News

Coel and Arinzé Kene are captivating as an unlikely couple who meet on a night out in Camden in this beguiling love story

Been So Long is a likable movie with a big heart. A contemporary romantic musical set in Camden, north London, it is based on the original Young Vic stage production, with music and lyrics by Arthur Darvill and book by Ché Walker. The director is Tinge Krishnan, who made the tough urban drama Junkhearts in 2011.

The film gives us a beguiling love story: Simone is a serious-minded single mother of a disabled child who, in spite of herself, falls for Raymond (Arinzé Kene), a tough man just out of prison for a chaotic, non-violent crime which he now bitterly regrets. He is now living at home with his mum and working for the council. The relationship of Simone and Raymond has enormous warmth and emotional generosity, and...

Exclusive: Michaela Coel leads cast of play adaptation; Film Constellation boards sales.

Joe Dempsie (Game Of Thrones) and former Screen Star of Tomorrow George Mackay (Captain Fantastic) are among a number of young UK talent to sign up for the BFI and Film4’s musical Been So Long, which is now shooting in Camden, London.

Michaela Coel, who won a BAFTA TV award last year for her performance in E4 series Chewing Gum, leads the cast of the film, which has been adapted by Ché Walker from his musical that was staged at London’s Young Vic.

Michaela Coel and Arinzé Kene lead the cast of Been So Long

The BFI has developed the project and will co-finance with Film4. Lizzie Francke is executive producing for the BFI and Eva Yates is exec producing for Film4.

Fabien Westerhoff’s Film Constellation has boarded international sales.

Tinge Krishnan (Junkhearts) is directing the project, which [link=nm...

Exclusive: The Hobbit star joins Funny Cow cast.

The Hobbit star Martin Freeman and Boardwalk Empire’s Stephen Graham are newly attached to Maxine Peake drama Funny Cow, which is due to shoot in the UK in 2015.

Peake, best known for her roles in British TV dramas Shameless and Silk, will lead cast in Funny Cow, which charts the rise of a stand-up comedienne in the sometimes violent and macho clubs of Northern England in the 1970’s and 80’s.

The Mummy actor John Hannah is also attached.

The script comes from Peaky Blinders and Hyena actor Tony Pitts, who will also act in the film, with Tinge Krishnan (Junkhearts) on board to direct.

Richard Hawley is set to score the film.

Moviehouse Entertainment will handle sales and produce alongside Kevin Proctor’s Pow Films.

Moviehouse’s Mark Vennis told ScreenDaily: “Reminiscent of classics Lenny and Raging Bull, Funny Cow is going to be a hard hitting film that...

We haven’t seen too much of Hammer’s latest production, The Quiet Ones, but that changes starting now. The very first trailer has just been released and we have it for you to watch:

“Starring Jared Harris (Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows, ‘Mad Men’) and Sam Claflin (Snow White and the Huntsman, Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides), The Quiet Ones will be directed by John Pogue (Quarantine 2: Terminal). Joining the cast are Erin Richards (‘Breaking In’, ‘Being Human’), Olivia Cooke (‘The Secret of Crickley Hall’, ‘The Fuse’) and West End theater actor Rory Fleck-Byrne. With the story and original screenplay by Tom DeVille, revisions by Craig Rosenberg, Oren Moverman and most recently John Pogue, the film is produced by James Gay-Rees (Senna, Exit Through The Gift Shop) and Ben Holden in association with Tpsc Films.

Inspired by true events, The Quiet Ones tells the story of an unorthodox,...

Hammer’s latest productions is The Quiet Ones and Lionsgate has just acquired it for release in North America. According to Deadline, a theatrical release is planned for April 25, 2014. Lionsgate previously acquired UK rights to the movie, which revolves around an experiment to create a poltergeist:

“Starring Jared Harris (Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows, ‘Mad Men’) and Sam Claflin (Snow White and the Huntsman, Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides), The Quiet Ones will be directed by John Pogue (Quarantine 2: Terminal). Joining the cast are Erin Richards (‘Breaking In’, ‘Being Human’), Olivia Cooke (‘The Secret of Crickley Hall’, ‘The Fuse’) and West End theater actor Rory Fleck-Byrne. With the story and original screenplay by Tom DeVille, revisions by Craig Rosenberg, Oren Moverman and most recently John Pogue, the film is produced by James Gay-Rees (Senna, Exit Through The Gift Shop) and Ben Holden in association with Tpsc Films.

Joseph Losey's superb 1963 film about class and sex is once again in cinemas – but to locate its elusive gay gene, you have to revisit its source in Robin Maugham's extraordinary and disturbing novella

Homosexuality is everywhere and nowhere in The Servant. Harold Pinter's superbly controlled, elliptical, menacing dialogue is able to hint, to imply, to seduce, to repulse, in precisely the manner that gay men were forced to adopt in 1963, when homosexuality was still a criminal offence, and when representing homosexuality on screen was forbidden. To locate the gay gene in The Servant, you have to go back to its source, the 1948 novella written by Robin Maugham, the nephew of W Somerset Maugham. The Servant has its spark in an extraordinary event in Maugham's own life, to be treasured by connoisseurs of British sex and class.

Maugham had rented a house, which came with its own servant,...

Hammer has just launched their official YouTube channel, which includes exclusive content, trailers for their classic movies, and full feature films. Their latest production is The Quiet Ones and Hammer has released a behind-the-scenes first look at the movie.

“Starring Jared Harris (Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows, ‘Mad Men’) and Sam Claflin (Snow White and the Huntsman, Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides), The Quiet Ones will be directed by John Pogue (Quarantine 2: Terminal). Joining the cast are Erin Richards (‘Breaking In’, ‘Being Human’), Olivia Cooke (‘The Secret of Crickley Hall’, ‘The Fuse’) and West End theater actor Rory Fleck-Byrne. With the story and original screenplay by Tom DeVille, revisions by Craig Rosenberg, Oren Moverman and most recently John Pogue, the film is produced by James Gay-Rees (Senna, Exit Through The Gift Shop) and Ben Holden in association with Tpsc Films.

Inspired by true events, The Quiet Ones...

Simon Oakes, Vice-Chairman of Exclusive Media and President & CEO of Hammer announced today that Hammer, an Exclusive Media Company, begins principal photography on The Quiet Ones, the supernatural thriller/horror which will shoot on location in Oxfordshire.

Starring Jared Harris (Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows, Mad Men) and Sam Claflin (Snow White and the Huntsman, Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides), The Quiet Ones will be directed by John Pogue (Quarantine 2: Terminal). Joining the cast are Erin Richards (Breaking In, Being Human), Olivia Cooke (The Secret of Crickley Hall, The Fuse) and West End theater actor Rory Fleck-Byrne. With the story and original screenplay by Tom DeVille, revisions by Craig Rosenberg, Oren Moverman and most recently John Pogue, the film is produced by James Gay-Rees (Senna, Exit Through the Gift Shop) and Ben Holden in association with Tpsc Films.

Inspired by true events, The Quiet Ones tells the story of an unorthodox,...

More casting news and word of commencement have come for Hammer's latest project, The Quiet Ones, and we've got the details right here. Three cheers for one of horror's biggest and oldest companies still kicking ass!

From the Press Release

Simon Oakes, Vice-Chairman of Exclusive Media and President & CEO of Hammer, has announced that Hammer, an Exclusive Media Company, begins principal photography on The Quiet Ones, the supernatural thriller/horror which will shoot on location in Oxfordshire.

Starring Jared Harris (Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows, The Ward, "Mad Men") and Sam Claflin (Snow White and the Huntsman, Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides), The Quiet Ones will be directed by John Pogue (Quarantine 2: Terminal). Joining the cast are Erin Richards ("Breaking In", "Being Human"), Olivia Cooke ("The Secret of Crickley Hall", "The Fuse") and West End theater actor Rory Fleck-Byrne. With the story and original screenplay by Tom DeVille,...

Hammer has announced that principal photography has started on their latest horror film, The Quiet Ones. The movie stars Jared Harris as a professor who attempts to create a poltergeist. Continue reading for the press release, which includes the official plot synopsis and the list of main cast and crew members:

“London, England: 12 June 2012 – Simon Oakes, Vice-Chairman of Exclusive Media and President & CEO of Hammer announced today that Hammer, an Exclusive Media Company, begins principal photography on The Quiet Ones, the supernatural thriller/horror which will shoot on location in Oxfordshire.

Starring Jared Harris (Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows, ‘Mad Men’) and Sam Claflin (Snow White and the Huntsman, Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides), The Quiet Ones will be directed by John Pogue (Quarantine 2: Terminal). Joining the cast are Erin Richards (‘Breaking In’, ‘Being Human’), Olivia Cooke (‘The Secret of Crickley Hall’, ‘The Fuse’) and West End theater actor Rory Fleck-Byrne.

Simon Oakes, Vice-Chairman of Exclusive Media and President & CEO of Hammer announced today that Hammer, an Exclusive Media Company, begins principal photography on The Quiet Ones, the supernatural thriller/horror which will shoot on location in Oxfordshire.

Starring Jared Harris (Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows, .Mad Men.) and Sam Claflin (Snow White and the Huntsman, Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides), The Quiet Ones will be directed by John Pogue (Quarantine 2: Terminal). Joining the cast are Erin Richards (.Breaking In., .Being Human.), Olivia Cooke (.The Secret of Crickley Hall., .The Fuse.) and West End theater actor Rory Fleck-Byrne. With the story and original screenplay by Tom DeVille, revisions by Craig Rosenberg, Oren Moverman and most recently John Pogue, the film is produced by James Gay-Rees (Senna, Exit Through The Gift Shop) and Ben Holden in association with Tpsc Films.

Inspired by true events, The Quiet Ones tells the story of an unorthodox,...

When "Attack the Block" hit screens last summer, it almost immediately became everyone's favorite new cult hit. While we're still waiting with bated breath to find out what writer/director Joe Cornish will do next, someone who's taking considerably less time to line up his future projects is Atb's lead actor, John Boyega.

That was Boyega's debut performance, and he's since also been seen in "Junkhearts" (which got a small U.K. release last year), but it looked like his breakout role was going to be in Spike Lee's pilot "Da Brick." Unfortunately that project appears to have been killed as HBO passed on it earlier this month (although we're still holding out hope that someone else will pick up the pilot) leaving Boyega still looking for that role that makes him a star.

Might "Half of a Yellow Sun" be that project? The British-Nigerian actor will join Chiwetel Ejiofor,...

After dropping a Viggo Mortensen character one sheet last week, the marketing team behind Walter Salles' "On The Road" have taken a curious left turn. Instead of zeroing in some of the more well known young names like Garrett Hedlund or Kristen Stewart, they've instead foisted the latest poster honor to...Tom Sturridge. Who?

Yeah, he's not terribly well known, though if you saw "The Boat That Rocked" or "Junkhearts" you might recognize him. But all snark aside, he's getting the one sheet here because he plays Carlo Marx, the surrogate of Allen Ginsberg. With Daniel Radcliffe also playing the legendary beat poet in the upcoming "Kill Your Darlings," it looks like we're due for a resurgence of interest in the writer and counter culture figure. Either that, or those chunky glasses frames favored by hipster artistes are going to be even more popular. We presume a plethora of...

The prime minister's suggestion that lottery funding should be aimed at mainstream, money-making movies has been met with cautious optimism from the British film industry

Reaction continued to be divided across Britain's film world yesterday in the wake of comments by prime minister David Cameron, ahead of a visit to Pinewood studios, in which he suggested that lottery funding of cinema projects would be aimed towards "commercial" projects. Cameron was laying the groundwork for the publication on Monday of the report by the film policy committee, headed by Lord Smith.

Veteran producer Andrew Eaton (24 Hour Party People, The Killer Inside Me, Junkhearts) said that he agreed with Cameron's expression of support for "the sector in becoming even more dynamic and entrepreneurial". "It's about what you regard as success," Eaton said, suggesting that Mike Leigh had been unfairly singled out as a non-commercial film-maker, as films like Vera Drake and Secrets...

Second-highest screen average goes to British gay drama, which grossed £32,500 and is due to hit Brighton this Friday

The arthouse battle

There's no shortage of film journalists who think they know better than the bookers deciding which films to programme in cinemas, especially when it comes to the arthouse sector. Most often, their opinions aren't tethered to market realities. But in the instance of British gay drama Weekend, the critics who for many weeks have been making positive noises about its likely appeal turned out to be right on the money. While leading arthouse chains Picturehouse and Curzon offered scant support to the title on its release date, preferring alternatives such as Miranda July's The Future, reviewers turned cartwheels in print with four- and five-star reviews. The outcome? Weekend proved the top new arthouse release by a convincing margin, despite a rollout compromised by a mixed bag of sites,...

To round off our coverage of the 55th BFI London Film Festival were taking a look back at one of the most prominent strands of the festival – the French Revolutions programme.

One of the festival’s chief pledges is to bring the best of the world’s cinema to London and Jack Jones leads us through the varied line-up and recommends which films we need to look out for when a theatrical release rolls around.

For all our other coverage of the London Film Festival click here, and read on for Jack’s take on the festival,

The Best Yet? French Cinema Just Keeps on Going

For those who are deeply engrained in cinema, it is often hard to admit that sometimes there are years when we have few films which impress us. For film festivals there is much the same sentiment. It seems as though every year critics hail...

Weekend (18)

(Andrew Haigh, 2011, UK) Tom Cullen, Chris New. 97 mins

You could easily label this a gay Before Sunrise or suchlike, with its 48-hour, boy-meets-boy premise, but it deserves to be judged on its own merits. There's a beautiful naturalism to the way these two Londoners progress from random one-night stand to something deeper, through sex, drugs and revealing conversation. Despite the narrow focus, it speaks volumes about love, art and gay identity.

Tower Heist (12A)

(Brett Ratner, 2011, Us) Ben Stiller, Eddie Murphy, Alan Alda. 104 mins

With Murphy's coaching, an all-star cast storms the high-rise fortress of Ponzi tyrant Alda in what could have been a great comedy for our times, but ends up just a mildly enjoyable one.

In Time (12A)

(Andrew Niccol, 2011, Us) Justin Timberlake, Amanda Seyfried, Cillian Murphy. 109 mins

Stylish, if logic-stretching, adventure set in a future where time is money and nobody looks older than 25.

The Future (12A)

(Miranda July,...

On the show this week: Jason Solomons reports from this year's British Independent Film Award nominations ceremony, where he meets nominees Sally Hawkins and Benedict Cumberbatch.

Hawkins is nominated for her role in Richard Ayoade's Submarine, while Cumberbatch is within a clandestine whisper of winning for his performance in Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy.

Jason pops back to the pod to meet director Andrew Haigh, who talks about his low key love story Weekend, a hit at this year's SXSW.

And Xan Brooks joins Jason to review some of this week's other big releases, including Justin Timberlake's race against the clock in In Time, Gerard Butler as the Machine Gun Preacher and Eddie Marsan and Romola Garai in urban drama Junkhearts.

Subscribe for free via iTunes to ensure every episode is delivered. (Here is the non-iTunes URL feed).

Follow the podcast on our Film Weekly Twitter feed and receive...

Actor Eddie Marsan has made his name playing psychopaths and inadequates. So, asks Cath Clarke, where did he find all that rage?

'Look at me, I'm still shaking." Eddie Marsan holds his hands above the table in a sunny cafe around the corner from his house in west London. He's just been photographed – he might as well have spent the past 25 minutes being interrogated by MI5. He hates being photographed. Acting, he's fine, no problem. "I'm used to being in front of camera and knowing what to think. But if you're asking me to be me, I get very selfconscious. My job isn't to be me." He gulps back some coffee. "Being an actor, people think you can do a eulogy at a funeral, a speech at a wedding. I find all that very nerve-racking."

Marsan has been acting for 20 years; it took 10 of them to get regular work.

Gossip and news from the London film festival's closing night gala – plus this year's Golden Pigeons

About last night

The Lff's closing-night gala was a teary affair. Terence Davies's The Deep Blue Sea, crowned by Rachel Weisz's awards-worthy lead performance, is beautiful, especially for admirers of brown, pub singalongs and vintage wallpaper. Yet the scene where Tom Hiddleston's Freddie hurls a shilling at Weisz's Hester is one of the most vicious acts of screen violence I've ever witnessed. The film is stylised, of course, but it's a style of which I'm very fond. You have to wallow in The Deep Blue Sea's romantic ebb and flow of love and hurt. Even more moving was Davies's tribute to outgoing Lff director Sandra Hebron, whom he reduced to tears with typically florid praise on behalf of all the film-makers "to whose films she's given an audience" over her decade at the helm.

Lynne Ramsay's drama starring Tilda Swinton fights off opposition from a strong shortlist to win best film at ceremony

• Lff awards: in pictures

Lynne Ramsay's bold and memorable adaptation of Lionel Shriver's novel We Need to Talk About Kevin was named best film at the BFI London film festival awards on Wednesday.

The film is Ramsay's first in nearly 10 years and only her third since her breakthrough, Ratcatcher. At a ceremony in London her new film, which came out on general release last Friday, was named best film from a strong shortlist including Steve McQueen's Shame and Terence Davies's The Deep Blue Sea.

The director John Madden, who chaired the category's jury, said they had been struck by the "sheer panache" of a shortlist with "great storytellers".

He added: "In the end, we were simply bowled over by one film – a sublime, uncompromising tale of...

The absence of this female-film-dedicated event will leave a void felt most by women film-makers and fans, just as the industry's gender bias is beginning to be addressed

Today should be a day of celebration for women in the British film industry. Scottish director Lynne Ramsay was awarded the best film prize at the London Film Festival last night for We Need to Talk About Kevin, described by this paper as a "feminist parable". The best British newcomer prize went to Candese Reid, a young female actor from Nottingham, appearing in her first film, Junkhearts. So far, so much to cheer about.

But there's disheartening news, too, with the announcement that the Birds Eye View film festival (Bev), a celebration of female film-making, will not go ahead in 2012 due to a 90% cut in its public funding. In light of last night's successes, this seems utter folly.

According to a statement issued by the organisation's director,...

On Film Weekly this week, Jason Solomons meets director Gerardo Naranjo and actor Stephanie Sigman, the star of his film Miss Bala. The film is a taught and frenetic crime thriller that tells the tale of a Mexican would-be beauty queen who gets caught up in the country's war against drugs.

Jason also reports from the BFI London film festival premiere of Junkhearts, a British drama that stars Eddie Marsden and Romola Garai and includes a cameo from a certain film critic ...

Guardian writer Henry Barnes joins Jason to review some of this week's other big releases, including Steven Spielberg's take on Tintin, George Clooney's political thriller The Ides of March and Roland Emmerich's dabble in historical drama, the Stratfordian-baiting Anonymous.

There's also the opportunity to grab yourself a free pair of tickets to London's newest cinema, the Picture House in Hackney. Listen in to find out how.

Tilda Swinton's harrowing new movie We Need To Talk About Kevin has won the top prize at the London Film Festival (Lff).

The Oscar-winning actress stars as a mother coming to terms with the fact her son, Kevin, has committed mass murder at his high school.

The film, based on Lionel Shriver's 2003 novel of the same name, saw off competition from George Clooney's latest offering, The Descendants, to win the coveted Best Picture at the British Film Institute's (BFI) movie event on Wednesday night.

Judging panel chairman John Madden says, "In the end, we were simply bowled over by one film - a sublime, uncompromising tale of the torment that can stand in the place of love. We Need To Talk About Kevin is made with the kind of singular vision that links great directors across all the traditions of cinema."

Actress Candese Reid won the British Newcomer award for her movie debut in Junkhearts, while Argentinian director Pablo Giorgelli scooped The Sutherland Award for Las Acacias.

Canadian director David Cronenberg and British actor Ralph Fiennes were awarded the festival's highest accolade, the BFI Fellowship.

Romola Garai has said that she is flattered by comparisons to Kate Winslet. The Junkhearts and The Hour actress said that Glorious 39 director Stephen Poliakoff was "very generous" when he told Digital Spy that she was "the next Kate Winslet" back in 2009. Garai told Stylist of Poliakoff: "He's a very dear friend of mine, who I love. He's an incredibly kind director and an amazingly brilliant man. "He was obviously trying to garner as much publicity for the film as possible. And that is a good way to get publicity! Obviously, I'm flattered. It's a very nice thing to say - albeit (more)...

We Need to Talk About Kevin, directed by Lynne Ramsay, won the Best Film at 55th BFI London Film Festival. The awards were announced Wednesday night.

On behalf of the jury, John Madden, chairperson said: “In the end, we were simply bowled over by one film, a sublime, uncompromising tale of the torment that can stand in the place of love. We Need to Talk About Kevin is made with the kind of singular vision that links great directors across all the traditions of cinema”.

The award for Best British Newcomer went to actor Candese Reid for her role in Junkhearts.

The Sutherland Award went to Argentinean director Pablo Giorgelli, director of Las Acacias. This award is presented to the director of the most original and imaginative feature debut in the festival.

The Grierson Award for Best Documentary went to Into the Abyss: A Tale of Death, A Tale of Life directed by Werner Herzog.

Tilda Swinton, We Need to Talk About Kevin Lynne Ramsay's British family drama We Need to Talk About Kevin, which stars Tilda Swinton as the mother of a young mass murderer, won the Best Film Award at the 2011 BFI London Film Festival (Lff). The Lff awards ceremony was held this evening in Central London; comedian Marcus Brigstocke hosted the event. Jury chair John Madden and fellow judge Gillian Anderson presented the Best Film award. The Best British Newcomer award went to actress Candese Reid for her performance in Tinge Krishnan's dark social drama Junkhearts. Edgar Wright and Minnie Driver presented the award. Pablo Giorgelli was given the Sutherland Award Winner for the Argentinean drama Las Acacias, described as "a slow-burning, uplifting and enchanting story of a truck driver and his passengers." The Sutherland Award, this year presented by Terry Gilliam, is given to the director "of the most...

Best Film: We Need To Talk About Kevin – dir. Lynne Ramsay Best British Newcomer: Candese Reid, actress, Junkhearts Sutherland Award Winner: Pablo Giorgelli, dir. Las Acacias Grierson Award for Best...

We’ve just been sent the winners list for The BFI London Film Festival 2011 and massive congrats to We Need to Talk About Kevin director Lynne Ramsay and all her cast and crew for winning the award. I’ll just make this post about the winners but I’m sure we’ll do a reaction post imminently. So watch this space. See see our review of We Need to Talk About Kevin, click here or here for all our Lff 2011 coverage.

Winners in a nutshell

Best Film: We Need to Talk ABout Kevin, directed by Lynne Ramsay Best British Newcomer: Candese Reid, actress, Junkhearts Sutherland Award Winner: Pablo Giorgelli, director of Las Acacias Grierson Award for Best Documentary: In the Abyss: A Tale of Death, A Tale of Life directed by Werner Herzog BFI Fellowship: Ralph Fiennes and David Cronenberg (as previously announced)

BFI London Film Festival Announces 2011 Award Winners

London – 10.30pm,...

London critic Matt Mueller finds three winners among the smattering of new Brit films unspooling at the London Film Fest. This year’s London Film Festival has played host to more than a dozen new British features, several of them world premieres. Many fall under the banner of the grim and uncompromising but instantly forgettable social-statement tracts that too many British filmmakers seem in thrall to, as if making your feature an unpleasant ordeal is the ultimate arbiter of artistic success. This year’s entries include Sket, a tiresomely misogynistic urban gang drama, and Junkhearts, the bitter tale of an ex-British soldier suffering from post-traumatic stress (Eddie Marsan) who takes a homeless girl (Candese Reid) into his flat with punishing consequences. Far more effective despite its disturbing ...

Trailers are an under-appreciated art form insofar that many times they’re seen as vehicles for showing footage, explaining films away, or showing their hand about what moviegoers can expect. Foreign, domestic, independent, big budget: I celebrate all levels of trailers and hopefully this column will satisfactorily give you a baseline of what beta wave I’m operating on, because what better way to hone your skills as a thoughtful moviegoer than by deconstructing these little pieces of advertising? Some of the best authors will tell you that writing a short story is a lot harder than writing a long one, that you have to weigh every sentence. What better medium to see how this theory plays itself out beyond that than with movie trailers? Ecstasy Trailers One of the things about trailers is that they come in many iterations and, for a single film, you can sometimes have an...

While "Attack The Block" didn't quite light up the box office this summer, the alien invasion flick firmly established itself as a new cult classic of the genre, and the film's star, John Boyega, emerged as a new talent to keep an eye on. Certainly, Spike Lee sat up and took notice, casting him in the lead of the HBO series he's producing. But before that, Boyega will have a small role in the upcoming British drama "Junkhearts" alongside Eddie Marsan, Tom Sturridge and Romola Garai, and it looks pretty promising. Directed by Tinge Krishnan (who is up for the…...

The BFI London Film Festival is the biggest film festival the UK has to offer, and one of the most prestigious and well-recognised festivals across the globe. This year, the festival is celebrating its 55th run, and it has an absolutely fantastic line-up of films scheduled to play through the festival, from 12th – 27th October.

We’re now able to share with you the shortlists for the festival’s various awards, along with the juries for each of those awards. More excellent news also comes with the announcement that the BFI will be honouring both writer-director David Cronenberg, who is bringing his film A Dangerous Method to the festival this year, and actor-director Ralph Fiennes, who will be bringing his directorial debut Coriolanus to the festival, with its highest honour, in the form of the BFI Fellowship.

On receiving the award, Cronenberg has said,

“This is a monumental, in fact overwhelming,...

This year’s shortlist is: 360 The Artist The Deep Blue Sea The Descendants Faust The Kid With A Bike Shame Trishna We Need To Talk About Kevin The shortlist for...

Junkhearts

Directed by Tinge Krishnan

Written by Simon Frank

Starring; Eddie Marsan, Tom Sturridge, Romola Garri, Candese Reid

Despite the London Film Festival’s global reach and cosmopolitan constitution, it also dedicates particular attention to indigenous product, providing a valuable outlet to low budget domestic British cinema to gain the attention it occasionaly deserves, with an opportunity to be seen on the big screen as intended through their New British Cinema festival strand. One of the films under this years banner is Junkhearts, an urban drama in which Eddie Marsan plays Frank, a lonely, alcoholic ex-soldier who seems to be sliding toward an early grave as he suffers Ptsd-induced hallucinations following a brutal tour of Northern Ireland some years earlier. When he meets and befriends the homeless waif Lysette (an impressive turn from newcomer Candese Reid) he seems to have found a surrogate for his estranged daughter, a single mother...

After Sandra Hebron's nine years as artistic director, the BFI London film festival is enjoying record attendance and international acclaim. She tells Adam Dawtrey how it was done

For someone who describes her own taste in movies as "austere", Sandra Hebron certainly knows how to give audiences at the BFI London film festival a good time. Her nine-year reign as artistic director, which ends with the 55th edition, has coincided with the rising popularity of the event, an increase in glitz and red carpet glamour without ever compromising its commitment to serious cinema, and its transformation into a festival of genuine international stature.

Hebron, an elfin figure whose trademark knee-high black leather boots have their own fans, is leaving the festival on an all-time high, with last year's attendance a record 132,000, up 20% from when she took over in 2003. No wonder that the British Film Institute made sure to protect the...

The programme for the 55th BFI London Film Festival in partnership with American Express launched today by Artistic Director Sandra Hebron, celebrates the imagination and excellence of international filmmaking from both established and emerging talent. Over 16 days the Festival will screen a total of 204 fiction and documentary features, including 13 World Premieres, 18 International Premieres and 22 European Premieres . There will also be screenings of 110 live action and animated shorts. Many of the films will be presented by their directors, cast members and crew, some of whom will also take part in career interviews, masterclasses, and other special events. The 55th BFI London Film Festival will run from 12-27 October.

Special Screenings

Opening the festival is Fernando Meirelles’ 360, written by Peter Morgan, and starring Sir Anthony Hopkins, Jude Law and Rachel Weisz. Weisz is also the star of Terence Davies’ closing night film, The Deep Blue Sea, alongside a cast which includes Simon Russell Beale and Tom Hiddleston.

From the 12th to the 27th of October the 55th BFI London Film Festival brings its annual box of delights to the capital. Earlier today the full programme was announced, and it look like being another fine year.

We already know that Fernando Meirelles’ latest 360 will open proceedings on the 12th and fifteen days later Terence Davies’ The Deep Blue Sea will bring the festival to a close but there are many more great films to come and see in London this October.

There was a familiar feeling creeping across the audience this morning that a lot of the films had, like last year, already played elsewhere but this is only a small consideration when you consider the scope of the festival’s remit. To bring a vital, fresh and horizon-expanding series of features, shorts and documentaries is no easy task, and while the more well known films have played...

BFI festival announces full schedule that includes Terence Davies's The Deep Blue Sea, Steve McQueen's Shame and Andrea Arnold's Wuthering Heights among high-profile international films

Britain's biggest cinema extravaganza, the BFI London film festival, has announced its lineup and as has become customary, is offering the pick of the international festival circuit to British-based filmgoers.

Ballasting the lineup are a slew of films by major British directors, including the Rattigan adaptation The Deep Blue Sea from Terence Davies; Michael Winterbottom's India-set reworking of Tess of the d'Urbervilles, Trishna; Lynne Ramsay's film of the Lionel Shriver novel We Need to Talk About Kevin, Steve McQueen's sex-addiction drama Shame, and Andrea Arnold's version of Emily Brontë's Wuthering Heights.

The festival has also picked up a number of high-profile international films that have impressed critics at other festivals. The Kid With the Bike, directed by the Dardenne brothers,...

Artistic director Sandra Hebron has announced the line-up for the 55th BFI London Film Festival this morning where they will screen “a total of 204 fiction and documentary features, including 13 World Premieres, 18 International Premieres and 22 European Premieres” plus “110 live action and animated shorts”.

We are already knew Fernando Meirelles’ adaptation of Arthur Schnitzler’s erotic drama play 360 written by Peter Morgan and starring Anthony Hopkins, Jude Law and Rachel Weisz would open the festival and that The Deep Blue Sea, which incidentally is another adaptation of a play (Terence Rattigan’s) and also stars Rachel Weisz, will close it. Of Time and City’s Terrence Davies directed that movie which also stars Tom Hiddleston and Simon Russell Beale.

Now we know the in-between stuff from the Gala & Special Screenings and there’s a wide selection of extremely interesting films;

George Clooney is bringing his political thriller The Ides of March that...

Written by: The Horror Czar Attack the Block is about a teen gang in South London who defends their block from an alien invasion. The film was directed and written by Joe Cornish (Hot Fuzz) and stars John Boyega (Junkhearts), Jodie Whittaker (One Day) and Alex Esmail. Attack the Block has a bit more fun than fright; imagine Evil E.T. landing in the projects. With thugs everywhere, these furry monsters may have met their match. Attack the Block is not traditional horror. It involves gore and certainly fright, but it’s also an action-based thriller and comedy. It has everything…well, except the...

Jamie Thraves and Aidan Gillen return to the big screen, while the Life of Brian controversy is explored by BBC4 and Martin Scorsese shows his favourites movies at Port Eliot

Thraves thrives

After a decade out of British cinemas, director Jamie Thraves's Treacle Jr (see Philip French's review this week) sees the return of a film-maker much admired for his debut, The Low Down, in 2000. I'm pleased to see that the Irish actor Aidan Gillen has stuck by Thraves, even now that his star has risen after roles in The Wire and Game of Thrones. The pair are now working on another collaboration, a music film, which will combine Gillen's rock-star fantasies with Thraves's skills honed making videos for Radiohead, Coldplay and Dizzee Rascal. Thraves remortgaged his house to make Treacle Jr and shot it for £30,000, composing and playing much of the soundtrack himself. The film is part of...

British actor Tom Sturridge received an unexpected education in selling drugs while researching his role as a street performer in new film Waiting For Forever.

The Vanity Fair star took to the beachfront in Venice, California to shadow the singers, dancers and artists who make their living performing for tourists - and he learned more than he bargained for.

He tells WENN, "The experience of hanging out with those guys, I learned about their life and how you actually can function as a street performer and potentially someone who doesn't have a home in L.A; it was fascinating and scary.

"I didn't sleep on the street or anything like that but I learned that crack costs four quid (pounds)!"

And he admits the new drug knowledge will be useful for his next film: "I'm playing a homeless Northern Irish boy in Junkhearts - he invades and takes over a guy's flat and turns it into a place to sell drugs."...

Waiting For Forever comes to theaters on February 4th, 2011, directed by James Keach and starring Rachel Bilson (Bff & Baby, How I Met Your Mother), Tom Sturridge (On the Road, Junkhearts), Matthew Davis (Damages, The Vampire Diaries), Scott Mechlowicz (Cat Run), Nikki Blonsky (Huge), Richard Jenkins (The Three Stooges, Friends with Benefits, Let Me In) and Blythe Danner (Little Fockers, Paul, Detachment).

About Waiting For Forever:

A unique love story about friendship and a view of the world from different perspectives, Waiting For Forever explores the connections people make in the face of life’s changes. Best friends while they were growing up, Emma (Rachel Bilson) and Will (Tom Sturridge) lost touch a long time ago–as far as she knows. To Will, Emma never stopped being the most important person in his life. Believing them to be forever linked, he goes wherever she goes. Will doesn’t have a home,...

Watch out, Clooney

Trash upped the glamour ante last week, starring in his first movie. I played a handsome, suave, sexy barman (my interpretation of the role, anyway) in a British film called Junkhearts. Actress Romola Garai got quite a shock when she saw me behind the bar as she sashayed in for her first day's filming. "I can't accept a drink off the man who's going to be reviewing the performance," she protested. Nevertheless, Romola got through several fake vodka shots, as she played the part of a coke-addicted ad exec going off the rails. Fumbling for drugs in her handbag, the star of many a costume drama remarked: "Makes a nice change – usually I'm struggling with a parasol or corset." Junkhearts also stars Eddie Marsan, Tom Sturridge and Shaun Dooley and follows con-artist drug dealers taking over ("cuckooing", it's called) an innocent victim's council flat. The director making...