The 68th BFI London Film Festival (LFF), taking place over twelve days from October 9 – 20, 2024, announced the full program line-up of Galas, Special Presentations and Official Competition titles.
The LFF will present a diverse program of 253 features, shorts, series and immersive works from 79 countries.
World Premieres include: Steve McQueen’s Blitz which opens the festival, Ben Taylor’s Cunard Gala Joy starring Thomasin McKenzie, James Norton and Bill Nighy, Darren Thornton’s Irish comedy film Four Mothers, spellbinding performance film from Iain Forsyth and Jane Pollard The Extraordinary Miss Flower, the latest documentary from Oscar®-winning directing duo Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin Endurance, Sophie Compton and Daisy-May Hudson’s transformative female prison documentary Holloway, magical Bulgarian drama Tarika from Milko Lazarov, Laila Abbas’ gripping tale of two sisters Thank You for Banking With Us, Family Gala That Christmas directed by Simon Otto and starring Brian Cox, Jodie Whittaker and Bill Nighy, Eloise King’s investigative documentary The Shadow Scholars, Adam Wong Sau-Ping’s touching Hong Kong drama The Way We Talk, and the Manchester-set debut feature from Gino Evans Treading Water.
2024 BFI London Film Festival Program Lineup
HEADLINE GALAS
Opening Night Gala – BLITZ (Director-Screenwriter Steve McQueen, UK)
Closing Night Gala – PIECE BY PIECE (Director Morgan Neville, USA)
American Express Gala – ELTON JOHN: NEVER TOO LATE (Directors R.J. Cutler, David Furnish, USA)
ANORA (Director-Screenwriter Sean Baker, USA)
THE APPRENTICE (Director Ali Abbasi, Canada-Denmark-Ireland)
BIRD (Director-Screenwriter Andrea Arnold, UK)
CONCLAVE (Director Edward Berger, UK-USA)
EMILIA PÉREZ (Director-Screenwriter Jacques Audiard, France)
BFI Patrons’ Gala – HARD TRUTHS (Director-Screenwriter Mike Leigh, UK-Spain)
Cunard Gala – JOY (Director Ben Taylor, UK)
MARIA (Director Pablo Larraín, Italy-Germany-USA)
NIGHTBITCH (Director-Screenwriter Marielle Heller, USA)
Family Gala – THAT CHRISTMAS (Director Simon Otto, UK)
THE ROOM NEXT DOOR (Director-Screenwriter Pedro Almodóvar, Spain)
The Mayor of London’s Gala – WE LIVE IN TIME (Director John Crowley, UK-France)
SPECIAL PRESENTATIONS
ALL WE IMAGINE AS LIGHT (Director-Screenwriter Payal Kapadia, France-India-Netherlands Luxembourg)
Experimenta Special Presentation – THE BALLAD OF SUZANNE CÉSAIRE (Director Madeleine Hunt Ehrlich, USA)
Documentary Special Presentation – DAHOMEY (Director-Screenwriter Mati Diop, France-Senegal Benin)
ENDURANCE (Directors Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi, Jimmy Chin, Natalie Hewit, UK-USA)
HARVEST (Director Athina Rachel Tsangari, UK-Germany-Greece-France-USA)
I’M STILL HERE (Director Walter Salles, Brazil-France 2024)
BFI Flare Special Presentation – A NICE INDIAN BOY (Director Roshan Sethi, USA-Canada)
NICKEL BOYS (Director RaMell Ross, USA)
THE PIANO LESSON (Director Malcolm Washington, USA)
QUEER (Director Luca Guadagnino, Italy-USA)
A REAL PAIN (Director-Screenwriter Jesse Eisenberg, USA-Poland)
THE SEED OF THE SACRED FIG (Director-Screenwriter Mohammad Rasoulof, Iran-Germany-France)
Treasures Special Presentation – SILENT SHERLOCK (Directors Maurice Elvey, George Ridgwell, UK)
THE WILD ROBOT (Director-Screenwriter Chris Sanders, USA)
LFF AWARDS
OFFICIAL COMPETITION
APRIL (Director-Screenwriter Dea Kulumbegashvili, France-Italy-Georgia)
BRING THEM DOWN (Director-Screenwriter Christopher Andrews, Ireland-UK-Belgium)
THE EXTRAORDINARY MISS FLOWER (Directors Iain Forsyth, Jane Pollard, UK)
FOUR MOTHERS (Director Darren Thornton, Ireland-UK)
LIVING IN TWO WORLDS (Director Mipo O, Japan)
MEMOIR OF A SNAIL (Director-Screenwriter Adam Elliot, Australia)
ON BECOMING A GUINEA FOWL (Director-Screenwriter Rungano Nyoni, Zambia-UK-Ireland)
THANK YOU FOR BANKING WITH US (Director-Screenwriter Laila Abbas, Palestine-Germany)
UNDER THE VOLCANO (Director Damian Kocur, Poland)
VERMIGLIO (Director-Screenwriter Maura Delpero, Italy-France-Belgium)
THE WOLVES ALWAYS COME AT NIGHT (Director Gabrielle Brady, Australia-Mongolia-Germany)
FIRST FEATURE COMPETITION
CROCODILE TEARS (Director-Screenwriter Tumpal Tampubolon, Indonesia-France-Singapore Germany) Hanami (Director Denise Fernandes, Switzerland-Portugal-Cape Verde)
HAPPYEND (Director-Screenwriter Neo Sora, Japan-USA)
LAST SWIM (Director Sasha Nathwani, UK)
MY ETERNAL SUMMER (Director Sylvia Le Fanu, Denmark)
OLIVIA & THE CLOUDS (Director-Screenwriter Tomás Pichardo Espaillat, Dominican Republic)
ON FALLING (Director-Screenwriter Laura Carreira, UK-Portugal)
SANTOSH (Director-Screenwriter Sandhya Suri, UK-France-Germany)
SEPTEMBER SAYS (Director-Screenwriter Ariane Labed, Ireland-UK-Germany)
TO A LAND UNKNOWN (Director Mahdi Fleifel, UK-Palestine-France-Greece-Netherlands-Germany Qatar-Saudi Arabia)
WHO DO I BELONG TO (Director-Screenwriter Meryam Joobeur, France-Canada-Tunisia)
DOCUMENTARY COMPETITION
COLLECTIVE MONOLOGUE (Director-Screenwriter Jessica Sarah Rinland, Argentina-UK)
HOLLOWAY (Directors Sophie Compton, Daisy-May Hudson, UK)
KAMAY (Directors Ilyas Yourish, Shahrokh Bikaran, Afghanistan-Belgium-France-Germany)
MOTHER VERA (Directors Cécile Embleton, Alys Tomlinson, UK)
RISING UP AT NIGHT (Director-Screenwriter Nelson Makengo, Democratic Republic of Congo Belgium-Germany-Burkina Faso-Qatar)
SEEKING MAVIS BEACON (Director Jazmin Jones, USA)
THE SHADOW SCHOLARS (Director Eloise King, UK)
WITCHES (Director-Screenwriter Elizabeth Sankey, UK)
SHORT FILM COMPETITION
ADURA BABA MI (Director-Screenwriter Juliana Kasumu, UK)
COLD SNAP (Director-Screenwriter Ellen Evans, UK)
DRAGFOX (Director Lisa Ott, UK)
I DON’T WANT TO BE JUST A MEMORY (Director Sarnt Utamachote, Germany)
MAGIC CANDIES (Director Nishio Daisuke, Japan)
MOTHER’S DAY (Director-Screenwriter Emily Burnett, UK)
SEE IT, SAY IT (Director-Screenwriter Nez Khammal, UK)
STOMACH BUG (Director-Screenwriter Matty Crawford, UK)
TWO REFUSALS (WOULD WE RECOGNIZE OURSELVES UNBROKEN?) (Director Suneil Sanzgiri, USA)
VIBRATIONS FROM GAZA (Director-Screenwriter Rehab Nazzal, Palestine-Canada)
LOVE
ALL OF YOU (Director William Bridges, UK)
ALL SHALL BE WELL (Director-Screenwriter Ray Yeung, Hong Kong (S.A.R of China))
AT AVERROES & ROSA PARKS (Director Nicolas Philibert, France)
GRAND TOUR (Director Miguel Gomes, Portugal-Italy-France)
I’M YOUR VENUS (Director Kimberly Reed, USA)
MOTHERBOARD (Director-Screenwriter Victoria Mapplebeck, UK)
PATRICE: THE MOVIE (Director Ted Passon, USA)
PAVEMENTS (Director-Screenwriter Alex Ross Perry, USA)
QUEENS OF DRAMA (Director Alexis Langlois, France-Belgium)
SEX (Director-Screenwriter Dag Johan Haugerud, Norway)
TARIKA (Director Milko Lazarov, Bulgaria-Germany-Luxembourg)
WEIGHTLESS (Director Sara Fgaier, Italy)
WHEN FALL IS COMING (Director François Ozon, France)
WHEN THE LIGHT BREAKS (Director-Screenwriter Rúnar Rúnarsson, Iceland-Netherlands-Croatia France)
DEBATE
2073 (Director Asif Kapadia, UK)
BLACK BOX DIARIES (Director Shiori Itō, Japan-USA-UK)
THE CATS OF GOKOGU SHRINE (Director Kazuhiro Soda, Japan-USA)
FAMILIES LIKE OURS (Series Creator-Director Thomas Vinterberg, Denmark-France-Sweden-Czechia Belgium-Norway-Germany)
I AM NEVENKA (Director Icíar Bollaín, Spain-Italy)
THE INVASION (Director-Screenwriter Sergei Loznitsa, Netherlands-France-USA)
ISRAEL PALESTINE ON SWEDISH TV 1958-1989 (Director-Screenwriter Göran Hugo Olsson, Sweden Finland-Denmark)
JULIE KEEPS QUIET (Director Leonardo Van Dijl, Belgium-Sweden)
THE LISTENERS (Series Creator-Screenwriter Jordan Tannahill, UK)
THREE KILOMETRES TO THE END OF THE WORLD (Director Emanuel Pârvu, Romania)
YOUTH (Homecoming) (Director Wang Bing, France-Luxembourg-Netherlands)
LAUGH
AUDREY (Director Natalie Bailey, Australia)
THE GUTTER (Directors Isaiah Lester, Yassir Lester, USA)
THE OTHER WAY AROUND (Director Jonás Trueba, Spain-France)
RUMOURS (Directors Guy Maddin, Evan Johnson, Galen Johnson, Canada-Germany)
SOFA, SO GOOD (Director-Screenwriters Kyle Thiele, Eli Thiele, Cole Thiele, USA)
A TRAVELER’S NEEDS (Director-Screenwriter Hong Sangsoo, South Korea)
TRIUMPH (Directors Kristina Grozeva, Petar Valchanov, Bulgaria-Greece)
UNIVERSAL LANGUAGE (Director Matthew Rankin, Canada)
DARE
BIONICO’S BACHATA (Director Yoel Morales, Dominican Republic)
CAUGHT BY THE TIDES (Director Jia Zhangke, China)
CIDADE; CAMPO (Director-Screenwriter Juliana Rojas, Brazil-Germany-France)
DON’T CRY, BUTTERFLY (Director-Screenwriter Dương Diệu Linh, Vietnam-Singapore Philippines Indonesia)
EIGHT POSTCARDS FROM UTOPIA (Director-Screenwriters Radu Jude, Christian Ferencz-Flatz, Romania)
FAMILIAR TOUCH (Director-Screenwriter Sarah Friedland, USA)
MY STOLEN PLANET (Director-Screenwriter Farahnaz Sharifi, Germany-Iran)
THE NIGHTS STILL SMELL OF GUNPOWDER (Director-Screenwriter Inadelso Cossa, Mozambique France-Germany-Portugal-Netherlands-Norway)
PEPE (Director-Screenwriter Nelson Carlos De los Santos Arias, Dominican Republic-Namibia Germany-France)
PRAIA FORMOSA (Director Julia de Simone, Portugal-Brazil)
SANATORIUM UNDER THE SIGN OF THE HOURGLASS (Director-Screenwriters Quay Brothers, UK Poland Germany)
SOUNDTRACK TO A COUP D’ÊTAT (Director-Screenwriter Johan Grimonprez, Belgium-France Netherlands)
SUGAR ISLAND (Director-Screenwriter Johanné Gómez Terrero, Dominican Republic-Spain)
VIÊT AND NAM (Director-Screenwriter Trương Minh Quý, Philippines-France-Singapore-Netherlands Italy-Germany-Vietnam)
THRILL
AÏCHA (Director-Screenwriter Mehdi M. Barsaoui, Tunisia-France-Italy-Saudi Arabia-Qatar)
ARCHITECTON (Director-Screenwriter Victor Kossakovsky, Germany-France)
LA COCINA (Director-Screenwriter Alonso Ruizpalacios, Mexico-USA)
EAT THE NIGHT (Directors Caroline Poggi, Jonathan Vinel, France)
GHOST TRAIL (Director Jonathan Millet, France-Germany-Belgium)
MALDOROR (Director Fabrice du Welz, Belgium-France)
MARCO, THE INVENTED TRUTH (Directors Aitor Arregi, Jon Garaño, Spain)
MISERICORDIA (Director-Screenwriter Alain Guiraudie, France-Spain-Portugal)
SKINCARE (Director Austin Peters, USA-Italy)
STRANGER EYES (Director-Screenwriter Yeo Siew Hua, Singapore-Taiwan-France-USA)
A THOUSAND BLOWS (Series Creator-Screenwriter Steven Knight, UK)
CULT
THE BALCONETTES (Director Noémie Merlant, France)
CHAIN REACTIONS (Director-Screenwriter Alexandre O. Philippe, USA)
FRÉWAKA (Director-Screenwriter Aislinn Clarke, Ireland)
SISTER MIDNIGHT (Director-Screenwriter Karan Kandhari, UK)
THE SURFER (Director Lorcan Finnegan, Australia-Ireland)
THE WAILING (Director Pedro Martín-Calero, Spain-Argentina-France)
THE WEEKEND (Director Daniel Oriahi, Nigeria)
JOURNEY
AFTER THE LONG RAINS (Director-Screenwriter Damien Hauser, Kenya-Switzerland)
BABY (Director Marcelo Caetano, Brazil)
EEPHUS (Director Carson Lund, USA-France)
FLOW (Director Gints Zilbalodis, Latvia-France-Belgium)
GOOD ONE (Director-Screenwriter India Donaldson, USA)
LAYLA (Director-Screenwriter Amrou Al-Kadhi, UK)
LOOK INTO MY EYES (Director Lana Wilson, USA)
MY EVERYTHING (Director-Screenwriter Anne-Sophie Bailly, France)
SEBASTIAN (Director-Screenwriter Mikko Mäkelä, UK-Belgium-Finland)
SHAMBHALA (Director-Screenwriter Min Bahadur Bham, Nepal-France-Norway-Turkey-Hong Kong
(S.A.R of China)-Taiwan-USA-Qatar)
SUJO (Director-Screenwriters Astrid Rondero, Fernanda Valadez, Mexico-France-USA)
SUPER/MAN: THE CHRISTOPHER REEVE STORY (Directors Ian Bonhôte, Peter Ettedgui, UK-USA)
TREADING WATER (Director-Screenwriter Gino Evans, UK)
THE VILLAGE NEXT TO PARADISE (Director-Screenwriter Mo Harawe, Austria-France-Germany-Somalia)
CREATE
ABIDING NOWHERE (Director Tsai Ming-liang, Taiwan-USA)
ERNEST COLE: LOST & FOUND (Director-Screenwriter Raoul Peck, France-USA)
GRAND THEFT HAMLET (Director-Screenwriters Pinny Grylls, Sam Crane, UK)
IT’S NOT ME (Director-Screenwriter Leos Carax, France)
ONE TO ONE: JOHN & YOKO (Directors Kevin Macdonald, Sam Rice-Edwards, UK)
PAULINE BLACK: A 2-TONE STORY (Director Jane Mingay, UK)
THE STIMMING POOL (The Neurocultures Collective (Sam Chown Ahern, Georgia Bradburn,
Benjamin Brown, Robin Elliott-Knowles, Lucy Walker), Steven Eastwood, UK)
SUPERBOYS OF MALEGAON (Director Reema Kagti, India)
TWIGGY (Director Sadie Frost, UK)
TWO STRANGERS TRYING NOT TO KILL EACH OTHER (Director Jacob Perlmutter, Manon Ouimet, UK Denmark-USA)
THE WAY WE TALK (Director Adam Wong Sau-Ping, Hong Kong (S.A.R of China))
EXPERIMENTA
THE TREASURY OF HUMAN INHERITANCE (Director-Screenwriter Alexis Kyle Mitchell, Canada-UK)
I DON’T WANT TO BE JUST A MEMORY (Director Sarnt Utamachote, Germany)
FORMS OF CIRCULATION #1 (Director-Screenwriters Paul Stewart, Sarah Perks, UK)
THE RIVER THAT NEVER ENDS (Director-Screenwriter JT Trinidad, Philippines)
NOTES: REMEMBERED AND FOUND (Director-Screenwriter Maria Anastassiou, UK-Cyprus)
TWO REFUSALS (WOULD WE RECOGNIZE OURSELVES UNBROKEN?) (Director Suneil Sanzgiri, USA)
FILE NO. 2304 (Director-Screenwriter A.S.M. Kobayashi, Canada-USA)
AT THE VERGE OF WORDLESSNESS (Director-Screenwriter Alaa Abu Asad, Netherlands)
AVANT SERIANA (Director-Screenwriter Samy Benammar, Canada-Algeria)
NIDO DE CROCODILO (Director-Screenwriter Jazmin Rojas Forero, Colombia-Germany)
NON/LIVING (Director-Screenwriter Müge Yildiz, Turkey-Finland)
TWO STONES (Director Noel Meek, Aotearoa New Zealand)
HEXHAM HEADS (Director-Screenwriters Chloë Delanghe, Mattijs Driesen, Belgium)
THE FLESH OF LANGUAGE (Director-Screenwriter Amanda Rice, Ireland)
HEMEL (Director Danielle Dean, UK)
OUR LADY WHO BURNS (Director-Screenwriter Alice dos Reis, Portugal)
DIRECT ACTION (Directors Guillaume Cailleau, Ben Russell, Germany, France)
A FIDAI FILM (Director Kamal Aljafari, Palestine)
UNDR (Director Kamal Aljafari, Palestine)
A NIGHT WE HELD BETWEEN (Director-Screenwriter Noor Abed, Palestine)
NO EXORCISM FILM (Director-Screenwriter Komtouch Napattaloong, Thailand)
SMALL HOURS OF THE NIGHT (Director-Screenwriter Daniel Hui, Singapore)
Experimenta Works in Progress:
15 IRANIAN YEARS (Adonia Bouchehri)
CTRL+Z (Parwana Haydar)
THE KRUEGER INSTITUTE (Mahenderpal Sorya)
I AM A DALE (Edd Carr)
SHORTS
TROUBLE (Director Sarah Blok, UK)
PIGS (Director Julia Jackman, UK)
COLD SNAP (Director-Screenwriter Ellen Evans, UK)
US FOUR (Director Alex Peake, UK)
MOTHER’S DAY (Director-Screenwriter Emily Burnett, UK)
SPACE(S) (Director-Screenwriter Luke ‘Frsh’ Fannin, UK)
TWO MINUTES (Director-Screenwriter Jamie Benyon, UK)
MIDNIGHT RISING (Director Aileen Ye, UK-Netherlands)
IRANIAN YELLOW PAGES (Director Anna Snowball, UK)
IRPINIA (Director Jameisha Prescod, UK)
ADURA BABA MI (Director-Screenwriter Juliana Kasumu, UK)
TRAVELLING HOME (Director-Screenwriter Juliet Klottrup, UK)
ROOTS THAT REACH TOWARD THE SKY (Director Jess X. Snow, USA-Canada)
RED SOIL (Director Joshua Ighodaro, UK)
SALONE LOVE (Director Tajana Tokyo, UK)
NOT SURGERY HOURS (Director Tia Salisbury, UK)
THE NOBODY (Director Razan Madhoon, UK)
HAPPY MEAT (Director-Screenwriter Matt Green, UK)
GENDER REVEAL (Director-Screenwriter Mo Matton, Canada)
DRAGFOX (Director Lisa Ott, UK)
BOB’S FUNERAL (Director-Screenwriter Jack Dunphy, USA)
THE REAL THING (Director-Screenwriter Charlie Fink, UK)
SYLVIA (Director-Screenwriter Tárá Ayeni, UK)
MOSQUITO LADY (Director-Screenwriter Kristine Gerolaga, USA)
THE AWAKENING (Director Al Campbell, UK)
OUTSIDE NOISE (Director Ethan Evans, UK)
STOMACH BUG (Director-Screenwriter Matty Crawford, UK)
DREAM CREEP (Director-Screenwriter Carlos A.F. Lopez, USA)
HERMIT (Director Daniel Raggett, UK)
KARAVIDHE (Director-Screenwriter Eoin Doran, UK)
RHODA (Director Alex Lawther, UK)
FIERCE-ISH GRACE (Director Amaya Owen Rowlands, UK)
IN HEAT (Director-Screenwriter Rory Fleck Byrne, UK)
SEE IT, SAY IT (Director-Screenwriter Nez Khammal, UK)
AND GRANNY WOULD DANCE (Director-Screenwriter Maryam Mohajer, UK)
A SHORT FILM ABOUT KIDS (Director-Screenwriter Ibrahim Handal, Palestine)
DAWN EVERY DAY (Director-Screenwriter Amir Youssef, Egypt)
LIMINAL ROOTS (Director Aliyah Harfoot, UK)
WHAT’S THE FILM ABOUT? (Director-Screenwriter Poorva Bhat, UK)
VIBRATIONS FROM GAZA (Director-Screenwriter Rehab Nazzal, Palestine-Canada)
LFF EXPANDED
IMPULSE: PLAYING WITH REALITY (Lead Artist – Anagram, UK)
ARCADE (Lead Artist – Darkfield, UK)
LAST MINUTE (Lead Artists – Adrien M & Claire B, France)
SUPERRADIANCE. EMBODYING EARTH (Lead Artists – Memo Akten, Katie Peyton Hofstadter, USA)
THE GREAT ENDEAVOUR (Lead Artist – Liam Young, USA)
MAMMARY MOUNTAIN (Lead Artists – Tara Baoth Mooney, Camille Baker, Maf’j Alvarez, UK)
EMPEROR (Lead Artists – Marion Burger, Ilan J. Cohen, France)
SOUL PAINT (Lead Artists – Sarah Ticho, Niki Smit, UK-Netherlands)
STIM CINEMA (Lead Artists – The Neurocultures Collective and Steven Eastwood, UK)
A HIGHLAND SONG (Inkle Studios, UK)
PLAYING KAFKA (Charles Games, Czechia)
PAPER TRAIL (Newfangled Games, UK)
DOME KING CABBAGE (Joe Buchholz, Cobysoft Co., USA)
CLOSER THE DISTANCE (Osmotic Studios, Germany)
FAMILY
BLINK (Directors Edmund Stenson, Daniel Roher, Canada-USA)
THE COLOURS WITHIN (Director Naoko Yamada, Japan)
SAVAGES (Director Claude Barras, Switzerland-France-Belgium)
WATERSHIP DOWN (Director Martin Rosen, UK)
Animated Shorts for Younger Audiences:
COO-RAGE (Director Alina Milkina, Netherlands)
LOVE AT FIRST WAF (Directors Louise Le Toullec, Helene Gouil, France)
WHO’S WRONG? (Directors Stina Wirsén, Linda Hambäck, Sweden)
THE BRAVE LOCOMOTIVE (Director Andrew Chesworth, USA)
THE ODD CARROT (Director Inese Pavēne, UK)
FREELANCE (Directors Luciano A Muñoz Sessarego, Magnus I. Møller, Peter Smith, Denmark)
THE CHILD OF THE WAVES (Directors Valentine Hilarin, Gaelle Bejjani, Yuhan Wang, Martin Gross, Noam Szwarc, Sofian Pourquery-de-Boisserin, France)
HELLO SUMMER (Directors-Screenwriters Martin Smatana, Veronika Zacharová, Slovakia-CzechiaFrance)
MAGIC CANDIES (Director Nishio Daisuke, Japan)
TREASURES
THE CHURNING (Director Shyam Benegal, India)
MANJI (Director Yasuzô Masumura, Japan)
MARÍA CANDELARIA (Director Emilio Fernández, Mexico)
THE SEALED SOIL (Director Marva Nabili, Iran)
THE TALK OF THE TOWN (Director George Stevens, USA)
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