“225 features. 77 countries.
14 cinemas. 12 days.
One Festival.”

The 62nd London Film Festival runs from the 10th to the 21st October 2018, with a bumper selection of films to choose from, here is our selection of 40 feature films and 32 short films for you – films from the UK, USA, Canada, Germany, Italy, Norway, Austria, Finland, Luxembourg, Sweden, France, Belgium, Switzerland, Netherlands, Libya, Lebanon, Qatar, Kenya, Brazil, Jamaica, Namibia, Congo, Dominican Republic, Martinique, Sudan, and South Africa.

See what the festival has to say about these films by clicking the links below or heading to the website.

FEATURE FILMS

Assassination Nation
The Salem witch trials are given a digital overhaul in this ferocious femme exploitationer.

Friday 19 October 2018 | 21:30 | Cineworld Leicester Square
Saturday 20 October 2018 | 14:30 | Embankment Garden Cinema
Sunday 21 October 2018 | 20:30 |Prince Charles Cinema, Downstairs Screen

Angelo
The powerful story of Angelo Soliman, a forced Europeanised African who makes his way through Viennese society in the early 18th century without ever belonging.

Wednesday 17 October 2018 | 18:00 | Cine Lumiere
Thursday 18 October 2018 | 15:00 | Vue Leicester Sq, Screen 7

Amin
Philippe Faucon’s understated drama is a subtle and tender evocation of a friendship that develops between a lonely Senegalese immigrant and a French divorcée.

Sunday 14 October 2018 | 18:20 | Cine Lumiere
Monday 15 October 2018 | 14:45 | Vue Leicester Sq, Screen 6

aKasha
With his striking, gently comedic debut, set amidst an endless war in his beloved country, hajooj kuka announces himself as one of Sudan’s most unique cinematic voices.

Thursday 11 October 2018 | 21:00 | Rich Mix Cinema, Screen 1
Friday 12 October 2018 | 13:15 | BFI Southbank, NFT2

Been So Long
Chewing Gum star Michaela Coel leads a talented cast in Tinge Krishnan’s contemporary London musical, which reimagines Camden as a romantic neon-soaked wonderland.

Friday 12 October 2018 | 21:00 | Embankment Garden Cinema
Saturday 13 October 2018 | 14:00 | Cineworld Leicester Square
Monday 15 October 2018 | 21:00 | Rich Mix Cinema, Screen 1

Capernaum (Capharnaüm)
Acclaimed Lebanese filmmaker Nadine Labaki delivers her most assured and affecting work yet with this astonishing and heart-wrenching depiction of life in the shadows.

Wednesday 17 October 2018 | 17:30 | Embankment Garden Cinema
Thursday 18 October 2018 | 11:30 | Embankment Garden Cinema
Friday 19 October 2018 | 18:10 | Picturehouse Central, Screen 1

Dilili in Paris (Dilili à Paris)
The great master of French animation, Michel Ocelot, returns to the Festival with his exquisite tale set in Paris during the Belle Epoque.

Saturday 20 October 2018 | 12:45 | Cine Lumiere
Sunday 21 October 2018 | 12:30 | BFI Southbank, NFT2

Eldorado
Markus Imhoof blends the intensely personal with the socio-political to powerful effect in this documentary, a penetrating examination of how migrants are treated upon arrival in Europe.

Tuesday 16 October 2018 | 17:15 | Curzon Mayfair, Screen 1
Thursday 18 October 2018 | 15:20 | BFI Southbank, NFT1

The Elephant Queen
Shot over eight years, this stunning documentary tells the story of Athena, the Elephant Queen, who leads her family across Africa when drought hits their region.

Sunday 14 October 2018 | 15:15 | Vue Leicester Sq, Screen 7

Etangs Noirs
Nothing is quite what it seems in this enigmatic mystery which promises to be one of the most original films of the year.

Tuesday 16 October 2018 | 21:00 | BFI Southbank, NFT3
Thursday 18 October 2018 | 15:15 | Vue Leicester Sq, Screen 6

Freedom Fields
Charting six years of Libya’s nascent women’s football scene – a journey never short of obstacles – Freedom Fields celebrates the determination of an incredible team.

Thursday 11 October 2018 | 18:15 | ICA Cinema, Screen 1
Friday 12 October 2018 | 15:30 | BFI Southbank, NFT2

The Hate U Give
This powerful adaptation of Angie Thomas’ YA novel stars Amandla Stenberg as a teenager who witnesses the fatal police shooting of her childhood friend.

Saturday 20 October 2018 | 20:45 | Cineworld Leicester Square
Sunday 21 October 2018 | 14:30 | Embankment Garden Cinema
Sunday 21 October 2018 | 17:30 | Odeon Tottenham Court Road, Screen 3

If Beale Street Could Talk
Barry Jenkins follows his Oscar-winning Moonlight with an audacious, distinctive and assured adaptation of James Baldwin’s account of love, injustice and racism in America.

Saturday 20 October 2018 | 17:30 | Embankment Garden Cinema
Sunday 21 October 2018 | 11:00 | Embankment Garden Cinema
Sunday 21 October 2018 | 18:00 | Picturehouse Central, Screen 1

In Fabric
Impeccable red talons slide a flick knife across a box to reveal its contents, a beautiful silky dress… that can kill!

Thursday 18 October 2018 | 20:30 | Vue Leicester Sq, Screen 7
Thursday 18 October 2018 | 21:00 | Vue Leicester Sq, Screen 5
Friday 19 October 2018 | 12:00 | Vue Leicester Sq, Screen 7
Friday 19 October 2018 | 15:30 | Curzon Soho Cinema, Screen 1

Jim Button and Luke the Engine Driver (Jim Knopf und Lukas der Lokomotivführer)
This quirky, upbeat fantasy adventure is based on the bestseller by the author of The Neverending Story.

Saturday 20 October 2018 | 12:45 | BFI Southbank, NFT2

Jinn
A black LA teenager is torn between traditional Islam and notoriety for becoming the popular #HalalHottie in this powerful take on identity and sexuality.

Thursday 11 October 2018 | 20:30 | Vue Leicester Sq, Screen 6
Friday 12 October 2018 | 12:45 | Odeon Tottenham Court Road, Screen 3
Saturday 13 October 2018 | 21:00 | Rich Mix Cinema, Screen 1

Joy
Sudabeh Mortezai (Macondo, LFF 2014) presents a vital and hugely affecting drama that tackles the vicious cycle of sex trafficking in modern Europe.

Tuesday 16 October 2018 | 20:50 | Vue Leicester Sq, Screen 7
Tuesday 16 October 2018 | 21:15 | Vue Leicester Sq, Screen 5
Wednesday 17 October 2018 | 12:30 | Vue Leicester Sq, Screen 7
Wednesday 17 October 2018 | 12:45 | Vue Leicester Sq, Screen 5

Ladyworld
Welcome to Ladyworld, a shadowy dwelling where tensions run high and nothing is ever quite what it seems.

Friday 19 October 2018 | 21:00 | ICA Cinema, Screen 1
Saturday 20 October 2018 | 18:00 | Rich Mix Cinema, Screen 1

Madeline’s Madeline
The third feature from acclaimed director Josephine Decker is a jazz-infused fever dream that tackles head-first the thorny themes of cultural production and appropriation.

Wednesday 17 October 2018 | 20:50 | ICA Cinema, Screen 1
Friday 19 October 2018 | 13:00 | BFI Southbank, NFT2
Sunday 21 October 2018 | 12:40 | BFI Southbank, NFT3

Make Me Up
Rachel Maclean follows her Venice Biennale piece Spite Your Face with a daring new film that incisively deconstructs art history’s myth of feminine beauty with a savage, satirical blade.

Friday 12 October 2018 | 18:30 | BFI Southbank, NFT1
Sunday 14 October 2018 | 12:45 | BFI Southbank, Studio

Maki’la
Machérie Ekwa Bahango’s directorial debut is a compassionate and acutely observed portrait of homelessness experienced by young people in Kinshasa.

Wednesday 17 October 2018 | 21:00 | BFI Southbank, NFT3
Thursday 18 October 2018 | 21:00 | Rich Mix Cinema, Screen 1

Mayfair
Sara Blecher (Ayanda, LFF 2015) returns with a markedly different film – a groundbreaking, multi-cultural African gangster thriller.

Friday 19 October 2018 | 18:15 | BFI Southbank, NFT2
Sunday 21 October 2018 | 15:30 | Rich Mix Cinema, Screen 1

Miriam Lies
(Miriam Miente)
A quinceañera celebration is nothing but nerve-racking for teenage Miriam, in this nuanced film that tackles race and class tensions in the Dominican Republic.

Friday 12 October 2018 | 18:40 | BFI Southbank, NFT2
Sunday 14 October 2018 | 20:45 | ICA Cinema, Screen 1

Mr. Soul!
This is a heartfelt and politically engaged profile of Ellis Haizlip, the openly gay host of the ground breaking PBS all-black variety show SOUL!

Saturday 20 October 2018 | 18:00 | Prince Charles Cinema, Downstairs Screen
Sunday 21 October 2018 | 21:00 | Vue Leicester Sq, Screen 5

Pixote (Pixote: A Lei do Mais Fraco)
Like a bullet to the heart, Hector Babenco’s visceral portrait of the brutalisation of children and teenagers has lost none of its power.

Saturday 20 October 2018 | 20:30 | BFI Southbank, NFT1

Rafiki
Romantic sparks fly between the daughters of two opposing politicians in Wanuri Kahiu’s neon-bright story of forbidden love in Kenya.

Saturday 13 October 2018 | 18:15 | BFI Southbank, NFT1
Sunday 14 October 2018 | 15:00 | BFI Southbank, NFT2

The Raft (Flotten)
Imagine Big Brother at sea, but with no evictions. Director Marcus Lindeen innovatively uncovers the human stories behind a 1970s social experiment, salaciously dubbed ‘The Sex Raft’.

Friday 12 October 2018 | 18:15 | Curzon Soho Cinema, Screen 1
Saturday 13 October 2018 | 12:30 | Cine Lumiere
Wednesday 17 October 2018 | 12:15 | Vue Leicester Sq, Screen 6

Rudeboy: The Story of Trojan Records
This stylish documentary about the iconic ska, reggae and rock-steady label is a timely and wide-ranging celebration of British Jamaican working-class youth culture.

Friday 12 October 2018 | 18:00 | Vue Leicester Sq, Screen 7
Saturday 13 October 2018 | 15:00 | BFI Southbank, NFT2
Monday 15 October 2018 | 13:10 | BFI Southbank, NFT2

Sew the Winter to My Skin
Confirming the promise he showed with his powerful Of Good Report (LFF 2013), Jahmil XT Qubeka delivers a superb thriller based on a true story.

Friday 19 October 2018 | 17:45 | Cine Lumiere
Saturday 20 October 2018 | 15:45 | Vue Leicester Sq, Screen 7

Sorry to Bother You
A mild-mannered call centre operator whizzes up the corporate ladder after he discovers a unique ability to adopt a “white voice” in writer-director Boots Riley’s breathlessly inventive satire.

Thursday 11 October 2018 | 18:10 | BFI Southbank, NFT1
Friday 12 October 2018 | 14:15 | Embankment Garden Cinema
Sunday 14 October 2018 | 17:30 | Vue Leicester Sq, Screen 6

Sugar Cane Alley (Rue cases-nègres)
Based on a semi-autobiographical novel by Joseph Zobel and directed by Euzhan Palcy, Sugar Cane Alley is a critically acclaimed and award-winning coming-of-age story.

Friday 19 October 2018 | 20:30 | BFI Southbank, NFT2

Support the Girls
Andrew Bujalski serves up a big-hearted comedy with his day-in-the-life look at Double Whammies – a Hooters-style bar and its tight-knit, all-female staff.

Wednesday 17 October 2018 | 18:15 | Picturehouse Central, Screen 1
Saturday 20 October 2018 | 20:50 | BFI Southbank, NFT2
Sunday 21 October 2018 | 13:00 | Rich Mix Cinema, Screen 1

Twin Flower (Fiore Gemello)
This beguiling drama, unfolding amidst the beauty of Sardinia’s sun-dappled landscape, charts the unlikely friendship between a traumatised woman and an illegal immigrant.

Thursday 11 October 2018 | 18:15 | Cine Lumiere
Friday 12 October 2018 | 15:45 | Prince Charles Cinema, Downstairs Screen

Twenty-Two Hours
Bouchra Khalili’s meditation on revolutionary histories considers the poet Jean Genet’s secret 1970 visit to the United States at the invitation of the Black Panther Party. Plus the following short films: + Another Decade  + Namibia Today  + Promised Lands

Tuesday 16 October 2018 | 21:00 | ICA Cinema, Screen 1

United Skates
A charming and dynamic tribute to the electrifying underground African-American roller-skating scene, whose future looks in doubt.

Monday 15 October 2018 | 18:15 | Prince Charles Cinema, Downstairs Screen
Wednesday 17 October 2018 | 21:00 | Rich Mix Cinema, Screen 1

Vs.
Southend’s battle-rap scene comes to the big screen, in this sharp-tongued drama starring Connor Swindells as a troubled teenager trying to make rhyme pay.

Saturday 13 October 2018 | 18:00 | Curzon Soho Cinema, Screen 1
Monday 15 October 2018 | 15:30 | Odeon Tottenham Court Road, Screen 3

What You Gonna Do When the World’s on Fire?
Thought-provoking and all-too-relevant, Roberto Minervini’s documentary paints a portrait of a Louisiana community in the aftermath of a police shooting.

Monday 15 October 2018 | 18:00 | Curzon Soho Cinema, Screen 1
Tuesday 16 October 2018 | 20:30 | Rich Mix Cinema, Screen 1

Widows
Academy Award® winner and BFI Fellow Steve McQueen (12 Years a Slave, Hunger, Shame) opens the Festival in pulsating style with this female-fuelled heist thriller that features a cast to die for.

Wednesday 10 October 2018 | 19:45 | Embankment Garden Cinema
Thursday 11 October 2018 | 14:00 | Embankment Garden Cinema
Friday 12 October 2018 | 20:40 | Odeon Tottenham Court Road, Screen 3

Young and Alive (L’ Époque)
A young and politicised generation share their beliefs and worries in this galvanizing fresco set on the streets of Paris at night.

Sunday 14 October 2018 | 18:20 | ICA Cinema, Screen 1
Tuesday 16 October 2018 | 15:30 | BFI Southbank, NFT2

Yours in Sisterhood
Women across the US give voice to letters sent by readers to a feminist magazine in the 1970s, in this galvanizing and elegantly assembled documentary.

Friday 19 October 2018 | 20:50 | BFI Southbank, NFT3
Sunday 21 October 2018 | 18:30 | Vue Leicester Sq, Screen 5

 

SHORT FILMS

As well as the short films being shown with the feature film Twenty-Two Hours, there are a selection of short films within the short film programmes – here are our picks:

A Female Body

Another Decade

Besida

Black Sheep

Colourbirds

Entitled

Fly

Four Quartets

Girl

Goddess

Hair Wolf

Haircut

Hello, Rain

Holy Beef

A is for Artist

Jerk

Juck [Thrust]

Mahogany Too

Mic Drop

Namibia Today

Nevada

Night Out

Picking Up The Pieces

Promised Lands

Rebirth Is Necessary

Richland Blue

Skip Day

The Startled Faction

Still Water Runs Deep

Third Sorrow

This Is Bata Bola

Tween

Lust to Love and In Between – 12, 14 Oct
The pursuit of love is a road well travelled. This series of short films shows the universality of desire and breadth of love. Including:

Nevada – The prospect of an unplanned pregnancy exposes minor tensions but, ultimately, strength and certainty in a loving relationship.
Dir Emily Ann Hoffman. USA 2017. 12min

A Female Body (Um corpo feminino) – This dynamic documentary is an open and honest journey that explores what it means to be a woman.
Dir Thais Fernandes. Brazil 2018. 20min

We Would be Lost Without You – 13 Oct
A sense-expanding programme of short artists’ films that investigate the limits of perception and new sensual relationships with technologies and things, and how these might be re-negotiated into new affective orders. Including:

Mic Drop – Investigating the performative gesture of the mic drop and expanding out to consider the interface and anxiety of the voice in relation to processing and technology.
Dir Keith Piper. UK 2017. 12min

Keep it in the Family – 14, 18 Oct
Family life is never easy. A multitude of evils and secrets can lurk behind closed doors. These shorts draw some of those secrets out into the open in order to explore what is acceptable behaviour within the domestic space. Including:

Still Water Runs Deep – A son goes missing. A father must preserve his pride.
Dir Abbesi Akhamie. Nigeria-USA 2017. 15min

Third Sorrow – Yejide is a single mother preparing for her daughter’s first cutting ceremony.
Dir Myriam Raja. UK 2018. 9min

Tween – Being the only girl of African-American descent at the slumber party can lead to both prejudices and jealousy.
Dir Raven Johnson. USA 2016. 8min

Stop Making Sense – 11, 12 Oct
Laughter at its most bizarre, taking both surreal and all-too-real forms. A programme of laugh-out-loud shorts for these nonsensical times. Including:

Hair Wolf – In this Brooklyn beauty shop, there are definitely some things more terrifying than a white girl who thinks it’s okay to have dreads.
Dir Mariama Diallo. USA 2018. 12min

This is the Sound, This is the Picture – 16, 17 Oct –
It takes the power of recorded images, sounds and dance to capture and transform the world around us. Jump in, sit back and explore. Including:

Four Quartets – Dance along with this teen as he learns to stop forcing the narrative and just lets himself go with the music in queer UK.
Dir Marco Alessi. UK 2018. 11min

Juck [Thrust] – Strutting and unapologetic, this female dance troupe will express themselves.
Dir Olivia Kastebring, Julia Gumpert, Ulrika Bandeira. Sweden 2018. 17min

Rebirth Is Necessary – A personal and powerful exploration of blackness, piecing together dreamlike portraits, including Afrofuturism pioneer Sun Ra and the revolutionary Black Panther Party.
Dir Jenn Nkiru. UK 2017. 10min

Entitled – Take a ride from Peckham to Nigeria and back again.
Dir Adeyemi Michael. UK 2018. 4min

This is Bate Bola – An explosive contest between neighbourhoods, this is the Rio Carnival that you have never seen before. This is Bate Bola.
Dir Ben Holman, Neirin Jones. Brazil-UK-USA 2018. 16min

London Calling – 18, 20 Oct
A selection of new shorts from some of the capital’s most exciting upcoming filmmakers, supported by Film London. Including:

Jerk – A Jamaican man of the community battles depression and disillusionment.
Dir Raine Allen-Miller. UK 2018. 10min

Holy Beef – Due to a bad case of the mumps, Slicker and his crew risk defeat in an escalating college beef. Only divine intervention will help them now.
Dir Dwayne Gumbs, Iain Simpson. UK 2018. 11min

Fly – When you are a female rapper from Bermondsey, you only have one chance to fly. Make it count.
Dir Nadira Amrani. UK 2018. 9min

HairCut – A middle-aged barber has to calm the situation when a desperate teenage drug dealer holds up the barbershop at gunpoint.
Dir Koby Adom. UK 2018. 15min

Night Out – Being a teenager is hard. Figuring out who you want to be is harder. Sometimes a night out can change everything.
Dir Amelia Hashemi. UK 2018. 10min

Today is a Thing of the Past – 13 Oct
The unknown behind the familiar and the history behind the present combine to invite us on expeditions into new cinematic territories. Including:

Richland Blue – A corrupt Police Dept produced several films. This is what they could have been like.
Dir Kevin Jerome Everson. USA 2018. 4min

Goddess – Inspired by a stag film by American photographer Garry Winogrand and corrupt police.
Dir Kevin Jerome Everson. USA 2018. 2min

Is It Me or Is It the World? – 14 Oct
Stories of creative resistance to dominant personal, cultural or political forces that seek to control the self; these films treasure artistic beauty, philosophical discourse, diverse sexuality and personal integrity. Including:

Mahogany Too – Nigerian actress Esosa E beautifully re-enacts Diana Ross’s role in Mahogany as nostalgic Afro-Futurism.
Dir Akosua Adoma Owusu. USA-Ghana 2018. 3min

A is for Artist – A young woman discovers her future by looking into her family’s past.
Dir Ayo Akingbade. UK 2018. 4min

Animated Shorts for Younger Audiences – 20 Oct
This eclectic, exciting and colourful selection of short animated films comes from all corners of the globe. Included are the first two theatrical short films from Dreamworks Animation Studios. English language and subtitles. Including:

Colourbirds (Coucouleurs) – What does a two-coloured bird do amongst birds of just one colour?
Dir Oana Lacroix. Switzerland 2018. 6min

A World of Conflict – 17, 19 Oct
Conflicts are all around us – in our families, communities and in the world. Local and international stories reveal the effect of how interconnected our lives have become. Including:

Black Sheep – An 11-year-old boy struggles to navigate his way through a new and hostile environment.
Dir Ed Perkins. UK 2018. 27min

Picking Up the Pieces – John and Quiandre try to come to terms with the reality of their new life following the devastation left by Hurricane Irma.
Dir Sebastian Feehan, Josh Bamford. UK 2018. 7min

What’s My Age Again? – 13, 17 Oct
Growing up is hard to do and there’s no denying we all undertake an important journey during our teenage years. In fact, those growing pangs are what connects us across continents and cultures.

Skip Day – School’s almost out. For seniors in Pahokee, the Monday after prom is Skip Day.
Dir Ivete Lucas, Patrick Bresnan. USA-UK 2018. 17min

Besida – In a small tribal village, certain men are on the look-out to drive young girls to the big city. Besida’s older brother steps in to make sure that it doesn’t happen to her.
Dir Chuko Esiri. 2017. 11min

Girl – A young migrant. Her period.
Dir Lowri Roberts. UK 2018. 6min

Performance Anxiety – 15 Oct
A series of distinctive short artists’ films exploring the ways sexuality, gender, masculinity and labour are expressed through performance and dance. They offer a diverse range of approaches, from the highly stylised dance/movement work of Catherine Sullivan to the painfully sadomasochistic interactions of Stephen Sutcliffe’s vignettes and the fragile masculinity of Benjamin Crotty’s eponymous chauvinist. Including:

The Startled Faction – An extraordinary stylised exploration of self-possession and ambiguous labour explored though dance idioms, movement, mise-en-scène and drama, in collaboration with Chicago Dancemakers Forum.
Dir Catherine Sullivan. USA 2018. 35min

Amazing and Astounding – 18, 21 Oct
Surreal landscapes, created by animators and filmmakers, can take the imagination to a thrilling place. Be prepared to be amazed by strange worlds and fantastical scenarios. Including:

Hello, Rain – A scientist-witch who, through an alchemical combination of juju and technology, creates wigs that grant both her and her friends supernatural powers.
Dir C J ‘Fiery’ Obasi. Nigeria 2018. 30min

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Find out more about all of the films on the BFI London Film Festival Website, and remember, there are often standby tickets available for the Sold Out films – if you really want to see it, take a chance and head to the cinema early.

JAMMIE & EC FORDE