With too many films and not enough time, here’s a film a day to keep the blues away
Twelve days and 240 films: the BFI London Film Festival is a pretty daunting yet exciting beast for film-lovers to tackle. It’s a crowded festival and may be a bit hard to navigate due to the sheer amount of choices. We’ve mapped out a one film-a-day schedule for you, mostly staying away from the splashy premieres of Oscar-bait films that will play in the big multiplexes. As of writing, tickets are available for all of the films noted.
7 October – Mountains May Depart
Chinese director Jia Zhangke makes some of the world’s most socially and politically searing films. He places a mirror up to life in China, as well as portraying the hypocrisies of its bureaucracy which contextualise that life. His last film, A Touch of Sin was a masterpiece – suspenseful, evocative and bitter in its short stories of sin (both justified and not). Mountains May Depart is said to be similarly structured and skips narratively to a not-so-distant future.
Jia Zhangke will also be in conversation with Walter Salles at BFI Southbank at 9pm.
8 October – James White
This film is a debut feature from Josh Mond, who previously served as a producer in the American film making collective that includes Antonio Campos (Simon Killer). We saw this vérité–style portrait of a tortured 20-something New Yorker, who deals with his dying mother among other things, at the Locarno Film Festival. It is certainly worth checking out for an uncomfortable, well-acted experience.
9 October – Tangerine
Yep, it’s finally here: a critically acclaimed film shot on an iPhone! (Circa the bygone time of the iPhone 5). This Sundance hit follows a night in the life of two transgender girls in Hollywood. The film is for those with a curiosity to see how everyday technology is used to create a narrative, and a resonant piece of feature length cinema.
10 October – Son of Saul
From Hungary, László Nemes’ debut film was a critical darling and perhaps the film that created the most buzz at Cannes, winning second place in the Grand Prix. A holocaust story said to be told with urgent life-likeness, this is sure to be one of the most talked about films this year.
11 October – Live From New York!
A documentary about the history of Saturday Night Live!, the iconic US television sketch comedy show that recently celebrated its 40th season. Pretty much every famous American comedian who has become a cinema or television star started on SNL, and no other television show has captured so well the bizarre zeitgeist of the US political and cultural scene over the years. Should be a fun watch.
12 October – Chronic
Mexican director Michael Franco’s tense and uncomfortable After Lucia was one of the best films of 2012, and here he returns as a Cannes prize winner (for Best Screenplay) about a hospice care giver’s (Tim Roth) strange dynamic with his dying patients. Franco’s previous films relish human awkwardness, and this promises to be no exception.
13 October – Nasty Baby
A film from talented Chilean director Sebastian Silva set in multi-cultural Brooklyn. A gay couple, played by Silva himself and the lead singer of the band TV on the Radio, Babatunde Adebimpe, are having a baby with their straight best girlfriend (Kristen Wiig). Silva’s films, notably 2009’s The Maid, are compelling observations on the complexities of class and culture, and it will be interesting to see what he does in an American setting.
14 October – The Club
The latest film from director Pablo Larrain (Post Mortem and No) is an allegorical tale about violence and justice in contemporary Chile. Larrain is one of the most exciting new-ish talents in world cinema, and this film won a major prize at the Berlin Film Festival.
15 October – Screen Talk with Todd Haynes
Todd Haynes’ 1950s-set lesbian love story Carol is playing at the festival, and this is a chance to listen to the eclectic and often brilliant filmmaker talk about his work. Haynes’ filmography includes Safe, I’m Not There and Far From Heaven.
16 October – Much Loved
From acclaimed Moroccan director Nabil Ayouch, comes his latest feature about the life of prostitutes in Morocco. You never know what you will get with Ayouch, as the two previous features this critic has seen couldn’t be more different – the intensely dramatic Horse of God and the playful Whatever Lola Wants. They’re both strong films, however, and there’s no reason to think that Much Loved, which stirred up controversy in Morocco, will be any different.
17 October – Deephan
From major French director Jaques Audiard (A Prophet and Rust and Bone), this topical immigrant thriller about Sri Lankans trying to settle in the suburbs of Paris has won the Palme d’Or at Cannes. Interestingly, a lot of critics said it didn’t deserve the top prize. Yet Audiard is always to be taken seriously, so it will be interesting to see it for ourselves.
18 October – Remember
Veteran Canadian director Atom Egoyan has made a series of really bad films over the last few years (Captives, Devi’s Knot and Chloe). Yet, I still find myself rooting for him due to the great films he has made before, such as The Sweet Hereafter and Exotica. In this film, an elderly Holocaust survivor (Christopher Plummer) attempts to make good on a promise to hunt down one of his Nazi tormentors. Here’s hoping Egoyan has got his mojo back!
Image from: http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/movies/western-australia-stands-in-for-melbourne-in-chinese-film-mountains-may-depart-20150729-gimtoj.html