The programme for the 59th BFI London Film Festival has just launched, with a total of 238 fiction and documentary features playing over 12 days in the capital, from October 7-18. A total of 238 fiction and documentary features, including 16 world premieres, eight international premieres, 40 European premieres and 11 archive films (including 5 restoration world premieres) will play across London, including Empire's own UK premiere gala screening of Ben Wheatley's hotly anticipated J.G. Ballard adaptation High Rise.
The Festival opens with the European premiere of Sarah Gavron's Suffragette, starring Carey Mulligan, Helena Bonham Carter, Anne-Marie Duff, Brendan Gleeson, Ben Whishaw and Meryl Streep. It closes with the European premiere of Danny Boyle's Steve Jobs, starring Michael Fassbender, Kate Winslet, Seth Rogen, Jeff Daniels, Michael Stuhlbarg and Katherine Waterston.
In between there'll be the chance to catch, among many others, Todd Haynes' Carol; Jay Roach's Trumbo; Scott Cooper's Black Mass; John Crowley's Brooklyn; Nicholas Hytner and Alan Bennett's The Lady In The Van; Guy Maddin and Evan Johnson's The Forbidden Room; Davis Guggenheim's inspiring documentary He Named Me Malala; Craig Zahler's Bone Tomahawk; James Vanderbilt's Truth; Cary Fukunaga's Beasts Of No Nation; and Robert Eggers' The Witch.
Empire's Festival Gala is, as mentioned, High Rise, directed by Ben Wheatley from a screenplay by Amy Jump. Tom Hiddleston, Jeremy Irons, Sienna Miller, Luke Evans, Elisabeth Moss and James Purefoy star in Ballard's dystopian sci-fi tale, taking place in a tower block which is supposed to represent a bright new urban future, but ends up isolating and factionalising its residents into all-out war. The film plays on October 9 and 11 at the Odeon, Leicester Square, with tickets on sale at 10am on September 17.
The rest of the festival takes place on screens big and small across London, inluding the aforementioned Odeon Leicester Square, Vue West End, BFI Southbank, BFI IMAX, Picturehouse Central, the ICA, Curzon Mayfair, Curzon Soho, Cineworld Haymarket, Ciné Lumière, Ritzy Brixton, Hackney Picturehouse, Curzon Chelsea, Vue Islington and Rich Mix. Additional screenings and events will take place at Tate Modern.
For a more detailed rundown, the full exhaustive programme is here.