Yahoo News Kristen Stewart and Will Smith set to star in celebration of return to London cinema
The London Film Festival is a “special moment” for the return of cinema in the capital, with organisers saying they are confident the stars and — most importantly — audiences will flock to screenings.
Among the talent on show is Will Smith, playing the father of tennis stars the Williams sisters, Anya Taylor-Joy in Last Night in Soho and Kristen Stewart as Princess Diana in the acclaimed Spencer.
LFF boss Tricia Tuttle said she expected cinema fans to follow the example of West End theatregoers and return with “extraordinary excitement” to the 12-day long celebration of cinema.
Among the 159 films are the Western The Harder They Fall starring Idris Elba and Joel Coen’s take on Macbeth with Denzel Washington playing Shakespeare’s tragic king.
Tuttle said: “The festival is a really special moment in lots of film lovers’ calendars, it is something that feels extraordinary that you want to go out for. I know theatres that have been going back have the same excitement and have seen great audiences, so I think people will come out.”
In previous years, some of cinema’s biggest stars have come to London for the festival and Tuttle said she expected this year to be no different.
She said: “I just went to the Cannes Film Festival and the Venice Film Festival is happening, people are travelling and people are out in force, talent are attending. We will obviously be watching government guidelines but where it is possible we will be expecting lots and lots of filmmakers to attend. So we will watch and wait but the enthusiasm and the will is definitely there.”
The festival is also benefiting from the backlog of films that were withheld from release during the height of the pandemic, with Edgar Wright’s Last Night in Soho among the titles that would have been released earlier.
This year’s festival will keep an online element with free virtual screenings for every short film and the chance to watch 27 of the feature films as well.
Meanwhile, many of the biggest titles will be shown at the Royal Festival Hall which allows for easier access and more space for audiences who could be nervous about returning to a cinema. Benedict Cumberbatch and Kirsten Dunst’s The Power of the Dog — director Jane Campion’s first major film for 12 years — will be among the films having their UK premiere at the festival.
The Western will be shown at the American Express Headline Gala at Southbank Centre’s Royal Festival Hall on October 11.
Campion said: “It will be an honour to be there along with so many of my British team members, large among them the brilliant Benedict Cumberbatch.”
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