Elton John, Angelina Jolie movies among London Film Festival line-up
LONDON 鈥 From a documentary about Elton John鈥檚 final US live shows to Angelina Jolie鈥檚 Maria Callas biopic, this year鈥檚 BFI London Film Festival promises a star-studded line up that kicks off with a World War Two drama from Oscar winner Steve McQueen.
The London-born director will open the festival for a third time with the world premiere of his movie Blitz on Oct. 9.
It stars Saoirse Ronan as Rita, a London mother who sends her young son George, played by newcomer Elliott Heffernan, to safety in the countryside during the war. But George is determined to return home despite the many dangers ahead.
Vatican-set thriller Conclave starring Ralph Fiennes and Stanley Tucci, Daniel Craig鈥檚 Queer in which the former James Bond star plays a drug-addicted American living in 1950s Mexico, and Cannes Festival winner Anora about an exotic dancer who gets involved with a Russian oligarch鈥檚 son are also on the program.
Like Craig, Jolie premiered her film Maria at the Venice Film Festival.
鈥淲e have a lot of wonderful films that have premiered throughout the year at some of the biggest festivals in the world,鈥 BFI Festivals director Kristy Matheson told Reuters on Wednesday. 鈥淎nd then of course we have 39 world premiere films as well.鈥
One of those is Joy, starring Thomasin McKenzie, Bill Nighy, and James Norton in a retelling of the birth of the world鈥檚 first test tube baby in 1978.
The Apprentice about a young Donald Trump, Pedro Almodovar鈥檚 first English-language feature film The Room Next Door starring Tilda Swinton and Julianne Moore, and Nightbitch, in which Amy Adams plays a stay-at-home mother who starts exhibiting canine instincts, are also among the line-up.
Among documentaries screening will be Elton John: Never Too Late about the musician鈥檚 return to Los Angeles鈥 Dodger Stadium and Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story, which looks back at the late actor鈥檚 rise to fame as the superhero and his life following a horse-riding accident that left him paralyzed from the neck down.
Pharrell Williams鈥 Lego biopic Piece by Piece will close the festival on Oct. 20. 鈥 Reuters
