2023 film festival
The 67th BFI London Film Festival was a film festival that took place from 4–15 October 2023.[2] The competition films were announced on 29 August 2023 while the films for the galas and the strands were revealed on 31 August 2023.[3][4] The juries for the various sections of the festival were announced on 19 September 2023.[5]
The festival opened with Saltburn, directed by Emerald Fennell,[6] and closed with The Kitchen, directed by Kibwe Tavares and Daniel Kaluuya.[7]
Main Competition[edit]
Documentary Competition[edit]
- Rubika Shah, British writer and director
- Jeanie Finlay, British documentary filmmaker
- Paul Tonta, general manager theatrical acquisitions and film festivals at Madman Entertainment
Short Film Competition[edit]
- Charlotte Regan, British writer and director
- Francesca Tomlinson, BFI Film Academy Young Programmer
- Rina Yang, cinematographer
The partner venues for the festival included:[8]
London cinemas[edit]
Expanded venues[edit]
UK-wide cinemas[edit]
Official Selection[edit]
The following films were selected for the Galas section, which screens world, European, and British premieres of the most anticipated films.
Special Presentations[edit]
The following films were selected for the Special Presentations section.
English Title | Original Title | Director(s) | Production Country |
The Boy and the Heron | 君たちはどう生きるか | Hayao Miyazaki | Japan |
Cobweb | 거미집 | Kim Jee-woon | South Korea |
The End We Start From | Mahalia Belo | United Kingdom |
Fallen Leaves | Kuolleet lehdet | Aki Kaurismäki | Finland |
Foe | Garth Davis | Australia, United States |
Grime Kids | Abdou Cisse | United Kingdom |
Hit Man | Richard Linklater | United States |
Housekeeping for Beginners | Goran Stolevski | North Macedonia, Poland, Croatia, Serbia, Kosovo, Australia, United States |
Les Indésirables | Bâtiment 5 | Ladj Ly | France, Belgium |
Memory | Michel Franco | Mexico, United States, Chile |
Occupied City | Steve McQueen | United Kingdom, Netherlands |
Priscilla | Sofia Coppola | United States, Italy |
The Zone of Interest | Jonathan Glazer | United Kingdom, United States, Poland |
In Competition[edit]
There were five competition sections, each with a different selection of films and different juries.
Official Competition[edit]
The following films competed for the Best Film Award.[9]
First Feature Competition[edit]
The following films competed for the Sutherland Award, which is awarded to a directorial debut.[10]
English Title | Original Title | Director(s) | Production Country |
Black Dog | George Jaques | United Kingdom |
Earth Mama | Savanah Leaf | United States, United Kingdom |
Hoard | Luna Carmoon | United Kingdom |
In Camera | Naqqash Khalid | United Kingdom |
Mambar Pierrette | Rosine Mbakam | Belgium, Cameroon |
Paradise Is Burning | Mika Gustafson | Sweden, Italy, Denmark, Finland |
Penal Cordillera | Felipe Carmona | Chile, Brazil |
The Queen of My Dreams | Fawzia Mirza | Canada |
Sky Peals | Moin Hussain | United Kingdom |
Tiger Stripes | Amanda Nell Eu | Malaysia, Taiwan, Singapore, France, Germany, Netherlands, Indonesia, Qatar |
Tuesday | Daina O. Pusić | United Kingdom, United States |
Documentary Competition[edit]
The following films competed for the Grierson Award, which is awarded to a feature-length documentary.[11]
English Title | Original Title | Director(s) | Production Country |
Bye Bye Tiberias | Lina Soualem | France, Palestine, Belgium, Qatar |
Celluloid Underground | Ehsan Khoshbakht | United Kingdom, Iran |
Chasing Chasing Amy | Sav Rodgers | United States |
A Common Sequence | Mary Helena Clark, Mike Gibisser | United States, Mexico |
Dancing on the Edge of a Volcano | على حافة البركان | Cyril Aris | Germany, Lebanon |
The Klezmer Project | Adentro mía estoy bailando | Leandro Koch, Paloma Schahmann | Austria, Argentina |
Queendom | Agniia Galdanova | France, United States |
The Taste of Mango | Chloe Abrahams | United Kingdom, United States |
Short Film Competition[edit]
The following films competed for the Short Film Award.[12]
English Title | Original Title | Director(s) | Production Country |
The Archive: Queer Nigerians | Simisolaoluwa Akande | United Kingdom |
Area Boy | Iggy London |
Boat People | Thao Lam, Kjell Boersma | Canada |
Essex Girls | Yero Timi-Biu | United Kingdom |
The Goose's Excuse | Mahdy Abo Bahat, Abdo Zin Eldin | Egypt, United Kingdom |
Khabur | Nafis Fathollahzadeh | Germany, Iran |
Onset | Anna Engelhardt, Mark Cinkevich | United Kingdom, Poland |
The Singer | Cora Bissett | United Kingdom |
The Walk | Michael Jobling |
Wells of Despair | Sata Taas | Netherlands |
Strands[edit]
Most of the out-of-competition films have been organised into strands, each based on a different mood or emotion.
English Title | Original Title | Director(s) | Production Country |
20,000 Species of Bees | 20.000 especies de abejas | Estibaliz Urresola Solaguren | Spain |
Àma Gloria [fr; it; he; eu] | Marie Amachoukeli | France |
Banel & Adama | Banel et Adama | Ramata-Toulaye Sy | France, Senegal, Mali |
Blackbird Blackbird Blackberry | Elene Naveriani | Switzerland, Germany, Georgia |
The Eternal Memory | La memoria infinita | Maite Alberdi | Chile |
Fancy Dance | Erica Tremblay | United States |
Girl | Adura Onashile | United Kingdom |
Goodbye Julia | وداعا جوليا | Mohamed Kordofani | Sudan, Egypt, Germany, France, Saudi Arabia, Sweden |
Monster | 怪物 | Hirokazu Kore-eda | Japan |
Our Body | Notre Corps | Claire Simon | France |
Perfect Days | Wim Wenders | Japan |
Robot Dreams | Pablo Berger | Spain, France |
Silver Haze | Sacha Polak | Netherlands, United Kingdom |
Slow | Marija Kavtaradze | Lithuania, Spain, Sweden |
Tótem | Lila Avilés | Mexico, Denmark, France |
Unicorns | Sally El Hosaini, James Krishna Floyd | United Kingdom |
English Title | Original Title | Director(s) | Production Country |
Allensworth | James Benning | United Kingdom |
Fire Through Dry Grass | Alexis Neophytides, Andres "Jay" Molina | United States |
Four Daughters | بنات ألفة | Kaouther Ben Hania | France, Tunisia, Germany, Saudi Arabia |
The Goldman Case | Le Procès Goldman | Cédric Kahn | France |
High & Low — John Galliano | Kevin Macdonald | France, United States, United Kingdom |
Kidnapped | Rapito | Marco Bellocchio | Italy, France, Germany |
The Mission | Jesse Moss, Amanda McBaine | United States |
On the Adamant | Sur l'Adamant | Nicolas Philibert | France, Japan |
The Pigeon Tunnel | Errol Morris | United Kingdom |
The Rye Horn | O corno | Jaione Camborda | Spain, Portugal, Belgium |
Shoshana | Michael Winterbottom | United Kingdom, Italy |
Wilding | David Allen | United Kingdom |
Youth (Spring) | 青春 | Wang Bing | China, France, Luxembourg, Netherlands |
English Title | Original Title | Director(s) | Production Country |
Animalia | Parmi nous | Sofia Alaoui | France, Morocco, Qatar |
Behind the Mountains | Oura el Jbel | Mohamed Ben Attia | Tunisia, France, Belgium, Italy, Saudi Arabia, Qatar |
Do Not Expect Too Much from the End of the World | Nu astepta prea mult de la sfârsitul lumii | Radu Jude | Romania, Luxembourg, France, Croatia |
Eileen | William Oldroyd | United States |
Foremost by Night | Sobre todo de noche | Víctor Iriarte [es] | Spain, Portugal, France |
Inside the Yellow Cocoon Shell | Bên trong vỏ kén vàng | Thien An Pham | Vietnam, Singapore, France, Spain |
Last Summer | L'Été dernier | Catherine Breillat | France |
Little Girl Blue | Mona Achache | France, Belgium |
Music | Angela Schanelec | Germany, France, Serbia |
Omen | Baloji | Belgium, Netherlands, Democratic Republic of Congo, France, South Africa |
The Peasants | Chłopi | DK Welchman, Hugh Welchman | Poland, Serbia, Lithuania |
Power Alley | Levante | Lillah Halla | Brazil, France, Uruguay |
A Prince | Un prince | Pierre Creton | France |
Red Island | L'Île rouge | Robin Campillo | France, Belgium, Madagascar |
Samsara | Lois Patiño | Spain |
Journey[edit]
English Title | Original Title | Director(s) | Production Country |
All Dirt Roads Taste of Salt | Raven Jackson | United States |
The Bride | Myriam U. Birara | Rwanda |
The Delinquents | Los delincuentes | Rodrigo Moreno | Argentina |
The Echo | El eco | Tatiana Huezo | Mexico, Germany |
Expats | Lulu Wang | United States, Hong Kong |
Haar | Ben Hecking | United Kingdom |
How to Have Sex | Molly Manning Walker | United Kingdom, Greece |
If Only I Could Hibernate | Баавгай болохсон | Zoljargal Purevdash | Mongolia, France, Switzerland, Qatar |
Inshallah a Boy | Amjad Al Rasheed | Jordan, France, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Egypt |
The Lost Boys | Le Paradis | Zeno Graton | Belgium, France |
The New Boy | Warwick Thornton | Australia |
Ramona | Victoria Linares Villegas | Dominican Republic, United Kingdom |
The Settlers | Los colonos | Felipe Gálvez Haberle | Chile, Argentina, France, Denmark, United Kingdom, Taiwan, Sweden, Germany |
Shayda | Noora Niasari | Australia |
The Spectre of Boko Haram | Le spectre de Boko Haram | Cyrielle Raingou | Cameroon, France |
The Sweet East | Sean Price Williams | United States |
That They May Face the Rising Sun | Pat Collins | Ireland, United Kingdom |
English Title | Original Title | Director(s) | Production Country |
Anita | Alexis Bloom, Svetlana Zill | United States |
Anselm | Anselm – Das Rauschen der Zeit | Wim Wenders | Germany |
Apolonia, Apolonia | Lea Glob | Denmark, Poland, France |
Close Your Eyes | Cerrar los ojos | Víctor Erice | Spain, Argentina |
The Daughters of Fire | As Filhas do Fogo | Pedro Costa | Portugal |
Croma Kid | Pablo Chea | Dominican Republic |
Going to Mars: The Nikki Giovanni Project | Michèle Stephenson, Joe Brewster | United States |
In Restless Dreams: The Music of Paul Simon | Alex Gibney |
Menus-Plaisirs – Les Troisgros | Frederick Wiseman | France, United States |
The Pot-au-Feu | La Passion de Dodin Bouffant | Tran Anh Hung | France |
Ryuichi Sakamoto | Opus | Neo Sora | Japan |
Swan Song | Chelsea McMullan | Canada |
They Shot the Piano Player | Dispararon al pianista | Fernando Trueba, Javier Mariscal | Spain, France, Netherlands |
This Is Going to Be Big | Thomas Charles Hyland | Australia |
You Can Call Me Bill | Alexandre O. Philippe | United States |
Experimenta[edit]
English Title | Original Title | Director(s) | Production Country |
The Lost Art of the Future | Theo Cuthand | Canada |
A Radical Duet | Onyeka Igwe | United Kingdom |
Speech for a Melting Statue | Collectif Faire-Part | Belgium, Democratic Republic of Congo |
Wells of Despair | Sata Taas | Netherlands |
The Archive: Queer Nigerians | Simisolaoluwa Akande | United Kingdom |
Everything Worthwhile Is Done with Other People | Rehana Zaman |
Night Fishing with Ancestors | Elizabeth Povinelli | Australia |
Minevissam (I Am Writing) | Niki Kohandel | United Kingdom |
Notes from Gog Magog | Riar Rizaldi | Indonesia |
Coders | Anastasia Sosunova | Lithuania |
Platform Ghosts – Turker, Farmer, Bot | Aarti Sunder | India |
Onset | Anna Engelhardt, Mark Cinkevich | United Kingdom, Poland |
Gush | Fox Maxy | United States |
Pacific Club | Valentin Noujaïm | France, Qatar |
It Can't Be That Nothing That Can Be Returned | Dana Kavelina | Ukraine |
Timekeepers of the Anthropocene | Federico Cuatlacuatl | Mexico, United States |
Tristxtotl | Mădălina Zaharia | United Kingdom |
Mangosteen | Tulapop Saenjaroen | Thailand |
The Goose's Excuse | Mahdy Abo Bahat, Abdo Zin Eldin | Egypt, United Kingdom |
Room in a Crowd | John Torres | Philippines |
Tempo | Yu Araki | Japan |
All the Days of May | Miryam Charles | Canada |
Wood for the Trees | Rob Crosse | Germany |
Sunflower Siege Engine | Sky Hopinka | United States |
A Throwing Forth | Xiao Zhang | United States, China |
Levitate | Iván Argote | Italy, Spain, France |
Desert Dreaming | Abdul Halik Azeez | Sri Lanka |
Khabur | Nafis Fathollahzadeh | Germany, Iran |
English Title | Original Title | Director(s) | Production Country |
Dancing Queen | Aurora Gossé | Norway |
Deep Sea (3D) | Xiaopeng Tian | China |
Kensuke's Kingdom | Kirk Hendry, Neil Boyle | United Kingdom, Luxembourg, France |
The Sacred Cave | Daniel Minlo | Cameroon, Burkina Faso, France |
Treasures[edit]
The short film programme was divided into the following nine sections.
Dialogues Between Past, Present and Future[edit]
English Title | Original Title | Director(s) | Production Country |
The Archive: Queer Nigerians | Simisolaoluwa Akande | United Kingdom |
The Lost Art of the Future | Theo Cuthand | Canada |
A Radical Duet | Onyeka Igwe | United Kingdom |
Speech for a Melting Statue | Collectif Faire-Part | Belgium, Democratic Republic of Congo |
Wells of Despair | Sata Taas | Netherlands |
Stories We Tell[edit]
English Title | Original Title | Director(s) | Production Country |
All the Lights Still Burning | Dominic Leclerc | United Kingdom |
Essex Girls | Yero Timi-Biu |
Festival of Slaps | Abdou Cissé |
Only Yourself to Blame | Noomi Yates |
The Scottish Play | James Soldan |
The Singer | Cora Bissett |
Smoking Dolphins | Sean Lyons |
What Makes Us[edit]
English Title | Original Title | Director(s) | Production Country |
Area Boy | Iggy London | United Kingdom |
Blood | Vathana Suganya Suppiah | United Kingdom, Australia |
Gorka | Joe Weiland | United Kingdom |
Making Babies | Faire un enfant | Éric K. Boulianne | Canada |
Mother of Mine | Jesse Lewis Reece | United Kingdom |
Sound & Colour | Emma Foley | Ireland |
Right Here, Right Now[edit]
English Title | Original Title | Director(s) | Production Country |
Boat People | Thao Lam, Kjell Boersma | Canada |
Graveyard of Horses | Xiao Xuan Jiang | China |
I Am More Dangerous Dead | Majiye Uchibeke | United States, Nigeria, United Kingdom |
Waking Up in Silence | Mila Zhluktenko, Daniel Asadi Faezi | Ukraine, Germany |
The Walk | Michael Jobling | United Kingdom |
Wildmen of the Greater Toronto Area | Solmund MacPherson | Canada |
For the Haunted and Possessed[edit]
English Title | Original Title | Director(s) | Production Country |
Coders | Anastasia Sosunova | Lithuania |
Notes from Gog Magog | Riar Rizaldi | Indonesia |
Onset | Anna Engelhardt, Mark Cinkevich | United Kingdom, Poland |
Platform Ghosts – Turker, Farmer, Bot | Aarti Sunder | India |
The Creeps[edit]
English Title | Original Title | Director(s) | Production Country |
Doris | Edem Dotse | Ghana, United States |
Foreigners Only | Nuhash Humayun | Bangladesh, United States |
The Garden of Heart | Olivér Hegyi | Hungary, Slovakia |
Predators | Jack King | United Kingdom |
Pu Ekaw Tnod | Rebecca Culverhouse |
Strangers | Rob Price |
The Test | Olivia Marie Valdez | United States |
Yummy Mummy | Gabriela Staniszewska | United Kingdom |
No Place Called Home[edit]
English Title | Original Title | Director(s) | Production Country |
Hafekasi | Annelise Hickey | Australia |
Now and Then | Harris Alvi | United Kingdom |
Rizoo | Azadeh Navai | Iran, United States |
South Facing | Reneque Samuels | United Kingdom |
Torn | Jahfar Muataz | Denmark, Sweden |
The Land is the Living Witness[edit]
English Title | Original Title | Director(s) | Production Country |
Desert Dreaming | Abdul Halik Azeez | Sri Lanka |
Khabur | Nafis Fathollahzadeh | Germany, Iran |
Levitate | Iván Argote | Italy, Spain, France |
Sunflower Siege Engine | Sky Hopinka | United States |
A Throwing Forth | Xiao Zhang | United States, China |
Animated Shorts for Young Audiences[edit]
English Title | Original Title | Director(s) | Production Country |
Pond | Lena Von Döhren, Eva Rust | Switzerland |
Swing to the Moon | Marie Bordessoule, Adriana Bouissie, Nadine De Boer, Elisa Drique, Chloé Lauzu, Vincent Levrero, Solenne Moreau | France |
The Day I Became a Bird | Andrew Ruhemann | United Kingdom |
The Swineherd | Magnus Igland Møller, Peter Smith | Denmark |
Once upon a Studio | Trent Correy, Dan Abraham | United States |
Ahru | Leandro Martinez | Argentina |
Hooba | Sem Assink | Netherlands |
Upside Down | Dace Rīdūze | Latvia |
LFF for Free: Shorts[edit]
The following films were screened during the LFF for Free programme.[13]
Big Little Lives[edit]
Star Imagine UK[edit]
English Title | Original Title | Director(s) | Production Country |
Dragon Slayers United | Tom Levinge | United Kingdom |
Lionhead | Alvin Yu |
Gently | Kevin Morosky |
Sleepyhead | Milly Garnier |
Nights | Laura Jayne Tunbridge |
Space Plug | Marcus Anthony Thomas |
London Calling: Brave Faces[edit]
English Title | Original Title | Director(s) | Production Country |
Seekers | Josh Feder | United Kingdom |
Independence | Karl Jackson |
The Girls' Room | Tracey Lopes |
My Brudda | Ntando Brown |
Snow Falls In The Summer | Ajuán Isaac George |
London Calling: Being Seen[edit]
English Title | Original Title | Director(s) | Production Country |
The Date | Amy Hodge | United Kingdom |
Darwin Story | Natasha Tonkin |
Better | Zoe Hunter Gordon |
Wings | Billy Boyd Cape |
The Call | Riffy Ahmed |
Network@LFF Shorts[edit]
For 2023 the Network@LFF short films were split into three programmes.[14]
English Title | Director(s) | Production Country |
Programme 1 |
Up | Greg Francis | United Kingdom |
Muna | Warda Mohamed | United Kingdom, Somalia |
VHS | Solène Guichard | United Kingdom |
The Heritage | Andrew Rutter | France |
Programme 2 |
Oba | Femi Oladigbolu | United Kingdom |
High Tide | Johnny Massahi |
The Last Days | Dipo Baruwa-Etti |
The Mobius Trip | Simone Smith |
Seekers | Josh Feder |
Programme 3 |
Malcolm | Caleb J. Roberts | United Kingdom, Ireland |
Doss House | Charlotte James | United Kingdom |
Alo | Xenia Glen |
All The Lights Still Burning | Dominic Leclerc |
Salt Water Town | Dan Thorburn |
English Title | Original Title | Director(s) | Production Country |
Dope Fiend | Rosanagh Griffiths | United Kingdom |
Battery | Ewan Marshall |
Pyramid of Disunion | Ella Glendining, Jessi Gutch |
MO <3 KYRA 4EVA | Debbie Hannan |
Surprise Film[edit]
Ferrari, dir. Michael Mann[15]
Competition[edit]
Source:[16]
Audience Awards[edit]
Source:[15]
- Best Feature: Gassed Up, dir. George Amponsah
- Best Documentary: The Taste of Mango, dir. Chloe Abrahams
- Best British Film or Work: Festival of Slaps, dir. Abdou Cisse
- Best Immersive/XR: Murals, Lead artists. Alex Topaller, Daniel Shapiro and Artem Ivanenko
References[edit]