Cinémoi’s Guide to the 55th BFI London Film Festival - 12 to 27 October, 2011

Sandra Hebron, Artistic Director of the BFI London Film Fstival

How important has the contribution of French Cinema been to the London Film Festival?

“ I think it has been really important to us. Probably since the festival start-

ed and the reason the festival began was to give audiences a number of

world. Of course Cannes has a tradition of programming French Cinema, so

some of the great French ‘auteurs’ were premiered here from very early

on. For us, we’ve always had a dedicated French strand within the Festival.

We’ve sometimes been criticised for that because quite often the British

important to us and it is important to recognise that there is a good audi-

ence for French Cinema in London.”

So we can expect a broad range of !lms from France at this year’s festival?

countries in the foreign language market, we only get to see a tiny fraction.

distribution in the UK.”

How vital is it that the London Film Festival continues to thrive?

“Of course I would say it is vital because the festival is very precious to

me, but I think that festivals are really very important. Particularly now,

they’re important in a number of ways; they’re a way of audiences and

-

-

-

rience with the Festival has in fact demonstrated that people still have a

Considering that this is your last Festival as Artistic Director, what have been your personal highlights over the years?

-

val for so many years and in a sense every day of the Festival is a highlight.

really happy doing The Wrestler a few years ago with Mickey Rourke and

Darren Aronofsky. But there are loads and loads of highlights”

And !nally, do you hope this year’s Festival will send you out with a bang?

hopefully be regarded as a good year. I think the programme is strong, I

think it’s very varied, so hopefully people will react positively.”

The 55th BFI London Film Festival starts the 12th October and runs until the 27th October

“I never lose my faith in French Cinema” – Jonathan Romney, Film Critic

How important has the contribution of French Cinema been to the London Film Festival?

Are there any new French !lmmakers included in this year’s programme that have impressed you that we might not currently be aware of?

How vital are festivals such as the London Film Festival to critics?

The Art of Love

The Fairy

Guilty

The Monk

Nobody Else But You

Jonathan Romney’s Top 5 Films in the ‘French Revolutions’ Programme

Cinémoi’s Top 5 Films from the French Revolutions Programme

Americano

Screening Fri 14th & Sat 15th at the Ciné Lumiere

The Fairy

Screening Sat 15th & Sun 16th at the Ciné Lumiere

Guilty

Screening Fri 21st & Sat 22nd at VUE

Nobody Else But You

Screenings Mon 17th & Thu 20th at VUE

The Screen Illusion

Screenings Wed 19th, Thu 20th & Sat 22nd at NFT1 and Mayfair

Cinémoi’s Top 10 Films to see at the 55th London Film Festival Part 1

The Artist

C

Junkhearts

The Ides of March

Shame

Into The Abyss: A Tale of Death, A Tale of Life

Cinémoi’s Top 10 Films to see at the 55th London Film Festival Part 2

The Kid With A Bike

We Have A Pope

A Dangerous Method

Carnage

Faust

Spotlight: David Cronenberg To Receive a BFI Fellowship