BFI London Film Festival Celebrates 50th Anniversary

The Times BFI London Film Festival (LFF) showcases the best new films from around the world in London. The festival celebrates its 50th anniversary in 2006 and runs from October 18 to November 2.
This year’s line-up includes 181 features and 131 shorts, alongside a host of live events, special commissions, screen talks and masterclasses. Welcoming back many familiar faces and introducing a host of new ones, the festival presents 4 world premieres, 32 European and 123 UK premieres.
The LFF offers opportunities for people to see films that would not otherwise get a release date in the UK. Most of the screenings are attended by the people involved in making the films, from actors and directors, to producers and stuntmen. This gives the festival screenings a unique and intimate feeling.
Home-grown talent is strongly represented with a British selection ranging from Nick Broomfield’s 'Ghosts' and Shane Meadows 'This Is England' to a variety of documentaries and shorts. UK-born Sacha Baron Cohen also stars in Larry Charles’ feature-length comedy 'Borat: Cultural Learnings Of America For Make Benefit Glorious Nation Of Kazakhstan'.
Celebrating its jubilee year, the festival plays host to two major special events: a free, outdoor live-mix screening 'A Portrait of London: Trafalgar Square' and the world’s largest surprise film screening in 50 Screens.
Special screenings include 'Venus' for the Mayor of London Gala and 'Breaking and Entering' for the Blackberry Gala. With both films boasting stellar casts, Venus stars film legends Peter O’Toole and Leslie Philips and Breaking and Entering presents Jude Law and Martin Freeman on the silver screen.
Book-ending the fortnight long festival, the European premiere of Kevin Macdonald’s 'The Last King Of Scotland' with Forest Whitaker, James McAvoy, Kerry Washington and Gillian Anderson opens the event on Wednesday October 18.
The Closing Gala on Thursday November 2 brings the 50th celebrations to an end with the UK premiere of Alejandro González Iñárratu’s Babel, starring Cate Blanchett, Brad Pitt and Gael García Bernal.
Find out more, including ticket booking information, on the The Times BFI London Film Festival website.
www.Iff.org.uk
(DS/SP)