BFI London Film Festival Premieres

Whether you’re a film aficionado diving straight in or a moviegoer coming to the Festival for the first time – this year’s programme is bursting with films and events that will entertain, confront and delight you. We kick-start the Festival with the European Premiere of Frankenweenie, the gloriously crafted, stop-motion 3D animation from Tim Burton, and close our twelve-day celebration of film with the European Premiere of Mike Newell’s visually ravishing adaptation of Great Expectations. Among our highly anticipated Galas is the World Premiere of Crossfire Hurricane, a documentary celebrating the extraordinary 50-year journey of The Rolling Stones. For the first time this year our Opening Night Gala and our American Express Gala will screen simultaneously across the UK – beaming our red-carpet arrivals and filmmaker introductions into more cinemas for more people to enjoy.

Frankenweenie
Wednesday 10th October
Odeon Leicester Square, London
Young Victor conducts a science experiment to bring his beloved dog Sparky back to life, only to face unintended, sometimes monstrous, consequences.

Chakravyuh
Thursday 11th October
Empire, Leicester Square, London
A Bollywood film about two brothers, one a cop and another who becomes an antihero Naxalite revolutionary in direct armed conflict with his dearest sibling.

Amour
Thursday 11th October
Curzon Mayfair, London
Michael Haneke’s Palme d’Or-winner, about an octogenarian couple trying to cope when a stroke leaves the wife partly paralysed and speechless.

Beyond the Hills
Friday 12th October
Curzon Mayfair, London
A drama centered on the friendship between two young women who grew up in the same orphanage; one has found refuge at a convent in Romania and refuses to leave with her friend, who now lives in Germany.

The Sapphires
Monday 15th October
Odeon West End, Leicester Square, London
It's 1968, and four young, talented Australian Aboriginal girls learn about love, friendship and war when their all girl group The Sapphires entertain the US troops in Vietnam.

Quartet
Monday 15th October
Odeon Leicester Square, London
At a home for retired opera singers, the annual concert to celebrate Verdi's birthday is disrupted by the arrival of Jean, an eternal diva and the former wife of one of the residents.

Hyde Park on Hudson
Tuesday 16th October
Empire, Leicester Square, London
The story of the love affair between FDR and his distant cousin Margaret Stuckley, centered around the weekend in 1939 when the King and Queen of the United Kingdom visited upstate New York.

The Sessions
Tuesday 16th October
Odeon West End, Leicester Square, London
A man in an iron lung who wishes to lose his virginity contacts a professional sex surrogate with the help of his therapist and priest.

A Liar's Autobiography: The Untrue Story of Monty Python's Graham Chapman
Tuesday 16th October
Empire, Leicester Square, London
Graham Chapman, probably best remembered as “the dead one from Monty Python,” writes and stars in the animated movie of his own life story

Argo
Wednesday 17th October
Odeon Leicester Square, London
The true story of CIA agent Tony Mendez and his risky plan to free six Americans trapped after their embassy is seized by revolutionaries.

Crossfire Hurricane
Thursday 18th October
Odeon Leicester Square, London
The Rolling Stones are to be chronicled in a kaleidoscopic new film, Crossfire Hurricane, that documents the key periods of their career and their incredible adventures. Directed by Brett Morgen, the film features historical footage, much of it widely unseen, and commentary from Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Charlie Watts, Ronnie Wood and former Stones Bill Wyman and Mick Taylor. Period interviews, extensive live performance material and news archive footage will complete the documentary, which takes its title from the opening lines of Jumpin' Jack Flash.

The Reluctant Fundamentalist
Thursday 18th October
Empire, Leicester Square, London
A young Pakistani man is chasing corporate success on Wall Street. He finds himself embroiled in a conflict between his American Dream, a hostage crisis, and the enduring call of his family's homeland.

Song for Marion
Friday 19th October
Odeon West End, Leicester Square, London
A grumpy old man joins his local choir after his wife is stricken with illness.

The Pervert's Guide to Ideology
Saturday 20th October
Odeon West End, Leicester Square, London
Slavoj Žižek unleashes his voracious intellect on films from The Sound of Music to Full Metal Jacket, in this wilfully provocative documentary essay.

Sightseers
Saturday 20th October
Odeon West End, Leicester Square, London
Chris wants to show girlfriend Tina his world, but events soon conspire against the couple and their dream caravan holiday takes a very wrong turn.

Ernest and Celestine
Sunday 21st October
Odeon West End, Leicester Square, London
The story of an unlikely friendship between a bear, Ernest, and a young mouse named Celestine.

Great Expectations
Sunday 21st October
Odeon Leicester Square, London
A humble orphan suddenly becomes a gentleman with the help of an unknown benefactor.