From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Times BFI London Film Festival is the UK's largest
public film event, screening over 300 films from 60 countries. The
festival, the LFF, currently in its 53rd year, is held every year
by the British Film Institute and
currently sponsored by The Times newspaper. The 2008 Festival ran from 15
October to 30 October, and the 2009 Festival will be between 14
October and 29 October. The Festival presents selected new films
from the full spectrum of world cinema, with an extensive schedule
of industry and public forums, education events, lectures and
celebrity interviews.
History
In 1956 a group of film critics including Dilys Powell of the
Sunday Times, raised the notion of a film
festival for London. They reasoned that with Cannes and Venice having
their festivals, as did Edinburgh, so
surely London should too. However their aim was to pitch the new
festival squarely at the public - giving audiences an opportunity
to see movies which might not otherwise appear in British cinemas.
Originally aiming to be a 'festival of festivals', it focused on
screening a selection of strong titles from other European film
festivals, including Cannes and Venice. The first London Film
Festival was conceived by the then BFI British Film Institute Director
James Quinn, and took place
at the NFT (National Film Theatre, now renamed BFI Southbank) from
16-26 October. It was launched the day after the inauguration of
the new NFT on its current site under Waterloo Bridge. It screened
only 15-20 films from a renowned selection of directors, including
Akira
Kurosawa, Satyajit
Ray, Yasujirō
Ozu, Luchino Visconti and Andrzej Wajda.
While the programme still retains something of the 'festival of
festivals' feel, it also now shows new discoveries from 'important
and exciting talents' in world cinema. Whilst it continues to be
first and foremost a public festival, it is now attended by large
numbers of film professionals and journalists. Thus it offers
opportunities for people to see films that would not otherwise get
a UK screening along with films which will get a release in the
near future.
The festival is 'topped and tailed' by the opening and closing
galas which feature a more formal atmosphere, larger venue in
central London and speeches by organisers, directors or producers,
and often the actors themselves. The closing gala also gives awards
to people involved in film for their various achievements. Other
than these two events the screenings are quite informal and similar
to normal cinema experience except for two things; the Q&A
session and people actually watching the credits! Many of the
screenings are attended by some of the people involved in making
the film in question, from actors and directors, to producers and
stuntmen. They speak briefly about the film before it screens and
often request the audience to ask questions after the film in a
Q&A.
The festival is divided into themes which cover different areas
of interest - in 2008 these were; Galas and Special Screenings,
Film on the Square, New British Cinema, French Revolutions, Cinema
Europa, World Cinema, Experimenta, Treasures from the Archives,
Short Cuts and Animation. In 2008 the festival, whilst focused
around Leicester Square and the BFI Southbank (formerly known as
the NFT) in central London, used 18 venues around central London
for their screenings.
The 2008 festival featured several world premiers including Ron
Howard's Frost/Nixon, Nick Moran's
Telstar and Nicolas
Winding Refn's Bronson; European premiers of Slumdog
Millionaire; W., and
The
Brothers Bloom as well as new films from Woody Allen, Steven
Soderbergh, and Michel Gondry.[1]
London
Film Festival team
- Artistic Director: Sandra Hebron
- Programmer: Michael Hayden
- Programme Manager: Sarah Lutton
- Producer: Helen de Witt
- BFI Director: Amanda Nevill
- The Times Editor: James Harding
Awards
2004
- The
Sutherland Trophy
- Tarnation
directed by Jonathan Caouette
- 7th FIPRESCI International
Critics Award
- Aaltra co-directed by Gustave Kervern & Benoit Delepine
- The Alfred
Dunhill UK Film Talent Award
- A Way Of Life directed by Amma Asante
- 9th Annual
Satyajit Ray Award
- The
Woodsman directed by Nicole Kassell
- TCM Classic Shorts Award
- Nits directd by Harry Wootliff
2005
- The
Sutherland Trophy
- The Living and the Dead
directed by Kari Paljakka
- 8th FIPRESCI International
Critics Award
- Man Push
Cart directed by Ramin Bahrani
- The Alfred
Dunhill UK Film Talent Award
- Producer Gayle Griffiths
- The 10th Annual
Satyajit Ray Award
- Pavee Lackeen directed by Perry
Ogden
- The Times bfi London
Film Festival Grierson Award
- Workingman's Death directed by Michael Glawogger
- TCM Classic Shorts Award
- Happy directed by Jane Lloyd
2006
- The
Sutherland Trophy
- Red
Road directed by Andrea Arnold
- 9th FIPRESCI International
Critics Award
- Lola directed by Javier Rebollo
- The Alfred
Dunhill UK Film Talent Award
- Producer Mark Herbert
- The 11th Annual
Satyajit Ray Award
- The Lives of Others directed
by Florian Henckel von
Donnersmarck
- The Times bfi London
Film Festival Grierson Award
- Thin
directed by Lauren Greenfield
- TCM Classic Shorts Award
- Silence Is Golden
directed by Chris
Shepherd
2007
- The
Sutherland Trophy
- Persepolis directed by Marjane Satrapi
and Vincent
Paronnaud
- 10th FIPRESCI
International Critics Award
- Unrelated directed by Joanna Hogg
- The Alfred
Dunhill UK Film Talent Award
- Sarah Gavron,
director of Brick Lane
- The 12th Annual
Satyajit Ray Award
- California Dreamin'
awarded posthumously to director Cristian Nemescu
- The Times bfi London
Film Festival Grierson Award
- The Mosquito Problem
and other stories directed by Andrey Paounov
- TCM Classic Shorts Award
- A bout de truffe /The Truffle Hunter directed by Tom Tagholm
2008
- The
Sutherland Trophy
- Tulpan directed by Sergey Dvortsevoy
- 11th FIPRESCI
International Critics Award
- Three Blind Mice directed by Matthew Newton
- The 13th Annual
Satyajit Ray Award
- Mid August
Lunch/ Pranzo di ferragosto to director Gianni
Gregorio
- The Times bfi London
Film Festival Grierson Award
- Victoire Terminus directed by Florent de la Tullaye
and Renaud Barret
- TCM Classic Shorts Award
- Leaving directed by Richard Penfold
and Sam Hearn
References
External
links
| FIAPF
accredited film
festivals |
|
| Competitive Feature |
|
|
| Competitive specialized |
|
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| Non-competitive |
|
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| Documentary and shorts |
|
|
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