The 68th BFI London Film Festival is taking place until 20 October 2024. The competition films were announced on 29 August 2024 while the films for the galas and the strands were revealed on 4 September 2024.[ 1] [ 2]
Steve McQueen 's historical drama Blitz Widows Mangrove [ 3] Morgan Neville 's animated documentary film Piece by Piece [ 4]
Juries
The jury members were as follows:[ 5]
Main Competition
June Givanni , Guyanese-British curator, archivist, and founder of the June Givanni Pan-African Cinema Archive – Jury presidentElla Glendining, British writer and director
Raul Niño Zambrano, creative director of Sheffield DocFest
Short Film Competition
Chloe Abrahams, Sri Lankan-British writer and director – Jury president
Simisolaoluwa Akande, British director
George Jaques, British filmmaker
Venues
The partner venues for the festival included:[ 6] [ 7]
London cinemas
Expanded venues
UK-wide cinemas
Official Selection
Galas
The following films were selected for the Galas section, which screens world, European, and British premieres:[ 8]
English Title
Original Title
Director(s)
Production Country
Opening Night Gala
Blitz Steve McQueen
United Kingdom, United States
Closing Night Gala
Piece by Piece Morgan Neville
United States
American Express Gala
Elton John: Never Too Late R.J. Cutler , David Furnish
United States
Mayor of London's Gala
We Live in Time John Crowley
United Kingdom, France
Cunard Gala
Joy Ben Taylor
United Kingdom
BFI Patron's Gala
Hard Truths Mike Leigh
United Kingdom, Spain
Family Gala
That Christmas Simon Otto
United Kingdom
Headline Gala
Anora Sean Baker
United States
The Apprentice Ali Abbasi
Canada, Denmark, Ireland
Bird Andrea Arnold
United Kingdom, France, Germany, United States
Conclave Edward Berger
United Kingdom, United States
Emilia Pérez Jacques Audiard
France
Maria Pablo Larraín
Italy, Germany, United States
Nightbitch Marielle Heller
United States
The Room Next Door La habitación de al lado
Pedro Almodóvar
Spain
Special Presentations
The following films were selected for the Special Presentations section:
English Title
Original Title
Director(s)
Production Country
All We Imagine As Light Payal Kapadia
France, India, Netherlands, Luxembourg
The Ballad of Suzanne Césaire
Madeleine Hunt-Ehrlich
United States
Dahomey Mati Diop
France, Senegal, Benin
Endurance
Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi , Jimmy Chin , Natalie Hewit
United Kingdom, United States
Harvest Athina Rachel Tsangari
United Kingdom, Germany, Greece, France, United States
I’m Still Here Ainda Estou Aqui
Walter Salles
Brazil, France
A Nice Indian Boy (BFI Flare Special Presentation)
Roshan Sethi
United States, Canada
Nickel Boys RaMell Ross
United States
The Piano Lesson Malcolm Washington
Queer Luca Guadagnino
Italy, United States
A Real Pain Jesse Eisenberg
United States, Poland
The Seed of the Sacred Fig دانهی انجیر معابد
Mohammad Rasoulof
Iran, Germany, France
Silent Sherlock (1921–1923)
Maurice Elvey , George Ridgwell
United Kingdom
The Summer Book Charlie McDowell
Finland, United Kingdom
The Wild Robot Chris Sanders
United States
In Competition
There were five competition sections, each with a different selection of films and different juries.
Official Competition
The following films competed for the Best Film Award:
English Title
Original Title
Director(s)
Production Country
April Dea Kulumbegashvili
France, Italy, Georgia
Bring Them Down Christopher Andrews
Ireland, Unied Kingdom, Belgium
The Extraordinary Miss Flower
Iain Forsyth and Jane Pollard
United Kingdom
Four Mothers Colin Thornton, Darren Thornton
Ireland, United Kingdom
Living in Two Worlds
ぼくが生きてる、ふたつの世界
Mipo O
Japan
Memoir of a Snail Adam Elliot
Australia
On Becoming a Guinea Fowl Rungano Nyoni
Zambia, United Kingdom, Ireland
Thank You for Banking With Us
Laila Abbas
Palestine, Germany
Under the Volcano Pod wulkanem
Damian Kocur
Poland
Vermiglio Maura Delpero
Italy, France, Belgium
The Wolves Always Come at Night
Чоно үүр шөнөөр ирдэг
Gabrielle Brady
Australia, Mongolia, Germany
First Feature Competition
The following films competed for the Sutherland Award , which is awarded to a directorial debut:
English Title
Original Title
Director(s)
Production Country
Crocodile Tears Tumpal Tampubolon
Indonesia, France, Singapore, Germany
Hanami Denise Fernandes
Switzerland, Portugal, Cape Verde
Happyend Neo Sora
Japan, United States
Last Swim
Sasha Nathwani
United Kingdom
My Eternal Summer
Min evige sommer
Sylvia Le Fanu
Denmark
Olivia & the Clouds
Olivia & Las Nubes
Tomás Pichardo Espaillat
Dominican Republic
On Falling Laura Carreira
United Kingdom, Portugal
Santosh Sandhya Suri
United Kingdom, France, Germany
September Says Ariane Labed
Ireland, United Kingdom, Germany
To a Land Unknown Mahdi Fleifel
United Kingdom, Palestine, France, Greece, Netherlands, Germany, Qatar, Saudi Arabia
Who Do I Belong To ماء العين
Meryam Joobeur
Tunisia, France, Canada, Norway, Qatar, Saudi Arabia
Documentary Competition
The following films competed for the Grierson Award, which is awarded to a feature-length documentary.
English Title
Original Title
Director(s)
Production Country
Collective Monologue Monólogo colectivo Jessica Sarah Rinland
Argentina, United Kingdom
Holloway Sophie Compton, Daisy-May Hudson
United Kingdom
Kamay Ilyas Yourish, Shahrokh Bikaran
Afghanistan, Belgium, France, Germany
Mother Vera Cécile Embleton, Alys Tomlinson
United Kingom
Rising Up at Night Tongo Saa Nelson Makengo
Democratic Republic of Congo, Belgium, Germany, Burkina Faso, Qatar
Seeking Mavis Beacon Jazmin Renée Jones
United States
The Shadow Scholars Eloise King
United Kingdom
Witches Elizabeth Sankey
Short Film Competition
The following films competed for the Short Film Award.
English Title
Original Title
Director(s)
Production Country
Adura Baba Mi Juliana Kasumu
United Kingdom
Cold Snap Ellen Evans
Dragfox Lisa Ott
I Don't Want to Be Just a Memory Sarnt Utamachote
Germany
Magic Candies Amedama Nishio Daisuke
Japan
Mother's Day Emily Burnett
United Kingdom
See It, Say It Nez Khammal
Stomach Bug Matty Crawford
Two Refusals (Would We Recognize Ourselves Unbroken?) Suneil Sanzgiri
United States
Vibrations from Gaza Rehab Nazzal
Palestine, Canada
Strands
Most of the out-of-competition films have been organised into strands, each based on a different mood or emotion.
Love
Debate
English Title
Original Title
Director(s)
Production Country
2073 Asif Kapadia United Kingdom
Black Box Diaries Shiori Itō Japan, United States, United Kingdom
The Cats of Gokogu Shrine Gokōgu no Neko Kazuhiro Soda Japan, United States
Families like Ours Familier som vores Thomas Vinterberg Denmark, France, Sweden, Czechia, Belgium, Norway, Germany
I'm Nevenka Soy Nevenka Icíar Bollaín Spain
The Invasion Sergei Loznitsa Netherlands, France, United States
Israel Palestine on Swedish TV 1958-1989 Göran Hugo Olsson
Sweden, Finland, Denmark
Julie Keeps Quiet Julie zwijgt Leonardo Van Dijl
Belgium, Sweden
The Listeners Jordan Tannahill United Kingdom
Three Kilometres to the End of the World Trei kilometri până la capătul lumii Emanuel Pârvu Romania
Youth (Homecoming) 青春
Wang Bing France, Luxembourg, Netherlands
Laugh
English Title
Original Title
Director(s)
Production Country
Audrey Natalie Bailey Australia
The Gutter Yassir Lester , Isaiah LesterUnited States
The Other Way Around Volveréis Jonás Trueba Spain, France
Rumours Guy Maddin , Evan Johnson , Galen Johnson Germany, Canada
Sofa, So Good Kyle Thiele, Eli Thiele, Cole Thiele
United States
A Traveler's Needs 여행자의 필요
Hong Sang-soo South Korea
Triumph Триумф Kristina Grozeva , Petar Valchanov Bulgaria, Greece
Universal Language Une langue universelle / آواز بوقلمونMatthew Rankin Canada
Dare
English Title
Original Title
Director(s)
Production Country
Bionico's Bachata La bachata de Bionico Yoel Morales
Dominican Republic
Caught by the Tides 风流一代
Jia Zhangke China
Cidade; Campo Juliana Rojas Brazil, Germany, France
Diciannove Giovanni Tortorici
Italy, United Kingdom
Don’t Cry, Butterfly Mu’a trên cánh bU’ó’m Dương Diệu Linh
Vietnam, Singapore, Philippines, Indonesia
Eight Postcards from Utopia Opt ilustrate din lumea ideală Radu Jude , Christian Ferencz-FlatzRomania
Familiar Touch Sarah Friedland
United States
Fire of Wind Fogo do Vento Marta Mateus
Portugal, Switzerland, France
My Stolen Planet Sayyareye dozdide shodeye man Farahnaz Sharifi
Germany, Iran
The Nights Still Smell of Gunpowder As Noites Ainda Cheiram a Pólvora Inadelso Cossa
Mozambique, France, Germany, Portugal, Netherlands, Norway
Pepe Nelson Carlo De Los Santos Arias
Dominican Republic, Namibia, Germany, France
Formosa Beach Praia Formosa Julia de Simone
Portugal, Brazil
Sanatorium Under the Sign of the Hourglass Brothers Quay United Kingdom, Poland, Germany
Soundtrack to a Coup d'Etat Johan Grimonprez Belgium, France, Netherlands
Sugar Island Johanné Gómez Terrero
Dominican Republic, Spain
Việt and Nam Trong lòng đất Minh Quý Trương Vietnam, Philippines, France, Singapore, Netherlands, Italy, Germany
Thrill
English Title
Original Title
Director(s)
Production Country
Aïcha Mehdi M. Barsaoui
Tunisia, France, Italy, Saudi Arabia, Qatar
Architecton Viktor Kossakovsky Germany, France
La cocina Alonso Ruizpalacios Mexico, United States
Eat the Night Caroline Poggi , Jonathan Vinel France
Ghost Trail Les Fantômes Jonathan Millet
France, Germany, Belgium
Maldoror Fabrice Du Welz Belgium, France
Marco, the Invented Truth Marco, la verdad inventada Aitor Arregi, Jon Garaño
Spain
Misericordia Miséricorde Alain Guiraudie France, Spain, Portugal
Skincare Austin Peters
United States
Stranger Eyes 默視錄
Yeo Siew Hua Singapore, Taiwan, France, United States
A Thousand Blows Steven Knight United Kingdom
Cult
English Title
Original Title
Director(s)
Production Country
The Balconettes Les Femmes au balcon Noémie Merlant France
Bury Your Dead Enterre Seus Mortos Marco Dutra
Brazil
Chain Reactions Alexandre O. Philippe United States
Fréwaka Aislinn Clarke
Ireland
Sister Midnight Karan Kandhari
United Kingdom
The Surfer Lorcan Finnegan
Australia, Ireland
The Wailing El llanto Pedro Martín-Calero
Spain, Argentina, France
The Weekend Daniel Oriahi
Nigeria
Journey
English Title
Original Title
Director(s)
Production Country
After the Long Rains Baada Ya Masika Damien Hauser
Kenya, Switzerland
The Assessment Fleur Fortuné
United Kingdom, Germany, United States
Baby Marcelo Caetano
Brazil
Eephus Carson Lund
France, United States
Ellis Park Justin Kurzel Australia
The End Joshua Oppenheimer Denmark, Germany, Ireland, Italy, United Kingdom, Sweden
Flow Gints Zilbalodis Latvia, Belgium, France
Good One India Donaldson United States
Layla Amrou Al-Kadhi United Kingdom
Look into My Eyes Lana Wilson United States
My Everything Mon inséparable Anne-Sophie Bailly
France
Sebastian Mikko Mäkelä United Kingdom, Belgium, Finland
Shambhala Min Bahadur Bham Nepal, France, Norway, Turkey, Hong Kong, Taiwan, United States, Qatar
Sujo Astrid Rondero , Fernanda ValadezMexico, United States, France
Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story Ian Bonhôte, Peter Ettedgui
United Kingdom, United States
Treading Water Gino Evans
United Kingdom
The Village Next to Paradise Mo Harawe Austria, France, Somalia
Create
English Title
Original Title
Director(s)
Production Country
Abiding Nowhere Tsai Ming-liang
Taiwan, United States
Ernest Cole: Lost and Found Raoul Peck United States, France
Grand Theft Hamlet Sam Crane , Pinny Grylls United Kingdom
It's Not Me C'est pas moi Leos Carax France
One to One: John & Yoko Kevin Macdonald United Kingdom
Pauline Black: A 2-Tone Story Jane Mingay
The Stimming Pool The Neurocultures Collective (Sam Chown Ahern, Georgia Bradburn, Benjamin Brown, Robin Elliott-Knowles, Lucy Walker, Steven Eastwood)
Superboys of Malegaon Reema Kagti India
Twiggy Sadie Frost
United Kingdom
Two Strangers Trying Not to Kill Each Other Jacob Perlmutter, Manon Ouimet
United Kingdom, Denmark, United States
The Way We Talk Adam Wong Sau-Ping
Hong Kong
Experimenta
English Title
Original Title
Director(s)
Production Country
The Treasury of Human Inheritance Alexis Kyle Mitchell
Canada, United Kingdom
Notes: Remembered and Found Maria Anastassiou
United Kingdom, Cyprus
Direct Action Guillaume Cailleau , Ben Russell Germany, France
A Fidai Film Kamal Aljafari
Palestine
A Night We Held Between Noor Abed
+ No Exorcism Film Komtouch Napattaloong
Thailand
Small Hours of the Night Daniel Hui
Singapore
Family
Treasures
Shorts
The short film programme was divided into the following nine sections.
Family Ties
English Title
Original Title
Director(s)
Production Country
Trouble Sarah Blok
United Kingdom
Pigs Julia Jackman
Us Four Alex Peake
Space(s) Luke "Frsh" Fannin
Two Minutes Jamie Benyon
Honouring Traditions
English Title
Original Title
Director(s)
Production Country
Midnight Rising Aileen Ye
United Kingdom, Netherlands
Iranian Yellow Pages Anna Snowball
United Kingdom
Irpinia Jameisha Prescod
Travelling Home Juliet Klottrup
Roots that Reach Toward the Sky Jess X. Snow United States, Canada
Red Soil Joshua Ighodaro
United Kingdom
Salone Love Tajana Tokyo
English Title
Original Title
Director(s)
Production Country
Not Surgery Hours Tia Salisbury
United Kingdom
The Nobody Razan Madhoon
Happy Meat Matt Green
Gender Reveal Mo Matton
Canada
Bob's Funeral Jack Dunphy
United States
The Real Thing Charlie Fink
United Kingdom
Sleepless Nights
English Title
Original Title
Director(s)
Production Country
Sylvia Tárá Ayeni
United Kingdom
Mosquito Lady Kristine Gerolaga
United States
The Awakening Al Campbell
United Kingdom
Outside Noise Ethan Evans
Dream Creep Carlos A. F. López
United States
Trials and Tribulations
English Title
Original Title
Director(s)
Production Country
Hermit Daniel Raggett
United Kingdom
Karavidhe Eoin Doran
Rhoda Alex Lawther
Fierce-ish Grace Amaya Owen Rowlands
In Heat Rory Fleck Byrne
English Title
Original Title
Director(s)
Production Country
And Granny Would Dance Maryam Mohajer
United Kingdom
A Short Film About Kids Ibrahim Handal
Palestine
Dawn Every Day Amir Youssef
Egypt
Liminal Roots Aliyah Harfoot
United Kingdom
What’s the Film About? Poorva Bhat
Animated Shorts for Younger Audiences
English Title
Original Title
Director(s)
Production Country
Coo-rage Alina Milkina
Netherlands
Love at First Waf Louise Le Toullec, Helene Gouil
France
Who’s Wrong? Vems Fel? Stina Wirsén, Linda Hambäck
Sweden
The Brave Locomotive Andrew Chesworth
United States
The Odd Carrot Inese Pavēne
United Kingdom
Freelance Luciano A. Muñoz Sessarego, Magnus I. Møller, Peter Smith
Denmark
Yuck! Loïc Espuche
France
The Child of the Waves L'Enfant des vagues Valentine Hilarin, Gaelle Bejjani, Yuhan Wang, Martin Gross, Noam Szwarc, Sofian Pourquery-de-Boisserin
Hello Summer Ahoj leto Martin Smatana, Veronika Zacharová
Slovakia, Czechia, France
A Stream of Echoes
English Title
Original Title
Director(s)
Production Country
File No. 2304 A.S.M. Kobayashi
Canada, United States
At the Verge of Wordlessness Alaa Abu Asad
Netherlands
Avant Seriana Before Seriana Samy Benammar
Canada, Algeria
Crocodile Nest Nido de Cocodrilo Jazmin Rojas Forero
Colombia, Germany
Right in the Substance of Them a Trace of What Happened
English Title
Original Title
Director(s)
Production Country
Non/Living Müge Yildiz
Turkey, Finland
Two Stones Rua Kōhatu Noel Meek
New Zealand
Hexham Heads Chloë Delanghe, Mattijs Driesen
Belgium
The Flesh of Language Amanda Rice
Ireland
Hemel Danielle Dean
United Kingdom
Our Lady Who Burns Nossa Senhora Que Queima Alice dos Reis
Portugal
Surprise Film
Saturday Night Jason Reitman
Awards
The following awards were presented:[ 9]
In competition
Best Film: Memoir of a Snail Adam Elliot
Best First Feature (Sutherland Award): On Falling Special Mention: Olivia and the Clouds by Tomás Pichardo Espaillat
Best Documentary (Grierson Award): Mother Vera by Cécile Embleton & Alys Tomlinson
Special Mention: The Shadow Scholars by Eloise King
Best Shirt Film: Vibrations from Gaza by Rehab Nazzal
Special Mention: Dragfox by Lisa Ott
Audience awards
Voting for the audience awards closes on 23 October. Winners will be announced later in October.
References
^ Ntim, Zac (29 August 2024). "London Film Festival: Dea Kulumbegashvili's 'April' And Barry Keoghan Pic 'Bring Them Down' To Play In Competition" . Deadline . Retrieved 6 September 2024 . ^ "Full programme announced for 68th BFI London Film Festival" . BFI . 2024-09-04. Retrieved 2024-09-04 .^ Ntim, Zac (July 1, 2024). "Steve McQueen's 'Blitz' To Open London Film Festival As World Premiere" . Deadline Hollywood . Retrieved July 2, 2024 . ^ Ramachandran, Naman (2024-09-04). "Angelina Jolie, Daniel Craig, Elton John, Andrew Garfield, Saoirse Ronan Titles Among BFI London Film Festival Full Lineup" . Variety . Retrieved 2024-09-04 . ^ "Competition juries announced for 68th BFI London Film Festival" . BFI London Film Festival . Retrieved 20 October 2024 .^ "LFF on tour" . British Film Institute . Retrieved 6 September 2024 .^ "Venues" . British Film Institute . Retrieved 6 September 2024 .^ Ntim, Zac (2024-09-04). "BFI London Film Festival Lineup: Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi & Jimmy Chin To Debut 'Endurance', Baker, Heller, Berger & Abbasi's Trump Movie Among Headline Galas — Full List" . Deadline . Retrieved 2024-09-04 . ^ Dalton, Ben (20 October 2024). "Adam Elliot's 'Memoir Of A Snail' heads BFI London Film Festival 2024 winners" . ScreenDaily . Retrieved 22 October 2024 .
