BFI London Film Festival 2020
Monday the 12th
Undine
Image Source: Curzon
The first day of week two at this year’s festival saw German cinema and one of its more daring directors return to the LFF when Christian Petzold brought his dark hallucinatory romance ‘Undine’ to the festival—a modern realist mythological human drama based on the German derivant of the European water nymph myth. It tells a tale revolving around a mysterious Berlin architectural historian who is saved from a bleak breakup by the unconditional love of an industrial diver she unexpectedly meets, only to be haunted by her past and led by her true nature into inevitable tragedy. ‘Undine’ is out now in several European markets, with no UK or US dates yet.
Undine trailer (courtesy of TheMatchFactory)
The Intruder (El Prófugo)
Image Source: Rei Cine
Monday also brought a Latin American flavour and a hint of Giallo to the LFF when writer/director Natalia Meta brought her Argentinian psychological thriller and dark dream meditation ‘The Intruder’ to the festival. The story of a voice artist and chorister recovering from tragedy and trauma, whose life takes a hallucinatory turn when she suspects an unnamed force has infiltrated her voice and consciousness, confounding those around her as she forms a bond with a mysterious organist and the line between waking dreams and reality becomes increasingly blurred. ‘The Intruder’ stars Erica Rivas, Nahuel Pérez Biscayart and Cecilia Roth among others, and has no confirmed dates yet.
The Intruder trailer (courtesy of BFI)
Ultraviolence
Image Source: Migrant Media
In keeping with the strong underlying themes of racial discrimination and societal injustice percolating through the festival this year, filmmakers Ken Fero and Fariq Mehmood built on their 2005 debut ‘Injustice’ and further focused their attentions on a broken British system of justice to premiere their latest meditation on police corruption ‘Ultraviolence’ on Monday. An archival documentary piece focusing on the many deaths whilst in police custody or as a result of their actions in the UK over a ten year period, and the devastating effects on the families and communities involved—painting a prescient picture that feeds into the larger fiery conversations about injustice and accountability manifesting on the streets of Britain and the US as we speak. ‘Ultraviolence’ has no confirmed release dates yet.
Ultraviolence trailer (courtesy of BFI)
Tuesday the 13th
Rose: A Love Story
Image Source: Mini Productions
Tuesday brought not only a world premiere to the LFF but another directorial debutante when editor-turned-prolific shorts director Jennifer Sheridan graced her hometown festival with her feature debut ‘Rose: A Love Story’. A claustrophobic psychological horror for our time centred around a young woman with a mysterious and terrifying illness, whose life in rural isolation with her devoted husband is thrown into turmoil by the unexpected arrival of an uninvited guest, threatening to unleash her frightening condition like never before. ‘Rose: A Love Story’ stars Sophie Rundle, Matt Stokoe and Olive Gray, and has no confirmed dates yet.
Rose: A Love Story trailer (courtesy of BFI)
A Common Crime (Un Crimen Común)
Image Source: Pensar con las Manos
Some further Latin American flavour and the second Argentinian entry at the year was injected on Tuesday in the form of Francisco Márquez’s social realist drama with a hint of the otherworldly ‘A Common Crime’. A moody contemporary tale set amid the sociopolitical turmoil and police corruption of modern day Argentina, where a middle-class single mother and teacher is slowly driven to despair after her refusal to help her maid’s son during an unsolicited late night visit sees him murdered by the cops soon after, as she’s consumed by guilt and haunted by his passing . . . quite literally, and only the truth can set her free. ‘A Common Crime’ stars Elisa Carricajo, Mecha Martínez and Eliot Otazo, and has no confirmed dates yet.
A Common Crime trailer (courtesy of BFI)
One Man and His Shoes
Image Source: Dartmouth Films
Tuesday also threw up quite the unique cultural chronicle in the form of UK documentarian Yemi Bamiro’s account of sneaker culture and the phenomenon of Air Jordans ‘One Man and His Shoes’. As he tracks the corporate and sporting history of the athletic shoe industry and its cultural significance, particularly within the black community, while commenting on the branding and corporatisation of those preferences to create a billion-dollar business. ‘One Man and His Shoes’ has no confirmed UK or US dates yet.
One Man and His Shoes trailer (courtesy of BFI)
Wednesday the 14th
Another Round (Druk)
Image Source: StudioCanal
Wednesday brought some uncharacteristically rare but welcome Scandinavian flavour to the LFF this year, as writer/diretor Thomas Vinterberg reunited with his stars Mads Mikkelsen, Thomas Bo Larsen and Magnus Millang while adding Lars Ranthe to form a quartet of screen drinking buddies who brought us ‘Another Round’.
A frank and often funny but poignant middle-class Danish meditation on middle-aged male familial strife, alcoholism and human frailty, centred around a joyless straight-laced high-school teacher in a rut and his three scholarly colleagues, who think they have found the key to a successful and fulfilling life in the theory from a philosopher who suggest that people maintain a discipled but elevated minimum blood alcohol level at all times—but the best laid plans of mice and men often go awry, particularly when they try to test that theory . . . with major consequences for all. ‘Another Round’ is out now in Denmark, and on the 27th of November in the UK, check out our review here.
Another Round trailer (courtesy of StudioCanal)
David Byrne’s American Utopia
Image Source: Universal
Wednesday also brought to the LFF one of the most unique, electric and the funkiest films of this year’s festival, as Spike Lee captured David Byrne’s 2019 Broadway show in all its glory. The minimalist expertly executed concept featured Byrne and a diverse selection of talented musicians playing and dancing their way through songs from his 2018 album, a selection of ‘Talking Heads’ hits and other tracks, while weaving in a loose narrative about human connection, chronicling a detached and divided world but leaving a message of hope you can truly tap your toes and shake your hips to. ‘David Byrne’s American Utopia’ is out now in the US on HBO Max, with no UK date yet. You can see our review here.
David Byrne’s American Utopia trailer (courtesy of HBO)
Bad Tales (Favolacce)
Image Source: Rai
British audiences were also treated to a taste of dark Italian suburban drama on Wednesday, sprinkled with a bleak realist fairy tale quality by directorial duo the D’Innocenzo brothers, who brought a screening of their reflection on an Italy in limbo, a deadpan and revealing meditation on Italian suburban disillusionment and adolescent angst named ‘Bad Tales’. A distinctly adult and unflinching story set in modern Italian suburbia, following the fortunes (or misfortunes) of the local families and their tween children, coming-of-age in a vortex of judgement, indifference and neglect, as a whole generation stews in silence like a ticking time bomb ready to go off. ‘Bad Tales’ stars Elio Germano, Tommaso Di Cola and Justin Korovkin among others, and is out now in Italy, with no UK dates yet.
Bad Tales trailer (courtesy of The Match Factory)
Thursday the 15th
After Love
Image Source: BFI
Thursday brought a distinctly homemade affair to the LFF in the form of writer/director Aleem Khan’s collaboration with the BFI and BBC, which sees him build on his short film cinematic explorations of South Asian culture in the context of the West by applying them to his feature debut—a tale of family, trust and identity named ‘After Love’. It tells the story of a middle-aged British Muslim convert on the Dover coast, who embarks upon an unexpected journey of connection when she discovers that her late husband led a secret life across the channel in Calais. ‘After Love’ stars Joanna Scanlan, Nathalie Richard and Talid Ariss among others, and has no confirmed dates yet.
After Love trailer (courtesy of BFI)
200 Meters
Image Source: Odeh Films
The bleak and complex geopolitical realities of the world also made their mark on the LFF this year, filtered through the lens of a very personal human story which saw a rare glimpse of Palestinian cinema in co-production with European producers in the form of Ameen Nayfeh’s occupation drama ‘200 Meters’. A tale of struggle of division told from the perspective of a father separated from his family by only 200 meters but an insurmountable obstacle named the Israeli West Bank wall, as his voyage of reconnection intersects with a selection of other people trying to navigate the militarised complexities of Palestinian division and Israeli expansion. ‘200 Meters’ stars Ali Suliman, Anna Unterberge and Lana Zreik, and has no confirmed release dates yet.
200 Meters trailer (courtesy of Cinémathèque)
Identifying Features (Sin Señas Particulares)
Image Source: Avanti Pictures
Not to be outdone on the timely human drama stakes, Mexico applied its own very personal touch to a complex geopolitical issue ripped from the headlines, as directorial debutante Fernanda Valadez brought her border tale and a mother’s search for truth ‘Identifying Features’ to the LFF. A contemporary Mexican odyssey which follows a mother’s journey along the US-Mexico border in search of her son who goes missing after leaving to search for his piece of the American dream in the land of the free . . . but never arrives. ‘Identifying Features’ stars Mercedes Hernández, David Illescas and Juan Jesús Varela, and has no UK or US release dates yet.
Identifying Features trailer (courtesy of AFI)
Friday the 16th
Nomadland
Image Source: Searchlight Pictures
The pick of a busy second Friday this year saw another filmmaking visit to the festival of a Chinese director with a keen eye for the American heartland, as Chloé Zhao returned to the LFF via her third feature ‘Nomadland’. An adaptation of the 2017 Jessica Bruder book and Zhao’s classic American road drama ode to nomads and travellers, that diverse and colourful group of human beings who are now on the fringes of society but were once the core of what made mankind spread across the globe.
Set in the years following the 21st century global financial crisis and the subsequent “great recession”, and centred around a middle-aged Nevada woman who packs up what she has left in a van an embarks on a journey across the United States, scratching a living and meeting transient communities displaced by the crash, who live a nomadic existence in the reality of a failed ‘American Dream’. ‘Nomadland‘ stars Frances McDormand, David Strathairn and Patricia Grier among others, and is out on the 4th of December in the US, 1st of January 2021 in the UK.
Nomadland trailer (courtesy of Searchlight Pictures UK)
New Order (Nuevo Orden)
Image Source: MUBI
Friday also managed to throw up arguably the most daring, darkest and most frightening film this year, if only for its urgent socio-political resonance—particularly for a Latin America which has suffered under both socialism/communism and military dictatorships—as LFF regular Michel Franco brought his bleak and unflinching Mexican meditation on the collapse of Western society and its consequences ‘New Order’ to the festival.
A violent amoral warning tale that’s as realistic as it is dystopian, set in turbulent modern day Mexico City where angry protests against corruption and inequality turn into a violent wave which rips the fabric of society in the city, focusing on a wealthy family wedding which becomes a bloodbath when anarchy reigns, while the aftermath for both the rich ruling classes and the poor who serve them becomes tragic when the iron fist of government and military strikes down. ‘New Order’ stars Naian González Norvind, Diego Boneta and Fernando Cuautle among others, and has no UK or US dates yet, you can check out our review here.
New Order trailer (courtesy of The Match Factory)
Possessor
Image Source: Signature
The award for the most gruesome and blood-spattered film of this year’s festival saw perhaps its strongest contender on Friday when writer/director Brandon Cronenberg proved that the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree with his tense hallucinatory and occasionally macabre sophomore feature ‘Possessor’.
A brutal and nihilistic but stylish sci-fi horror/thriller meditation on modern technology, identity, and emotional trauma, centred around an operator for a shadowy organisation who infiltrates the bodies of high value targets with brain implants and mind control technology for profit, only for the latest mission to go awry when her own state of mind conspires with the lines between hallucination and reality, and between host and possessor becoming blurred . . . with bloody consequences. ‘Possessor’ stars Andrea Riseborough, Christopher Abbott and Jennifer Jason Leigh among others, and is out now in the US and Canada, and on the 27th of November in the UK, check out our review.
Possessor trailer (courtesy of BFI)
Saturday the 17th
Ammonite
Image Source: Lionsgate
After making his debut at the festival with his short film work and collaborating with the BFI for his 2017 feature debut ‘God’s Own Country’, British actor-turned-writer/director Francis Lee was given the distinction of closing the LFF this year by swapping his personal stories about gay relationships and people who work the land for those who scour and study it, with his dramatised romantic LGBTQ+ take on the life of overlooked 19th Century English fossil hunter and palaeontologist Mary Anning ‘Ammonite’.
Set around the windswept coast of mid-1800s Dorset, it follows the solitary life of this withdrawn fossil collector and academic as it is upended by the arrival of a young and melancholy gentleman’s wife who becomes her lodger, apprentice, and something more, as their relationship slowly blossoms amid shared grief and loss to provide the human connection they both craved. ‘Ammonite’ stars Kate Winslet, Saoirse Ronan and Gemma Jones among others, and is out on the 13th of November in the US, with no UK date yet. You can see our review here.
Ammonite trailer (courtesy of BFI)
Awards
This year’s awards feature—something which unlike other festivals has never been a major part of the LFF—became a far more accessible and democratised affair when all the films were made eligible and festival audiences were given the chance to vote for their own choices along four categories; best film, best documentary, best short film, and best XR/Immersive art. Meanwhile Northern Irish writer/director Cathy Brady was awarded the IWC Schaffhausen Filmmaker Bursary prize for ‘Wildfire’. You can check out all the winners and the ceremony below.
The 64th BFI London Film Festival 2020 Virtual LFF Audience Award Winners
Best Film:
‘Another Round’ by Thomas Vinterberg
Best Documentary:
‘The Painter and the Thief’ by Benjamin Ree
Best Short Film:
‘Shuttlecock’ by Tommy Gillard
Best XR/Immersive Art:
‘To Miss the Ending’ by Anna West and David Callanan
Virtual LFF Audience Awards (courtesy of BFI)
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