The 57th BFI London Film Festival will open on Wednesday 9 October with the European Premiere of CAPTAIN PHILLIPS, directed by Academy Award nominee Paul Greengrass (United 93, The Bourne Supremacy) and starring two time Academy Award winner Tom Hanks (Forrest Gump, Philadelphia). The festival will close on Sunday 20 October with the European Premiere of SAVING MR. BANKS, described as the extraordinary untold story of how one of the most beloved tales of all time, Mary Poppins, was brought to the big screen. SAVING MR. BANKS is directed by John Lee Hancock (The Blind Side) and also stars Tom Hanks as Walt Disney and two-time Academy Award- winner Emma Thompson (Sense and Sensibility, The Remains of the Day, Howards End) as the London based author of Mary Poppins, P.L. Travers.
CAPTAIN PHILLIPS is described as director Paul Greengrass’s multi-layered examination of the 2009 hijacking of the U.S. container ship Maersk Alabama by a crew of Somali pirates. It is – through Greengrass’s distinctive lens – simultaneously a pulse-pounding thriller and a complex portrait of the myriad effects of globalization. The film focuses on the relationship between the Alabama’s commanding officer, Captain Richard Phillips (two time Academy Award® winner Tom Hanks), and his Somali counterpart, Muse (Barkhad Abdi). Set on an incontrovertible collision course off the coast of Somalia, both men will find themselves paying the human toll for economic forces outside of their control. The film is directed by Academy Award® nominee Paul Greengrass, from a screenplay by Billy Ray based upon the book, A Captain’s Duty: Somali Pirates, Navy SEALs, and Dangerous Days at Sea, by Richard Phillips with Stephan Talty. The film is produced by Scott Rudin, Dana Brunetti, and Michael De Luca. Sony Pictures release the film in UK cinemas on 18 October, 2013.
SAVING MR. BANKS is described as a poignant, sharply funny and moving story of personal journey and discovery, which reveals how P.L. Travers’ emotional connection to her characters and exhaustive apprehension to Walt Disney’s creative vision nearly dismantled the entire twenty-year endeavor to transform a work of personal significance into one of the most endearing classic films in cinematic history. The film is directed by John Lee Hancock, produced by Alison Owen, Ian Collie and Philip Steuer, and written by Kelly Marcel and Sue Smith. Walt Disney Studios releases the film in UK cinemas winter 2013.
The 57 th BFI London Film Festival runs from Wednesday 9 October thru Sunday 20 October, 2013.