David Farnor | On 05, Oct 2022

It’s that time of year again: the London Film Festival is upon us. After two years of a hybrid approach, 2021 will once again see the BFI’s festival head both into cinemas and online.

The 66th edition of the festival will run from 5th to 16th October, with films playing at the BFI Southbank and the Southbank Centre’s Royal Festival Hall in London, plus cinemas across London’s West End and a selection of films at 10 venues in cities and towns across the UK. The LFF Expanded programme will also feature immersive art and XR projects.

Films

The 2022 LFF will present 164 feature films from around the world, including 23 world premieres, 6 international premieres and 15 European premieres, opening with the world premiere of Roald Dahl’s Matilda the Musical and closing with the European premiere of Rian Johnson’s Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery.

Filmmakers returning to LFF include Darren Aronofsky, Noah Baumbach, the Dardennes, Mia Hansen-Løve, Joanna Hogg, Alejandro G Iñárritu, Sebastián Lelio, Tobias Lindholm, Guy Maddin, Park Chan-wook, Laura Poitras, Sarah Polley and Ruben Östlund.

As well as the Knives Out sequel, other Netflix original titles include Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio and Cartoon Saloon’s My Father’s Dragon, directed by Nora Twomey, while Amazon’s My Policeman, starring Emma Corrin, Harry Styles and Rupert Everett, will also debut.

Other highlights from the programme include She Said, starring Carey Mulligan and Zoe Kazan and based on the booked from New York Times journalists Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey, and Sam Mendes’ Empire of Light, plus Allelujah, directed by Richard Eyre adapted from Alan Bennett’s play with stars Judi Dench and Jennifer Saunders, and Frank Berry’s Aisha, starring Letitia Wright and Josh O’Connor.

LFF Expanded – the festival’s virtual, augmented and mixed reality strand – will take place at 26 Leake Street, the National Theatre and at BFI Southbank. It will include the world premiere of Guy Maddin’s Haunted Hotel: A Melodrama in Augmented Reality.

Virtual premieres

A curated programme of 20+ features and 15 free short films will be available digitally on BFI Player in a delayed online window that echoes Sundance’s hybrid approach. The features will be available from 14th to 23rd October. The shorts will be available from 5th to 23rd October. The viewing window is 6 hours, so once you click play you have 6 hours to finish watching the film.

LFF for Free will also return to BFI Southbank with a programme of in-person events and screenings as well as an online programme of free short films and events that will be available on BFI Player, BFI YouTube and social media.

TV series

The LFF Series strand will include the world premiere of BBC One’s The Western, starring Emily Blunt and Chaske Spencer, the third season of Lars von Trier’s The Kingdom trilogy, The Kingdom Exodus: Señorita 89, and ITV’s spy thriller A Spy Among Friends, plus Amazon’s new comedy-drama Mammals.

Tickets

Tickets go on general sale on 13th September, with extra tickets released at a later date and on the day of each screening. Priority booking opens for BFI Patrons on 5th September, BFI Champions on 6th September and BFI Members on 7th September.

For online BFI Player screenings, tickets cost £10 (£8 for BFI Members).

The streaming line-up

Here’s the breakdown of the full digital line-up:

1976

An unnervingly brilliant portrait of the ways in which the Pinochet dictatorship realised its brute force and pervasive influence, from debut director Manuela Martelli.

A Room of My Own

Ioseb ‘Soso’ Bliadze’s riveting drama follows the lives of two starkly different women who end up sharing a flat.

After Sherman

In this soulful debut documentary, Jon-Sesrie Goff examines the history and traditions of his South Carolina birthplace.

Brainwashed: Sex-Camera-Power

You may never look at film the same way again after watching this illuminating journey, which deconstructs the male gaze in cinema.

Butterfly Vision

Lilia, a 28-year-old aerial reconnaissance expert, returns home from the war in Donbas but her traumatic experiences re-emerge in an unexpected and dreamlike manner.

Chee$e

Damian Marcano’s vibrant, rollicking, rags-to-riches tale follows the antics of a young Trinidadian cheesemaker-turned-drug dealer.

The Cloud Messenger

A 16-year-old boy feels a powerful attraction towards his classmate, soon realising that much larger forces are at play, in this captivating reimagining of an ancient Indian myth.

Crows Are White

From Japan to Cavan, filmmaker Ahsen Nadeem is on the hunt for enlightenment. Crashing into monks and his own inner conflict, a story of love and contradictions unfolds.

God Said Give ‘Em Drum Machines

Revisit the African-American origins of techno music in Kristian R Hill’s fascinating, hugely enjoyable and often surprising journey through the musical genre.

Hidden Letters

Two Chinese women are linked by their knowledge of an ancient secret language in this insightful documentary exploring resilience and sisterhood.

Horseplay (Los agitadores)

A group of young men test each other’s boundaries in this provocative chamber piece from acclaimed queer filmmaker Marco Berger.

Kamikaze Hearts

Juliet Bashore’s queer docufiction, starring Tigr and real-life girlfriend Sharon Mitchell, was shot in and celebrates the heady days of the San Francisco underground in the 1980s.

Know Your Place

In this striking debut feature from Zia Mohajerjasbi, an Eritrean American teen embarks on an odyssey through a rapidly gentrifying Seattle.

The Middle Ages

In this droll, metaphysical meta-comedy, a well-to-do yet dysfunctional Argentinian family try to maintain their creativity and sanity while living under the constraints of lockdown.

More Than Ever

Vicky Krieps and the late Gaspard Ulliel star in this moving story of a terminally ill woman’s decision to take her life back into her own hands.

My Robot Brother

After feeling isolated at school, things seem to change for Alberte when she is given the latest android companion; but is it right to feel such a deep connection with a robot?

Peter von Kant

François Ozon offers a gender-reversed reworking of a Fassbinder classic, with Denis Ménochet excelling in a brittle contemplation of the agonies of love and art.

Rimini

Impeccably styled and unflinchingly grim, this darkly humorous tale of a pop star past his prime finds Ulrich Seidl at his audacious best.

Robe of Gems

A loosely linked set of characters intersect in a rural community beset by cartel crime in Natalia López Gallardo’s disarming debut feature.

Sick of Myself

She just did what! Attention-seeking Signe will do anything to keep the focus on herself, in this widely demented comedy.

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