple (courtesy of NewEuropeFilmSales)
Thursday the 8th
Herself
Image Source: Picturehouse
The second day’s proceedings culminated in a screening which proved a female-led homegrown effort for festival, in the form of British director Phyllida Lloyd’s (Mamma Mia!, The Iron Lady) Irish collaboration with the BFI and the BBC ‘Herself’. The tale of a young mother trying to escape the clutches of an abusive relationship while raising her daughters and absorbing the pressures of the modern world, who pours her frustrations and emotions into building a house from scratch after being denied one by the local council—a decision which brings together a community and breathes new purpose into her life. ‘Herself’ stars Clare Dunne, Harriet Walter and Conleth Hill among others, and has no confirmed dates yet.
Herself trailer (courtesy of Picturehouse)
The Painter and the Thief
Image Source: Neon
The old adage of truth being stranger than fiction was further proved on day two when Norwegian documentarian Benjamin Ree (Magnus) brought his latest non-intrusive human observation and personal profile ‘The Painter and the Thief’ to the LFF. An improbable true tale of understanding and kindred spirits centred around a young Czech artist in Oslo who reaches out to a career criminal who stole her most prized pieces from a gallery, resulting in an unlikely relationship between different yet similarly scarred souls. ‘The Painter and the Thief’ stars Barbora Kysilkova and Karl Bertil-Nordland and is out now in the US, and on the 30th of October in the UK.
The Painter and the Thief trailer (courtesy of Dogwoof)
Honeymood
Image Source: Spiro Films
The first Thursday this year also brought some Israeli spice to the festival when writer/director Talya Lavie (Zero Motivation) brought her zany talents back to the LFF with a marital comedy and her sophomore feature ‘Honeymood’. The tale of newlyweds who learn more about each other and more quickly than they bargained for, as their personal gripes escalate into a feud when their honeymoon becomes a uncomfortable journey of mutual discovery on the streets of Jerusalem, confronting them with gripes and former relationships which put into question whether marriage was the right choice for them. ‘Honeymood’ stars Avigail Harari, Ran Danker and Dan Amroussi among others, and has no UK or US dates yet.
Honeymood clip (courtesy of BFI)
Friday the 9th
Shirley
Image Source: Curzon
The first Friday this year brought literary psychological thrills to the festival when American actress/director and LFF regular Josephine Decker took her latest to selected British audiences after its US launch and ahead of its general UK release on the 30th of October, a period psychodrama adaptation of Susan Scarf Merrell’s novel ‘Shirley’.
A taught 60s fictional character tale inspired by from everything from Edward Albee to Stephen King and centred around a fictional version of celebrated real life writer Shirley Jackson; a prickly anti-social author living with her pompous professorial husband, who finds inspiration for her bleak new novel from two young married academics who become their lodgers, as she begins to blur the lines between her new subjects and her would-be characters towards a satisfying conclusion for her book, only to form a dysfunctional bond with the young lady who becomes her muse. ‘Shirley’ stars Elisabeth Moss, Odessa Young, Michael Stuhlbarg and Logan Lerman among others, out now in the US and on the 30th of October in the UK.
Shirley trailer (courtesy of Curzon)
Relic
Image Source: Signature
Friday also saw Australian cinema inject further female-led horror into the festival, with the support of emerging producer Jake Gyllenhaal, when debutante writer/director Natalie Erika James brought her sinter generational dementia allegory ‘Relic’ to the LFF ahead of its late October UK release. It tells the tale of a grandmother whose inexplicable disappearance becomes even more bizarre when she returns a changed figure, plunging her daughter and granddaughter into despair when they lose touch with their matriarch . . . while the decaying family home begins to reveal insidious secrets which may hold the key to this mystery. ‘Relic’ stars Robyn Nevin, Emily Mortimer and Bella Heathcote among others, is out now in the US and on the 30th of October in the UK, you can check out our review here.
Relic trailer (courtesy of BFI)
180° Rule
Image Source: Pluto
Iranian cinema also made its return to the LFF on the first Friday in the form of writer/director Farnoosh Samadi’s feature debut ‘180 Degree Rule’. Both a family drama built on secrets and lies and a mediation on Iran’s patriarchal society centred on a mother and teacher, whose trip to a wedding against the wishes of her husband sets off a series of events and deceptions which threaten her family and place her on a painful path to tragedy. ‘180° Rule’ stars Sahar Dolatshahi, Pejman Jamshidi and Hassan Pourshirazi, and has no confirmed dates yet.
180° Rule trailer (courtesy of TIFF)
Saturday the 10th
Mogul Mowgli
Image Source: BFI
The pick of Saturday’s scheduled threw up a multicultural home-grown affair of a musical and personal nature for debutant writer/director Bassam Tariq and star-turned-writer/producer Riz Ahmed, a collaboration based on their own experiences (with a surrealist twist) and reflective of British-Pakistani cultural life in 21st century Britain named ‘Mogul Mowgli’.
It tells the tale of a British Pakistani rapper on the brink of music superstardom and his first world tour who is thwarted by an illness which threatens to derail his dreams and define his future, as his body becomes an obstacle while the complexities of culture and family conspire with a confronting hip-hop rival to test his artistic resolve, and send him on a path of existential revival. ‘Mogul Mowgli’ stars Riz Ahmed, Alyy Khan and Anjana Vasan among others and is out on the 30th of October in the UK, you can check out our review here.
Mogul Mowgli trailer (courtesy of BFI)
Siberia
Image Source: The Match Factory
The distinction of the festival’s weirdest film—one which has always been a draw at every edition for us—saw perhaps the strongest contender for the title on Saturday with the return of provocative New York filmmaker Abel Ferrara to the LFF, bringing along a screening of his surreal Carl Jung-inspired voyage into the wilds of the human psyche ‘Siberia’.
Starring his later career muse Willem Dafoe, it tells the tale of a mysterious man in existential crisis at the frozen edge of the world, who embarks on a dark hallucinatory journey across the land and into his consciousness, confronting the spectres of the past and the experiences which formed him along the way. ‘Siberia’ is out now in Italy and Germany, with no UK date yet.
Siberia trailer (courtesy of The Match Factory)
Wildfire
Image Source: Cowboy Films
The lingering legacy of grief and trauma was undoubtedly a popular theme which percolated through the festival this year, typified on Saturday by Northern Irish writer/director Cathy Brady’s feature debut, which uses the ‘Troubles’ in the region as a both a backdrop and driving force for her tense family drama meditation on loss and mental illness ‘Wildfire’.
A small town story set in the Irish border and a small judgemental community, where the painfully reconstructed life of a young woman is thrown into turmoil by the return of her troubled long-missing sister, as their intense childhood bond is rekindled while their lives begin to fall apart when the spectre of their mother’s mysterious and untimely death comes back to haunt them, and a family legacy of tragedy and abandonment bubbles up to the surface. ‘Wildfire’ stars Nora-Jane Noone, Nika McGuigan and Martin McCann among others, with no release dates yet.
Wildfire clip (courtesy of BFI)
Sunday the 11th
Supernova
Image Source: StudioCanal
The pick of Sunday’s (and arguably the whole festival) offerings was easily one of the most poignant and heartbreaking films at the LFF this year, as British actor-turned-writer/director Harry Macqueen underlined his penchant for touching and melancholy UK road trip relationship dramas, after establishing it with his debut ‘Hinterland’, upping the star power for his memorable sophomore feature ‘Supernova’.
A story which follows the strains in the relationship of a middle-age artist/intellectual long-term gay couple on an RV excursion home to rural England, a road trip made all the more precious and definitive when the one suffering with dementia begins to steadily decline, while the other struggles with the inevitability of their predicament while determined to hold fast until the bitter end. ‘Supernova’ stars Colin Firth, Stanley Tucci and Pippa Haywood among others, and is out on the 20th of November in the UK, you can see our review here.
Supernova trailer (courtesy of StudioCanal)
Soul
Image Source: Disney
The highest profile screening this year, and likely the only chance to see the film in a theatre thanks to its Covid-19 influenced move to online streaming, was a Disney animated affair as Pete Docter joined by co-director Kemp Powers brought his latest Pixar creation to the LFF for a world premiere of ‘Soul’. The tale of a school band teacher and aspiring jazz musician who is pulled into a fantastical world where he forms a bond with a young soul in search of herself, as he searches for his own meaning on a journey to return home and discover what’s important . . . and what really defines us. ‘Soul’ features the voice talents of Jamie Foxx, Tina Fey and Quest Love among others, and is available everywhere on Disney+ from the 25th of December.
Soul trailer (courtesy of Pixar)
One Night in Miami…
Image Source: Amazon
Sunday also brought a particularly notable and historically significant feature directorial debut to the LFF when recent Oscar-winner Regina King stepped behind the camera, teaming up with screenwriter Kemp Powers to adapt his own stageplay, a period chamber piece and four-man-show about the black experience in America with a distinct contemporary resonance, ‘One Night in Miami…’.
Set during the aftermath of Cassius Clay’s historic heavyweight championship victory over Sonny Liston in 1964 and on the eve of his conversion to Islam, as cultural icons and leaders of the black community Clay, Muslim minister Malcolm X, soul legend Sam Cooke, and NFL superstar Jim Brown come together to celebrate, only to end up existentially clashing over their role in the civil rights struggle for equality, and how to best take power as disenfranchised African-Americans. ‘One Night in Miami…’ stars Kingsley Ben-Adir, Eli Goree, Leslie Odom Jr, and Aldis Hodge among others, and is out on the 26th of December in the UK, and on the 15th of January 2021 on Amazon Prime Video. You can check out our review here.
One Night in Miami… clip (courtesy of Amazon)
Week 2—->
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