

Image courtesy of Day for Night
As though to provide a measure of solace in a year when the world news could hardly have been more depressing, 2024 has provided far more cinema of quality than has been seen for a very long time. I can come up with no less than twenty-five titles that count as exceptional works, at least half of which are close to perfection. Even so, that does not mean that 2024 has been a year without worries about where cinema is going. The great films are there but how readily can they be seen? This is a time when the range of what is on offer at mainstream cinemas fails to satisfy as many tastes as one would wish, when many films play mainly or exclusively on platforms too numerous for subscribers to embrace all of them and when the number of releases is so high that,...
As though to provide a measure of solace in a year when the world news could hardly have been more depressing, 2024 has provided far more cinema of quality than has been seen for a very long time. I can come up with no less than twenty-five titles that count as exceptional works, at least half of which are close to perfection. Even so, that does not mean that 2024 has been a year without worries about where cinema is going. The great films are there but how readily can they be seen? This is a time when the range of what is on offer at mainstream cinemas fails to satisfy as many tastes as one would wish, when many films play mainly or exclusively on platforms too numerous for subscribers to embrace all of them and when the number of releases is so high that,...
- 1/3/2025
- by Mansel Stimpson
- Film Review Daily

Naysayers be damned. The mainstream film industry may be on its last legs but the cinematic art form is alive and well. I enjoyed so many films this year I actually have two top-ten lists that are largely interchangeable. If you want to hear my other ten, feel free to check out the end of year review on my podcast The Cinematologists. Following on from last year’s approach, here are my ten for Dn. All ten were released in UK cinemas (or debuted on streaming) in 2024 and are listed here alphabetically.
Honourable mentions: The Delinquents, Sky Peals, The Holdovers, The Settlers, Sometimes I Think About Dying
10. Adam Sandler: Love You | Josh Safdie
The last two Sandler specials for Netflix have been wonderful. I admire his commitment to being silly, and sentimental. In a world as messy as this, there needs to be places for silliness, and there are...
Honourable mentions: The Delinquents, Sky Peals, The Holdovers, The Settlers, Sometimes I Think About Dying
10. Adam Sandler: Love You | Josh Safdie
The last two Sandler specials for Netflix have been wonderful. I admire his commitment to being silly, and sentimental. In a world as messy as this, there needs to be places for silliness, and there are...
- 12/27/2024
- by Neil Fox
- Directors Notes

In crafting a quietly affectionate film about a man who thinks he might be an alien, “Sky Peals” director Moin Hussain manages to make an allegory about solitude and isolation with a deft and steady hand. The film’s lead character, a 30-something British man of Pakistani origin, could be a stand-in for millions who feel removed from their roots while living within cultures and among people who think of them as outsiders. Hussain’s skillful filmmaking avoids making obvious points, instead deepening the narrative as a singular character study with sci-fi elements.
Adam (Faraz Ayub) still lives with his English mother (Claire Rushbrook) while working as a night shift short order cook at a gas station diner. His life is small: just home and work, with no apparent close relationships. He has closed himself off from the world, having never been able to make real connections with other people.
Adam (Faraz Ayub) still lives with his English mother (Claire Rushbrook) while working as a night shift short order cook at a gas station diner. His life is small: just home and work, with no apparent close relationships. He has closed himself off from the world, having never been able to make real connections with other people.
- 12/6/2024
- by Murtada Elfadl
- Variety Film + TV


Filming is now underway on writer/director Ted Evans’ debut thriller Retreat, the world’s first deaf thriller starring an all-deaf principal cast, Variety reports today.
The film stars Anne Zander, James Boyle, and Sophie Stone, with Ace Mahbaz and Anna Seymore rounding out the cast.
Retreat is set “in an isolated deaf community, where cracks begin to appear in Matt’s (Boyle) seemingly idyllic world when the arrival of enigmatic outsider Eva (Zander) forces him to question the realities of his identity. Is Matt prepared to discover what lies beneath the surface of his supposedly utopian community and the costs demanded to maintain it?”
XYZ Films will be introducing the film to buyers at the upcoming American Film Market.
“XYZ is beyond thrilled to be working with Ted Evans on his debut feature,” Todd Brown, head of international acquisitions at XYZ, told Variety. “We immediately fell in love with...
The film stars Anne Zander, James Boyle, and Sophie Stone, with Ace Mahbaz and Anna Seymore rounding out the cast.
Retreat is set “in an isolated deaf community, where cracks begin to appear in Matt’s (Boyle) seemingly idyllic world when the arrival of enigmatic outsider Eva (Zander) forces him to question the realities of his identity. Is Matt prepared to discover what lies beneath the surface of his supposedly utopian community and the costs demanded to maintain it?”
XYZ Films will be introducing the film to buyers at the upcoming American Film Market.
“XYZ is beyond thrilled to be working with Ted Evans on his debut feature,” Todd Brown, head of international acquisitions at XYZ, told Variety. “We immediately fell in love with...
- 10/29/2024
- by Meagan Navarro
- bloody-disgusting.com

Production is now underway on writer/director Ted Evans’ debut thriller “Retreat,” starring Anne Zander, James Boyle and Sophie Stone, with Ace Mahbaz and Anna Seymore rounding out the cast.
The film, featuring an all-deaf principal cast (Evans is also deaf), is set in an isolated deaf community, where cracks begin to appear in Matt’s (Boyle) seemingly idyllic world when the arrival of enigmatic outsider Eva (Zander) forces him to question the realities of his identity. Is Matt prepared to discover what lies beneath the surface of his supposedly utopian community and the costs demanded to maintain it?
XYZ Films is handling worldwide sales on “Retreat” as a part of their New Visions slate of films, an initiative designed to spotlight the boldest new voices alongside established talent striking a new path in the international space. It will be introducing the film to buyers at the upcoming American Film Market.
The film, featuring an all-deaf principal cast (Evans is also deaf), is set in an isolated deaf community, where cracks begin to appear in Matt’s (Boyle) seemingly idyllic world when the arrival of enigmatic outsider Eva (Zander) forces him to question the realities of his identity. Is Matt prepared to discover what lies beneath the surface of his supposedly utopian community and the costs demanded to maintain it?
XYZ Films is handling worldwide sales on “Retreat” as a part of their New Visions slate of films, an initiative designed to spotlight the boldest new voices alongside established talent striking a new path in the international space. It will be introducing the film to buyers at the upcoming American Film Market.
- 10/29/2024
- by Alex Ritman
- Variety Film + TV

No-one understands the laconic, downtrodden Umer (Faraz Ayub). The manager at the motorway-skimming burger joint where he works somehow misinterprets his chronic shyness as extroversion, promoting him to the unwanted position of store greeter. His colleagues mistake him, a years-long employee, for a new starter because he’s so unassuming. And his own (white) mother – like all the Caucasian people he interacts with – doesn’t even call him by his name, instead favouring the more Anglo-Saxon-friendly Adam. In line with its despondent-loner lead, the unsettling, atmospheric Sky Peals resists comprehension, skirting multiple Big Ideas without ever landing on an overarching thesis.
Writer-director Moin Hussain, here making his feature debut, seems most at ease establishing the film’s foreboding tone. The locations Umer frequents, primarily the service-station restaurant and his home stacked with packing boxes, are desolate, liminal spaces where shadows significantly outnumber people and the only sounds are the eerie electronic hums of appliances.
Writer-director Moin Hussain, here making his feature debut, seems most at ease establishing the film’s foreboding tone. The locations Umer frequents, primarily the service-station restaurant and his home stacked with packing boxes, are desolate, liminal spaces where shadows significantly outnumber people and the only sounds are the eerie electronic hums of appliances.
- 8/12/2024
- by Yasmin Omar
- Empire - Movies


Romance It Ends With Us opens in 630 cinemas through Sony at this weekend’s UK-Ireland box office, pitting lead actress Blake Lively against her husband Ryan Reynolds, whose Deadpool & Wolverine has held top spot for two weekends.
It Ends With Us is adapted by Christy Hall from Colleen Hoover’s 2016 novel, about a woman whose connection with a neurosurgeon begins to remind her of her parents’ troubled relationship.
Director Justin Baldoni stars alongside Lively having optioned the book through his Wayfarer Studios in 2019, with Jenny Slate, Hasan Minhaj and Kevin McKidd also on the cast.
Having broken out in...
It Ends With Us is adapted by Christy Hall from Colleen Hoover’s 2016 novel, about a woman whose connection with a neurosurgeon begins to remind her of her parents’ troubled relationship.
Director Justin Baldoni stars alongside Lively having optioned the book through his Wayfarer Studios in 2019, with Jenny Slate, Hasan Minhaj and Kevin McKidd also on the cast.
Having broken out in...
- 8/9/2024
- ScreenDaily


In Hussain’s debut feature, Ayub plays Adam, a mixed-race night worker in a service station fast-food outlet grappling with his identity. They talk about their shared heritage, sci-fi and getting into film
For many years, says Moin Hussain, he had a dream of making a film set in a motorway service station. It would be science fiction, “because I’ve always felt that they were like spaceships; these strange lit-up spaces that are all isolated and synthetic, surrounded by darkness. I was just fascinated by that image.” But it was only with the arrival of Adam – a lonely mixed-race night worker in a fast-food outlet – that he found a character and a story capable of bringing the image to life, in what would become his debut feature film, Sky Peals.
At first, Adam seems like a textbook example of how not to create a movie protagonist. The plot kicks...
For many years, says Moin Hussain, he had a dream of making a film set in a motorway service station. It would be science fiction, “because I’ve always felt that they were like spaceships; these strange lit-up spaces that are all isolated and synthetic, surrounded by darkness. I was just fascinated by that image.” But it was only with the arrival of Adam – a lonely mixed-race night worker in a fast-food outlet – that he found a character and a story capable of bringing the image to life, in what would become his debut feature film, Sky Peals.
At first, Adam seems like a textbook example of how not to create a movie protagonist. The plot kicks...
- 8/7/2024
- by Claire Armitstead
- The Guardian - Film News

Disney’s “Deadpool & Wolverine” continued its reign at the top of the U.K. and Ireland box office, slicing through the competition in its second week of release.
The superhero film raked in £8 million ($10.1 million) over the weekend, bringing its total haul to £33.4 million ($42.4 million), according to numbers from Comscore. That makes it the third highest grossing film of 2024 in the territory so far after “Inside Out 2” and “Dune: Part Two.”
In second place, Universal’s “Despicable Me 4” held its ground, adding £2.5 million to reach a four-week total of £30.8 million. Warner Bros.’ “Twisters” maintained its position in the top three, generating £1.1 million in its third week for a cumulative total of £10.1 million.
Disney scored another win with “Inside Out 2,” which showed remarkable staying power in its eighth week. The film secured the fourth spot with £939,144, bringing its total to £52.2 million.
The highest-ranking new entry, Sony’s “Harold and the Purple Crayon,...
The superhero film raked in £8 million ($10.1 million) over the weekend, bringing its total haul to £33.4 million ($42.4 million), according to numbers from Comscore. That makes it the third highest grossing film of 2024 in the territory so far after “Inside Out 2” and “Dune: Part Two.”
In second place, Universal’s “Despicable Me 4” held its ground, adding £2.5 million to reach a four-week total of £30.8 million. Warner Bros.’ “Twisters” maintained its position in the top three, generating £1.1 million in its third week for a cumulative total of £10.1 million.
Disney scored another win with “Inside Out 2,” which showed remarkable staying power in its eighth week. The film secured the fourth spot with £939,144, bringing its total to £52.2 million.
The highest-ranking new entry, Sony’s “Harold and the Purple Crayon,...
- 8/6/2024
- by Naman Ramachandran
- Variety Film + TV


BFI Distribution has acquired Payal Kapadia’s acclaimed Cannes Competition title All We Imagine As Light for UK and Ireland theatrical release.
The first Indian film to be selected in Official Competition at Cannes in three decades, All We Imagine As Light was strongly received at its premiere last night and currently sits in joint first place on Screen’s closely-watched Cannes jury grid.
The film centres on two nurses with troubled relationships in Mumbai who go on a road trip to a beach town — a welcome refuge that gives them the space to grow. It stars Kani Kusruti, Divya Prabha,...
The first Indian film to be selected in Official Competition at Cannes in three decades, All We Imagine As Light was strongly received at its premiere last night and currently sits in joint first place on Screen’s closely-watched Cannes jury grid.
The film centres on two nurses with troubled relationships in Mumbai who go on a road trip to a beach town — a welcome refuge that gives them the space to grow. It stars Kani Kusruti, Divya Prabha,...
- 5/24/2024
- ScreenDaily


Josh Whitehouse, Natalia Tena, Simona Brown and Sienna Guillory have all joined the cast of Sean McConville’s thriller The Last Moon, with LevelK boarding world sales.
Production is scheduled for October 2024 in the UK, produced by Stephanie Joalland, Mat Braddy and McConville for their Frenzy Films.
The Last Moon takes place across one evening at a remote family home, as Max tries to trick his estranged brother Fred into shooting him to stop him transforming into a werewolf.
It has been selected for high-profile development labs including the European Genre Forum, London Production Finance Market, Frontieres, Naff It at...
Production is scheduled for October 2024 in the UK, produced by Stephanie Joalland, Mat Braddy and McConville for their Frenzy Films.
The Last Moon takes place across one evening at a remote family home, as Max tries to trick his estranged brother Fred into shooting him to stop him transforming into a werewolf.
It has been selected for high-profile development labs including the European Genre Forum, London Production Finance Market, Frontieres, Naff It at...
- 5/14/2024
- ScreenDaily


BFI Distribution has acquired UK-Ireland distribution rights to Moin Hussain’s feature debut Sky Peals.
BFI Distribution acquired the film from Bankside Films, and will release it theatrically in the UK and Ireland on August 9.
The film follows a man working nightshifts at a motorway service station, who tries to piece together a picture of his recently deceased father, from whom he had been estranged.
Sky Peals debuted in Critics’ Week at Venice Film Festival last September, before a UK premiere at BFI London Film Festival. Faraz Ayub leads the cast, alongside Natalie Gavin and Claire Rushbrook.
It is produced...
BFI Distribution acquired the film from Bankside Films, and will release it theatrically in the UK and Ireland on August 9.
The film follows a man working nightshifts at a motorway service station, who tries to piece together a picture of his recently deceased father, from whom he had been estranged.
Sky Peals debuted in Critics’ Week at Venice Film Festival last September, before a UK premiere at BFI London Film Festival. Faraz Ayub leads the cast, alongside Natalie Gavin and Claire Rushbrook.
It is produced...
- 5/10/2024
- ScreenDaily

The 10th edition of the Next Step program of Cannes Critics’ Week is unfolding this week at the Moulin d’Andé artists residence in Normandy.
The complex, built around a 12th Century mill overlooking the River Seine, is renowned for its French New Wave connections, with François Truffaut reported to have written the screenplay for Jules And Jim during a stay there in the early 1960s.
“It’s one of the oldest writing and screenwriting residents in France,” says Cannes Critics’ Week program manager and Next Step workshop director Thomas Rosso. “We been coming here since the beginning.”
Aimed at helping filmmakers who have shown shorts at Cannes Critics’ Week get their first feature over the line, Next Step has supported 88 projects since its launch, 29 of which have come to fruition, with 13 more in production or due to premiere in 2024.
“Next Step is open to all filmmakers who have been...
The complex, built around a 12th Century mill overlooking the River Seine, is renowned for its French New Wave connections, with François Truffaut reported to have written the screenplay for Jules And Jim during a stay there in the early 1960s.
“It’s one of the oldest writing and screenwriting residents in France,” says Cannes Critics’ Week program manager and Next Step workshop director Thomas Rosso. “We been coming here since the beginning.”
Aimed at helping filmmakers who have shown shorts at Cannes Critics’ Week get their first feature over the line, Next Step has supported 88 projects since its launch, 29 of which have come to fruition, with 13 more in production or due to premiere in 2024.
“Next Step is open to all filmmakers who have been...
- 12/13/2023
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- Deadline Film + TV

The six-day Next Step initiaive is to help feted shorts directors to make a feature.
Ten short-film directors from Egypt, China and throughout Europe have been selected to participate in the 10th edition of the prestigious Next Step prrogramme of Cannes’ Critics’ Week, taking place in Normandy and Paris from December 9-15.
Next Step brings together filmmakers who have premiered their films at Critics’ Week to present their upcoming features in development during a workshop with industry mentors. The aim is to keep up the momentum with filmmakers afterr what can be their frenetic first experience of a major film festival.
Ten short-film directors from Egypt, China and throughout Europe have been selected to participate in the 10th edition of the prestigious Next Step prrogramme of Cannes’ Critics’ Week, taking place in Normandy and Paris from December 9-15.
Next Step brings together filmmakers who have premiered their films at Critics’ Week to present their upcoming features in development during a workshop with industry mentors. The aim is to keep up the momentum with filmmakers afterr what can be their frenetic first experience of a major film festival.
- 12/11/2023
- by Rebecca Leffler
- ScreenDaily

“The Kitchen” co-director and co-writer Daniel Kaluuya and “Polite Society” writer-director Nida Manzoor are among the emerging talents recognized at the British Independent Film Awards’ (BIFA) New Talent categories.
Both have been longlisted twice, in the debut director and debut screenwriter categories. In all, 20 fiction and 15 documentary features have been longlisted in the four debut filmmaking categories. Nineteen first-time fiction feature directors, 17 first-time feature documentary directors, 17 first-time writers and 24 breakthrough producers have been recognized by BIFA voters this year.
BIFA Springboard, an annual program supporting second-time feature filmmakers will launch in early 2024. BIFA will reveal the Netflix-sponsored 2023 breakthrough performance longlist, which highlights British acting talent in their first significant role in a British feature film, on Oct. 24. The final five nominations in each category will be unveiled on Nov. 2. Winners will be revealed at the 26th BIFA ceremony on Dec. 3.
The Douglas Hickox Award (Best Debut Director) Sponsored By...
Both have been longlisted twice, in the debut director and debut screenwriter categories. In all, 20 fiction and 15 documentary features have been longlisted in the four debut filmmaking categories. Nineteen first-time fiction feature directors, 17 first-time feature documentary directors, 17 first-time writers and 24 breakthrough producers have been recognized by BIFA voters this year.
BIFA Springboard, an annual program supporting second-time feature filmmakers will launch in early 2024. BIFA will reveal the Netflix-sponsored 2023 breakthrough performance longlist, which highlights British acting talent in their first significant role in a British feature film, on Oct. 24. The final five nominations in each category will be unveiled on Nov. 2. Winners will be revealed at the 26th BIFA ceremony on Dec. 3.
The Douglas Hickox Award (Best Debut Director) Sponsored By...
- 10/18/2023
- by Naman Ramachandran
- Variety Film + TV

Making Magic
To mark the 25th anniversary of the “Harry Potter” books being published in the U.S., the Empire State Building is set to be lit up in Hogwarts house colors at sunset on Wednesday, Sept. 27.
Viewers outside of New York can watch the building’s Tower Lights shine red for Gryffindor, yellow for Hufflepuff, blue for Ravenclaw and green for Slytherin on the Empire State’s live cam. For those in New York, there will be a magical pop-up cart on the 86th Floor Observation Deck where fans will be able to pick up free copies of the book and bottles of Butterbeer. Costumes and wizard robes are encouraged.
Crypto Scam
BBC One have set a documentary on alleged crypto-scammer Sam Bankman-Fried. Produced by Bitachon365 (“Secrets of Prince Andrew”), the 60-minute doc will air under the BBC’s “Panorama” strand on Sept. 25. A 90-minute cut will be available...
To mark the 25th anniversary of the “Harry Potter” books being published in the U.S., the Empire State Building is set to be lit up in Hogwarts house colors at sunset on Wednesday, Sept. 27.
Viewers outside of New York can watch the building’s Tower Lights shine red for Gryffindor, yellow for Hufflepuff, blue for Ravenclaw and green for Slytherin on the Empire State’s live cam. For those in New York, there will be a magical pop-up cart on the 86th Floor Observation Deck where fans will be able to pick up free copies of the book and bottles of Butterbeer. Costumes and wizard robes are encouraged.
Crypto Scam
BBC One have set a documentary on alleged crypto-scammer Sam Bankman-Fried. Produced by Bitachon365 (“Secrets of Prince Andrew”), the 60-minute doc will air under the BBC’s “Panorama” strand on Sept. 25. A 90-minute cut will be available...
- 9/22/2023
- by K.J. Yossman
- Variety Film + TV


The term “alien” takes on multiple meanings in writer-director Moin Hussain’s intriguing and rather gloomy debut feature, Sky Peals, which follows a lonely rest-stop cook whose life is upended by the death of his estranged father. Although extraterrestrials are evoked at some point, this intimate indie is less of a sci-fi thriller than a minimalist character study, focusing on a multiracial protagonist who doesn’t seem to be at home anywhere.
Screening in Venice’s International Critics’ Week sidebar, the film marks a promising first feature for Hussain, who shows a steady command of tone in a story that’s basically set in one colorless, extremely alienating place. But it can also be too much of a one-note affair at times, lacking the dramatic energy to take it to wider audiences.
What’s important to note about Sky Peals’ young hero, Adam (Faraz Ayub), is that his mother (Claire Rushbrook...
Screening in Venice’s International Critics’ Week sidebar, the film marks a promising first feature for Hussain, who shows a steady command of tone in a story that’s basically set in one colorless, extremely alienating place. But it can also be too much of a one-note affair at times, lacking the dramatic energy to take it to wider audiences.
What’s important to note about Sky Peals’ young hero, Adam (Faraz Ayub), is that his mother (Claire Rushbrook...
- 9/6/2023
- by Jordan Mintzer
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News

“The positive response of audiences represents an act of respect for artists on strike.”
Over halfway through its 2023 edition, Venice Film Festival has posted increased admissions, across its public tickets, subscription passes and number of theatre admissions.
Statistics released by the festival from the first five days (Wednesday August 30 to Sunday September 3 inclusive) show 35,496 public tickets sold – up 9% on 2022. This includes 6,375 subscription passes – a 17% increase on last year.
Total theatre admissions – a combination of single ticket entrances, subscription passes and press and industry entrances – is at 114,851, up a strong 18% on 2022.
The festival has granted 11,328 accreditations for this year – a slight 0.5% increase on last year.
Over halfway through its 2023 edition, Venice Film Festival has posted increased admissions, across its public tickets, subscription passes and number of theatre admissions.
Statistics released by the festival from the first five days (Wednesday August 30 to Sunday September 3 inclusive) show 35,496 public tickets sold – up 9% on 2022. This includes 6,375 subscription passes – a 17% increase on last year.
Total theatre admissions – a combination of single ticket entrances, subscription passes and press and industry entrances – is at 114,851, up a strong 18% on 2022.
The festival has granted 11,328 accreditations for this year – a slight 0.5% increase on last year.
- 9/5/2023
- by Ben Dalton
- ScreenDaily

“The positive response of audiences represents an act of respect for artists on strike.”
Over halfway through its 2023 edition, Venice Film Festival has recorded increased admissions, across its public tickets, subscription passes and number of theatre admissions.
Statistics released by the festival from the first five days (Wednesday August 30 to Sunday September 3 inclusive) show 35,496 public tickets sold – up 9% on 2022. This includes 6,375 subscription passes – a 17% increase on last year.
Total theatre admissions – a combination of single ticket entrances, subscription passes and press and industry entrances – is at 114,851, up a strong 18% on 2022.
The festival has granted 11,328 accreditations for this year – a slight 0.5% increase on last year.
Over halfway through its 2023 edition, Venice Film Festival has recorded increased admissions, across its public tickets, subscription passes and number of theatre admissions.
Statistics released by the festival from the first five days (Wednesday August 30 to Sunday September 3 inclusive) show 35,496 public tickets sold – up 9% on 2022. This includes 6,375 subscription passes – a 17% increase on last year.
Total theatre admissions – a combination of single ticket entrances, subscription passes and press and industry entrances – is at 114,851, up a strong 18% on 2022.
The festival has granted 11,328 accreditations for this year – a slight 0.5% increase on last year.
- 9/5/2023
- by Ben Dalton
- ScreenDaily

The 67th BFI London Film Festival has unveiled the titles that will compete in its official, first feature, documentary and short film competitions.
Festival director Kristy Matheson said: “The films represented in each of these competitive strands offer audiences an exciting array of U.K. and global filmmaking voices and cinematic forms. We’re so proud to be showcasing each of these films and thank all the filmmaking teams in competition for sharing their films with us.”
Official Competition
“Baltimore”
“Dear Jassi”
“Europa”
“Evil Does Not Exist”
“Fingernails”
“Gasoline Rainbow”
“I Am Sirat”
“The Royal Hotel”
“Self Portrait: 47 Km 2020”
“Starve Acre”
“Together 99”
First Feature Competition
“Black Dog”
“Earth Mama” (U.S. Dir-scr. Savanah Leaf)
“Hoard”
“In Camera”
“Mambar Pierrette”
“Paradise is Burning”
“Penal Cordillera”
“The Queen of My Dreams”
“Sky Peals”
“Tiger Stripes”
“Tuesday”
Documentary Competition
“Bye Bye Tiberias”
“Celluloid Underground”
“Chasing Chasing Amy”
“A Common Sequence”
“Dancing On...
Festival director Kristy Matheson said: “The films represented in each of these competitive strands offer audiences an exciting array of U.K. and global filmmaking voices and cinematic forms. We’re so proud to be showcasing each of these films and thank all the filmmaking teams in competition for sharing their films with us.”
Official Competition
“Baltimore”
“Dear Jassi”
“Europa”
“Evil Does Not Exist”
“Fingernails”
“Gasoline Rainbow”
“I Am Sirat”
“The Royal Hotel”
“Self Portrait: 47 Km 2020”
“Starve Acre”
“Together 99”
First Feature Competition
“Black Dog”
“Earth Mama” (U.S. Dir-scr. Savanah Leaf)
“Hoard”
“In Camera”
“Mambar Pierrette”
“Paradise is Burning”
“Penal Cordillera”
“The Queen of My Dreams”
“Sky Peals”
“Tiger Stripes”
“Tuesday”
Documentary Competition
“Bye Bye Tiberias”
“Celluloid Underground”
“Chasing Chasing Amy”
“A Common Sequence”
“Dancing On...
- 8/29/2023
- by Naman Ramachandran
- Variety Film + TV

Titles include Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s Evil Does Not Exist; Kitty Green’s The Royal Hotel; and Christos Nikou’s Fingernails.
BFI London Film Festival has unveiled the competition line-ups for best film, best first feature and best documentary.
The 11 films competing for best film include Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s Evil Does Not Exist; Kitty Green’s The Royal Hotel; Daniel Kokotajlo’s Starve Acre and Christos Nikou’s Fingernails.
Christine Molloy returns to the competition after 2019’s Rose Plays Julie. This time she has co-directed Baltimore with frequent collaborator and partner Joe Lawlor. The pair recently directed The Future Tense which...
BFI London Film Festival has unveiled the competition line-ups for best film, best first feature and best documentary.
The 11 films competing for best film include Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s Evil Does Not Exist; Kitty Green’s The Royal Hotel; Daniel Kokotajlo’s Starve Acre and Christos Nikou’s Fingernails.
Christine Molloy returns to the competition after 2019’s Rose Plays Julie. This time she has co-directed Baltimore with frequent collaborator and partner Joe Lawlor. The pair recently directed The Future Tense which...
- 8/29/2023
- by Ellie Calnan
- ScreenDaily

New works by Ryusuke Hamaguchi, Kitty Green, and Christos Nikou are among the titles that have been set to play in competition at the upcoming 67th edition of the British Film Institute’s (BFI) London Film Festival. Scroll down for the full list.
Eleven films will screen in the official competition, competing for the best film award. Another eleven titles will screen in the first feature competition, competing for the sutherland award. Eight titles will play in the documentary competition, with the winner taking the grierson award.
The winners of these four competitive awards will be chosen by Lff Awards Juries, the members of which the BFI said will be announced in the coming weeks. This year, Lff runs October 4—14 and marks festival head Kristy Matheson’s first edition in charge after she took the helm last year following the exit of Tricia Tuttle. Saltburn, the latest film from Promising Young Woman filmmaker Emerald Fennell,...
Eleven films will screen in the official competition, competing for the best film award. Another eleven titles will screen in the first feature competition, competing for the sutherland award. Eight titles will play in the documentary competition, with the winner taking the grierson award.
The winners of these four competitive awards will be chosen by Lff Awards Juries, the members of which the BFI said will be announced in the coming weeks. This year, Lff runs October 4—14 and marks festival head Kristy Matheson’s first edition in charge after she took the helm last year following the exit of Tricia Tuttle. Saltburn, the latest film from Promising Young Woman filmmaker Emerald Fennell,...
- 8/29/2023
- by Zac Ntim
- Deadline Film + TV

Venice Critics’ Week has announced the line-up for its 38th edition, running August 30 to September 9 alongside the Venice Film Festival.
The seven competition titles include UK director Moin Hussain’s debut feature Sky Peals about a lonely man working the night shifts at a motorway service station with little human contact or connection. Upon hearing that his estranged father has died, Adam finds himself piecing together a complicated image of a man that he never really knew and uncovers details of his life that he struggles to comprehend.
Taiwanese actor Lee Hong-Chi’s will also unveil his directorial debut Love Is A Gun about a petty criminal whose attempts to build a quiet life following his release from prison are upended by the reappearance of his former boss, his debt-ridden mother and an old friend.
The competition titles will compete for the €5,000 Grand Prize and the €3,000 Audience Award. The selection...
The seven competition titles include UK director Moin Hussain’s debut feature Sky Peals about a lonely man working the night shifts at a motorway service station with little human contact or connection. Upon hearing that his estranged father has died, Adam finds himself piecing together a complicated image of a man that he never really knew and uncovers details of his life that he struggles to comprehend.
Taiwanese actor Lee Hong-Chi’s will also unveil his directorial debut Love Is A Gun about a petty criminal whose attempts to build a quiet life following his release from prison are upended by the reappearance of his former boss, his debt-ridden mother and an old friend.
The competition titles will compete for the €5,000 Grand Prize and the €3,000 Audience Award. The selection...
- 7/24/2023
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- Deadline Film + TV

Sofia Coppola, Emerald Fennell, Yorgos Lanthimos, Pablo Larrain, Michel Franco and Bradley Cooper could all be on the Lido.
Alberto Barbera is closing in on his Venice Film Festival selection, with buzz around Yorgos Lanthimos’ sci-fi Poor Things, starring Emma Stone, Matteo Garrone’s migrant drama Io Capitano and Pablo Larrain’s dark comedy El Conde about Augusto Pinochet for the Competition.
Also potentially Lido-bound are Michael Mann’s Ferrari with Adam Driver and Penélope Cruz, David Michod’s comedy Wizards! with Pete Davidson, Naomi Scott and Orlando Bloom, and Luca Guadagnino’s Challengers starring Zendaya and Josh O’Connor.
Michel Franco,...
Alberto Barbera is closing in on his Venice Film Festival selection, with buzz around Yorgos Lanthimos’ sci-fi Poor Things, starring Emma Stone, Matteo Garrone’s migrant drama Io Capitano and Pablo Larrain’s dark comedy El Conde about Augusto Pinochet for the Competition.
Also potentially Lido-bound are Michael Mann’s Ferrari with Adam Driver and Penélope Cruz, David Michod’s comedy Wizards! with Pete Davidson, Naomi Scott and Orlando Bloom, and Luca Guadagnino’s Challengers starring Zendaya and Josh O’Connor.
Michel Franco,...
- 5/23/2023
- by Jeremy Kay
- ScreenDaily

In the run-up to Cannes, the British Film Institute and the British Council held the Great8 showcase, which presented eight U.K. films from emerging filmmakers. Here are the films selected:
“Aftersun” (drama)
Director/writer: Charlotte Wells
Cast: Paul Mescal, Frankie Corio, Celia Rowlson-Hall
Sales: Charades
Sophie reflects on the shared joy and private melancholy of a holiday she took with her father 20 years earlier. Memories real and imagined fill the gaps between miniDV footage as she tries to reconcile the father she knew with the man she didn’t.
“Birchanger Green” (sci-fi)
Director/writer: Moin Hussain
Cast: Faraz Ayub, Natalie Gavin, Claire Rushbrook, Simon Nagra
Sales: Bankside Films
Adam lives a solitary life. Upon hearing that his estranged father has died, he finds himself in search of answers. Piecing together a complicated image of a man he never knew, Adam starts to become convinced he is descended from an alien race.
“Aftersun” (drama)
Director/writer: Charlotte Wells
Cast: Paul Mescal, Frankie Corio, Celia Rowlson-Hall
Sales: Charades
Sophie reflects on the shared joy and private melancholy of a holiday she took with her father 20 years earlier. Memories real and imagined fill the gaps between miniDV footage as she tries to reconcile the father she knew with the man she didn’t.
“Birchanger Green” (sci-fi)
Director/writer: Moin Hussain
Cast: Faraz Ayub, Natalie Gavin, Claire Rushbrook, Simon Nagra
Sales: Bankside Films
Adam lives a solitary life. Upon hearing that his estranged father has died, he finds himself in search of answers. Piecing together a complicated image of a man he never knew, Adam starts to become convinced he is descended from an alien race.
- 5/21/2022
- by K.J. Yossman
- Variety Film + TV

The U.K. production boom, while good news for crews (and audiences), has not necessarily proved a boon for independent filmmakers.
Largely generated by the streamer wars, film and high-end television production spend in the U.K. hit 7.6 billion in 2021. A closer look at the figures, however, revealed that the majority of that spend was on high-end TV production, which had nearly doubled compared to 2019, while expenditure on film grew only by 3.
Worse, the boom has created a scarcity of resources, from crew and soundstages to generators and actors (one agent even told Variety productions were struggling to find Winnebagos to accommodate their clients on set). The scarcity has in turn pushed up prices. It’s another blow to already small margins on independent films, on top of Covid safety measures, low cinema attendance and general inflation, which has turned even the price of fuel into an additional financial burden.
Largely generated by the streamer wars, film and high-end television production spend in the U.K. hit 7.6 billion in 2021. A closer look at the figures, however, revealed that the majority of that spend was on high-end TV production, which had nearly doubled compared to 2019, while expenditure on film grew only by 3.
Worse, the boom has created a scarcity of resources, from crew and soundstages to generators and actors (one agent even told Variety productions were struggling to find Winnebagos to accommodate their clients on set). The scarcity has in turn pushed up prices. It’s another blow to already small margins on independent films, on top of Covid safety measures, low cinema attendance and general inflation, which has turned even the price of fuel into an additional financial burden.
- 5/21/2022
- by K.J. Yossman
- Variety Film + TV

Film4, BFI, Screen Yorkshire backed the film.
UK-based sales firm Bankside Films has boarded sales on Birchanger Green, the feature debut of Screen Star of Tomorrow writer-director Moin Hussain that wrapped production in Yorkshire last month.
Bankside will debut the film to buyers in Cannes; Screen can reveal a first-look image at the film (above).
Birchanger Green centres on a man living a small, lonely life working nightshifts at a motorway service station. On hearing his estranged father has died, he finds himself in search of answers and starts to become convinced that he descends from an alien race.
The...
UK-based sales firm Bankside Films has boarded sales on Birchanger Green, the feature debut of Screen Star of Tomorrow writer-director Moin Hussain that wrapped production in Yorkshire last month.
Bankside will debut the film to buyers in Cannes; Screen can reveal a first-look image at the film (above).
Birchanger Green centres on a man living a small, lonely life working nightshifts at a motorway service station. On hearing his estranged father has died, he finds himself in search of answers and starts to become convinced that he descends from an alien race.
The...
- 5/4/2022
- by Ben Dalton
- ScreenDaily
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