BFI London Film Festival 2024 Unveils 168 Features, 15 World Premieres

5 September 2024 | Source
The 2024 BFI London Film Festival, taking place from October 9-20, will feature 168 films, including 15 world premieres. Key premieres include Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin's "Endurance" and Steve McQueen's "Blitz". The festival’s 68th edition includes works from filmmakers like Ali Abbasi, Pablo Larraín, and Andrea Arnold, with 44% of the 253 works directed by female and non-binary filmmakers.
BFI London Film Festival
United Kingdom (UK)

The 68th BFI London Film Festival (LFF) has unveiled its full 2024 line-up, showcasing a total of 168 feature films and 253 works, including shorts, episodic, and immersive projects. This year’s festival, set to take place from October 9 to 20, continues the tradition of celebrating diverse cinematic voices from around the world.

Among the most anticipated titles is Steve McQueen’s Blitz, which will open the festival. Another significant premiere is Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin’s documentary Endurance, co-directed with Natalie Hewit, which chronicles the lost ship of Antarctic explorer Ernest Shackleton. Both films are part of the 15 world premieres in this year’s edition.

The festival will also present a number of other key world premieres, including Holloway, a documentary by Sophie Compton and Daisy-May Hudson about one of Europe’s largest women’s prisons, as well as Steven Knight’s A Thousand Blows, a Victorian boxing series starring Stephen Graham.

Returning to headline the galas are films by critically acclaimed directors. Pablo Larraín’s Maria, Ali Abbasi’s The Apprentice, and Andrea Arnold’s Bird will be part of the major selections. Other highlights include Jacques Audiard’s Emilia Pérez, Sean Baker’s Anora, and Edward Berger’s Conclave.

This year, female and non-binary filmmakers represent 44% of the program, marking a gradual increase from previous editions (42% in 2023 and 41% in 2022). This emphasis on diversity is reflected across the festival’s many categories, including the Official Competition, First Feature, and Documentary competitions.

The BFI London Film Festival will spread its screenings across multiple venues, including the BFI Southbank and The Southbank Centre’s Royal Festival Hall in central London, alongside nine partner cinemas across the UK.

The 2024 line-up also includes several special presentations and galas that highlight works from prestigious international festivals such as Cannes, Toronto, and Venice. Films like The Extraordinary Miss Flower by Iain Forsyth and Jane Pollard, Four Mothers by Darren Thornton, and Thank You For Banking With Us by Palestinian filmmaker Laila Abbas are among the notable entries.

This year’s festival program balances established directors with new voices, aiming to deliver a broad spectrum of cinematic experiences. Two additional world premieres are yet to be announced, and a surprise film is expected to add an extra layer of excitement as the festival approaches.

Headline Galas:

  1. "Blitz" (UK) – World Premiere / Dir. Steve McQueen
  2. "Piece By Piece" (US) – Closing Night / Dir. Morgan Neville
  3. "Elton John: Never Too Late" (US) / Dirs. R.J. Cutler, David Furnish
  4. "Anora" (US) / Dir. Sean Baker
  5. "The Apprentice" (Canada-Denmark-Ireland) / Dir. Ali Abbasi
  6. "Bird" (UK) / Dir. Andrea Arnold
  7. "Conclave" (UK-US) / Dir. Edward Berger
  8. "Emilia Pérez" (France) / Dir. Jacques Audiard
  9. "Hard Truths" (UK-Spain) / Dir. Mike Leigh
  10. "Joy" (UK) – World Premiere / Dir. Ben Taylor
  11. "Maria" (Italy-Germany-US) / Dir. Pablo Larraín
  12. "Nightbitch" (US) / Dir. Marielle Heller
  13. "That Christmas" (UK) – World Premiere / Dir. Simon Otto
  14. "The Room Next Door" (Spain) / Dir. Pedro Almodóvar
  15. "We Live In Time" (UK-France) / Dir. John Crowley

Special Presentations:

  1. "All We Imagine As Light" (France-India-Netherlands-Luxembourg) / Dir. Payal Kapadia
  2. "The Ballad Of Suzanne Césaire" (US) / Dir. Madeleine Hunt-Ehrlich
  3. "Dahomey" (France-Senegal-Benin) – World Premiere / Dir. Mati Diop
  4. "Endurance" (UK-US) – World Premiere / Dirs. Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi, Jimmy Chin, Natalie Hewit
  5. "Harvest" (UK-Germany-Greece-France-US) / Dir. Athina Rachel Tsangari
  6. "I’m Still Here" (Brazil-France) / Dir. Walter Salles
  7. "A Nice Indian Boy" (US-Canada) / Dir. Roshan Sethi
  8. "Nickel Boys" (US) / Dir. Ramell Ross
  9. "The Piano Lesson" (US) / Dir. Malcolm Washington
  10. "Queer" (Italy-US) / Dir. Luca Guadagnino
  11. "A Real Pain" (US-Poland) / Dir. Jesse Eisenberg
  12. "The Seed Of The Sacred Fig" (Iran-Germany-France) / Dir. Mohammad Rasoulof
  13. "Silent Sherlock" (UK) / Dirs. Maurice Elvey, George Ridgwell
  14. "The Wild Robot" (US) / Dir. Chris Sanders
  15. "The Summer Book" (Finland-UK) / Dir. Charlie McDowell

LFF Awards – Official Competition:

  1. "April" (France-Georgia-Italy) / Dir. Dea Kulumbegashvili
  2. "Bring Them Down" (Ireland-UK-Belgium) / Dir. Christopher Andrews
  3. "The Extraordinary Miss Flower" (UK) – World Premiere / Dirs. Iain Forsyth, Jane Pollard
  4. "Four Mothers" (Ireland-UK) – World Premiere / Dir. Darren Thornton
  5. "Living In Two Worlds" (Japan) / Dir. Mipo O
  6. "Memoir Of A Snail" (Australia) / Dir. Adam Elliot
  7. "On Becoming A Guinea Fowl" (Zambia-UK-Ireland) / Dir. Rungano Nyoni
  8. "Thank You For Banking With Us" (Palestine-Germany) – World Premiere / Dir. Laila Abbas
  9. "The Wolves Always Come At Night" (Australia-Mongolia-Germany) / Dir. Gabrielle Brady
  10. "Under The Volcano" (Poland) / Dir. Damian Kocur
  11. "Vermiglio" (Italy-France-Belgium) / Dir. Maura Delpero

First Feature Competition:

  1. "Crocodile Tears" (Indonesia-France-Singapore-Germany) / Dir. Tumpal Tampubolon
  2. "Hanami" (Switzerland-Portugal-Cape Verde) / Dir. Denise Fernandes
  3. "Happyend" (Japan-US) / Dir. Neo Sora
  4. "Last Swim" (UK) / Dir. Sasha Nathwani
  5. "My Eternal Summer" (Denmark) / Dir. Sylvia Le Fanu
  6. "Olivia & The Clouds" (Dominican Republic) / Dir. Tomás Pichardo Espaillat
  7. "On Falling" (UK-Portugal) / Dir. Laura Carreira
  8. "Santosh" (UK-France-Germany) / Dir. Sandhya Suri
  9. "September Says" (Ireland-UK-Germany) / Dir. Ariane Labed
  10. "To A Land Unknown" (UK-Palestine-France-Greece-Netherlands-Germany) / Dir. Mahdi Fleifel
  11. "Who Do I Belong To" (France-Canada-Tunisia) / Dir. Meryam Joobeur

Documentary Competition:

  1. "Collective Monologue" (Argentina-UK) / Dir. Jessica Sarah Rinland
  2. "Holloway" (UK) – World Premiere / Dirs. Sophie Compton, Daisy-May Hudson
  3. "Kamay" (Afghanistan-Belgium-France-Germany) / Dirs. Ilyas Yourish, Shahrokh Bikaran
  4. "Mother Vera" (UK) / Dirs. Cécile Embleton, Alys Tomlinson
  5. "Rising Up At Night" (Democratic Republic of Congo-Belgium-Germany-Burkina Faso-Qatar) / Dir. Nelson Makengo
  6. "Seeking Mavis Beacon" (US) / Dir. Jazmin Jones
  7. "The Shadow Scholars" (UK) – World Premiere / Dir. Eloise King
  8. "Witches" (UK) / Dir. Elizabeth Sankey

Love Strand:

  1. "All Of You" (UK) / Dir. William Bridges
  2. "All Shall Be Well" (Hong Kong) / Dir. Ray Yeung
  3. "At Averroes & Rosa Parks" (France) / Dir. Nicolas Philibert
  4. "Grand Tour" (Portugal-Italy-France) / Dir. Miguel Gomes
  5. "I’m Your Venus" (US) / Dir. Kimberly Reed
  6. "Motherboard" (UK) / Dir. Victoria Mapplebeck
  7. "Patrice: The Movie" (US) / Dir. Ted Passon
  8. "Pavements" (US) / Dir. Alex Ross Perry
  9. "Queens Of Drama" (France-Belgium) / Dir. Alexis Langloi
  10. "Sex" (Norway) / Dir. Dag Johan Haugerud
  11. "Tarika" (Bulgaria-Germany-Luxembourg) – World Premiere / Dir. Milko Lazarov
  12. "Weightless" (Italy) / Dir. Sara Fgaier
  13. "When Fall Is Coming" (France) / Dir. François Ozon
  14. "When The Light Breaks" (Iceland-Netherlands-Croatia-France) / Dir. Rúnar Rúnarsson

Debate Strand:

  1. "2073" (UK) / Dir. Asif Kapadia
  2. "Black Box Diaries" (Japan-US-UK) / Dir. Shiori Itō
  3. "The Cats Of Gokogu Shrine" (Japan-US) / Dir. Kazuhiro Soda
  4. "Families Like Ours" (Denmark-France-Sweden-Czech Republic-Belgium-Norway-Germany) / Dir. Thomas Vinterberg
  5. "I Am Nevenka" (Spain-Italy) / Dir. Icíar Bollaín
  6. "The Invasion" (Netherlands-France-US) / Dir. Sergei Loznitsa
  7. "Israel Palestine On Swedish TV 1958-1989" (Sweden-Finland-Denmark) / Dir. Göran Hugo Olsson
  8. "Julie Keeps Quiet" (Belgium-Sweden) / Dir. Leonardo Van Dijl
  9. "The Listeners" (UK) / Series creator: Jordan Tannahill
  10. "Three Kilometres To The End Of The World" (Romania) / Dir. Emanuel Pârvu
  11. "Youth (Homecoming)" (France-Luxembourg-Netherlands) / Dir. Wang Bing

Laugh Strand:

  1. "Audrey" (Australia) / Dir. Natalie Bailey
  2. "The Gutter" (US) / Dirs. Isaiah Lester, Yassir Lester
  3. "The Other Way Around" (Spain-France) / Dir. Jonás Trueba
  4. "Rumours" (Canada-Germany) / Dirs. Guy Maddin, Evan Johnson, Galen Johnson
  5. "Sofa, So Good" (US) / Dirs. Kyle Thiele, Eli Thiele, Cole Thiele
  6. "A Traveler’s Needs" (South Korea) / Dir. Hong Sangsoo
  7. "Triumph" (Bulgaria-Greece) / Dirs. Kristina Grozeva, Petar Valchanov
  8. "Universal Language" (Canada) / Dir. Matthew Rankin

Dare Strand:

  1. "Bionico’s Bachata" (Dominican Republic) / Dir. Yoel Morales
  2. "Caught By The Tides" (China) / Dir. Jia Zhangke
  3. "Cidade; Campo" (Brazil-Germany-France) / Dir. Juliana Rojas
  4. "Don’t Cry, Butterfly" (Vietnam-Singapore-Philippines-Indonesia) / Dir. Dương Diệu Linh
  5. "Eight Postcards From Utopia" (Romania) / Dirs. Radu Jude, Christian Ferencz-Flatz
  6. "Familiar Touch" (US) / Dir. Sarah Friedland
  7. "My Stolen Planet" (Germany-Iran) / Dir. Farahnaz Sharifi
  8. "The Nights Still Smell Of Gunpowder" (Mozambique-France-Germany-Portugal-Netherlands-Norway) / Dir. Inadelso Cossa
  9. "Pepe" (Dominican Republic-Namibia-Germany-France) / Dir. Nelson Carlos De Los Santos Arias
  10. "Praia Formosa" (Portugal-Brazil) / Dir. Julia De Simone
  11. "Sanatorium Under The Sign Of The Hourglass" (UK-Poland-Germany) / Dirs. Quay Brothers
  12. "Soundtrack To A Coup D’état" (Belgium-France-Netherlands) / Dir. Johan Grimonprez
  13. "Sugar Island" (Dominican Republic-Spain) / Dir. Johanné Gómez Terrero
  14. "Viêt And Nam" (Philippines-France-Singapore-Netherlands-Italy-Germany-Vietnam) / Dir. Trương Minh Quý

Thrill Strand:

  1. "Aïcha" (Tunisia-France-Italy-Saudi Arabia-Qatar) / Dir. Mehdi M. Barsaoui
  2. "Architecton" (Germany-France) / Dir. Victor Kossakovsky
  3. "La Cocina" (Mexico-US) / Dir. Alonso Ruizpalacios
  4. "Eat The Night" (France) / Dirs. Caroline Poggi, Jonathan Vinel
  5. "Ghost Trail" (France-Germany-Belgium) / Dir. Jonathan Millet
  6. "Maldoror" (Belgium-France) / Dir. Fabrice Du Welz
  7. "Marco, The Invented Truth" (Spain) / Dirs. Aitor Arregi, Jon Garaño
  8. "Misericordia" (France-Spain-Portugal) / Dir. Alain Guiraudie
  9. "Skincare" (US-Italy) / Dir. Austin Peters
  10. "Stranger Eyes" (Singapore-Taiwan-France-US) / Dir. Yeo Siew Hua
  11. "A Thousand Blows" (UK) / Series creator: Steven Knight

Cult Strand:

  1. "The Balconettes" (France) / Dir. Noémie Merlant
  2. "Chain Reactions" (US) / Dir. Alexandre O. Philippe
  3. "Fréwaka" (Ireland) / Dir. Aislinn Clarke
  4. "Sister Midnight" (UK) / Dir. Karan Kandhari
  5. "The Surfer" (Australia-Ireland) / Dir. Lorcan Finnegan
  6. "The Wailing" (Spain-Argentina-France) / Dir. Pedro Martín-Calero
  7. "The Weekend" (Nigeria) / Dir. Daniel Oriahi

Journey Strand:

  1. "After The Long Rains" (Kenya-Switzerland) / Dir. Damien Hauser
  2. "Baby" (Brazil) / Dir. Marcelo Caetano
  3. "Eephus" (US-France) / Dir. Carson Lund
  4. "Flow" (Latvia-France-Belgium) / Dir. Gints Zilbalodis
  5. "Good One" (US) / Dir. India Donaldson
  6. "Layla" (UK) / Dir. Amrou Al-Kadhi
  7. "Look Into My Eyes" (US) / Dir. Lana Wilson
  8. "My Everything" (France) / Dir. Anne-Sophie Bailly
  9. "Sebastian" (UK-Belgium-Finland) / Dir. Mikko Mäkelä
  10. "Shambhala" (Nepal-France-Norway-Turkey-Hong Kong-Taiwan-US-Qatar) / Dir. Min Bahadur Bham
  11. "Sujo" (Mexico-France-US) / Dirs. Astrid Rondero, Fernanda Valade
  12. "Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story" (UK-US) / Dirs. Ian Bonhôte, Peter Ettedgui
  13. "Treading Water" (UK) – World Premiere / Dir. Gino Evans
  14. "The Village Next To Paradise" (Austria-France-Germany-Somalia) / Dir. Mo Harawe

Create Strand:

  1. "Abiding Nowhere" (Taiwan-US) / Dirs. Tsai Ming-Liang
  2. "Ernest Cole: Lost & Found" (France-US) / Dir. Raoul Peck
  3. "Grand Theft Hamlet" (UK) / Dirs. Pinny Grylls, Sam Crane
  4. "It’s Not Me" (France) / Dir. Leos Carax
  5. "One To One: John & Yoko" (UK) / Dirs. Kevin Macdonald, Sam Rice-Edwards
  6. "Pauline Black: A 2-Tone Story" (UK) / Dir. Jane Mingay
  7. "The Stimming Pool" (UK) / Dir. The Neurocultures Collective
  8. "Superboys Of Malegaon" (India) / Dir. Reema Kagti
  9. "Twiggy" (UK) / Dir. Sadie Frost
  10. "Two Strangers Trying Not To Kill Each Other" (UK-Denmark-US) / Dirs. Jacob Perlmutter, Manon Ouimet
  11. "The Way We Talk" (Hong Kong) – World Premiere / Dirs. Adam Wong Sau-Ping

Experimenta Strand:

  1. "The Treasury Of Human Inheritance" (Canada-UK) / Dir. Alexis Kyle Mitchell
  2. "I Don’t Want To Be Just A Memory" (Germany) / Dir. Sarnt Utamachote
  3. "Forms Of Circulation #1" (UK) / Dirs. Paul Stewart, Sarah Perks
  4. "The River That Never Ends" (Philippines) / Dir. Jt Trinidad
  5. "Notes: Remembered And Found" (UK-Cyprus) / Dir. Maria Anastassiou
  6. "Two Refusals (Would We Recognize Ourselves Unbroken?)" (US) / Dir. Suneil Sanzgiri
  7. "File No. 2304" (Canada-US) / Dir. A.S.M. Kobayashi
  8. "At The Verge Of Wordlessness" (Netherlands) / Dir. Alaa Abu Asad
  9. "Avant Seriana" (Canada-Algeria) / Dir. Samy Benammar
  10. "Nido De Crocodilo" (Colombia-Germany) / Dir. Jazmin Rojas Forero
  11. "Non/Living" (Turkey-Finland) / Dir. Müge Yildiz
  12. "Two Stones" (New Zealand) / Dir. Noel Meek
  13. "Hexham Heads" (Belgium) / Dirs. Chloë Delanghe, Mattijs Driesen
  14. "The Flesh Of Language" (Ireland) / Dir. Amanda Rice
  15. "Hemel" (UK) / Dir. Danielle Dean
  16. "Our Lady Who Burns" (Portugal) / Dir. Alice Dos Reis
  17. "Direct Action" (Germany-France) / Dirs. Guillaume Cailleau, Ben Russell
  18. "A Fidai Film" (Palestine) / Dir. Kamal Aljafari
  19. "Undr" (Palestine) / Dir. Kamal Aljafari
  20. "A Night We Held Between" (Palestine) / Dir. Noor Abed
  21. "No Exorcism Film" (Thailand) / Dir. Komtouch Napattaloong
  22. "Small Hours Of The Night" (Singapore) / Dir. Daniel Hui

LFF Expanded:

  1. "Impulse: Playing With Reality" (UK) – Lead Artist: Anagram
  2. "Arcade" (UK) – Lead Artist: Darkfield
  3. "Last Minute" (France) – Lead Artists: Adrien M & Claire B
  4. "Superradiance. Embodying Earth" (US) – Lead Artists: Memo Akten, Katie Peyton Hofstadter
  5. "The Great Endeavour" (US) – Lead Artist: Liam Young
  6. "Mammary Mountain" (UK) – Lead Artists: Tara Baoth Mooney, Camille Baker, Maf’j Alvarez
  7. "Emperor" (France) – Lead Artists: Marion Burger, Ilan J. Cohen
  8. "Soul Paint" (UK-Netherlands) – Lead Artists: Sarah Ticho, Niki Smit
  9. "Stim Cinema" (UK) – Lead Artists: The Neurocultures Collective, Steven Eastwood
  10. "A Highland Song" (UK) – Inkle Studios
  11. "Playing Kafka" (Czech Republic) – Charles Games
  12. "Paper Trail" (UK) – Newfangled Games
  13. "Dome King Cabbage" (US) – Joe Buchholz, Cobysoft Co.
  14. "Closer The Distance" (Germany) – Osmotic Studios

Family Strand:

  1. "Blink" (Canada-US) / Dirs. Edmund Stenson, Daniel Roher
  2. "The Colours Within" (Japan) / Dir. Naoko Yamada
  3. "Savages" (Switzerland-France-Belgium) / Dir. Claude Barras
  4. "Watership Down" (UK) – Restoration / Dir. Martin Rosen

Treasures Strand:

  1. "The Churning" (India) / Dir. Shyam Benegal
  2. "Manji" (Japan) / Dir. Yasuzô Masumura
  3. "María Candelaria" (Mexico) / Dir. Emilio Fernández
  4. "The Sealed Soil" (Iran) / Dir. Marva Nabili
  5. "The Talk Of The Town" (US) / Dir. George Stevens
✨ Disable all ads: upgrade to Vurchel Pro!!
AD