BFI film festival to include two Hackney venues

Pic: Daniel Leininger

The British Film Institute’s 56th London Film Festival will come to Hackney for the first time next week.
The festival, which will run from October 10 – 21, has expanded to include the Hackney Picture House and the Rich Mix in Shoreditch.

The locations will be among four new venues – including Screen on the Green in Islington and Renoir in Bloomsbury – joining major Leicester Square cinemas and BFI Southbank.

Over 12 days the BFI will screen a total of 225 feature films, including 12 world premieres, 12 international premieres and 35 European premiers.

The European premiere of Tim Burton’s 3D animation Frankenweenie opens the festival, while Mike Newell’s Great Expectations, starring Helena Bonham Carter and Ralph Fiennes features as the closing film.

The Hackney Picturehouse will be the first venue to screen Clip, Maja Miloš’ explicit portrait of young life in Belgrade, Michel Gondry’s new film The We and the I, and Kiss of the Damned, a modern vampire movie directed by Xan Cassavettes, daughter of famed indie director John Cassavettes.

The former two will be showing for the first time in the UK. The cinema will also host a live Q&A by radical the radical philosopher Slavoj Zizek (although it’s now sold out).

Talks with directors, cast and crew will round out the festival as well as masterclasses and other exhibitions.

A spokesman for the Picturehouse said: “We’re just really honoured to be the cinema they’ve picked to host their films!”

BFI London Film Festival Awards will be presented to the winning films. Click here for more information about the festival.

BFI is a lead charity organization for film founded in 1933. Its London Film Festival supports new British and international films to an expanding London and UK-wide audience.

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