LFF FOR FREE – 63RD BFI LONDON FILM FESTIVAL ANNOUNCES NEW FREE PUBLIC EVENTS PROGRAMME AND NEW PUBLIC FESTIVAL HUB AT BFI SOUTHBANK Embargo: 12pm Monday 23rd September LONDON, MONDAY 23rd SEPTEMBER: The 63rd BFI London Film Festival in partnership with American Express today announces LFF For Free, a new initiative for 2019 with 30 exciting free events to complement and expand the Festival fun. The BFI Southbank becomes a Festival Hub for the public, with free events concentrated over the two weekends in the BFI London Film Festival, October 4th -6th and October 11th-13th. The LFF For Free programme offers an eclectic, thought-provoking and creative mix of events for all ages and families, and for audiences of all tastes. Events will include talks and Q&As with The Quay Brothers, critic Peter Bradshaw, BAFTA-winning screenwriter Tony Grisoni and acclaimed feminist filmmaker Nina Menkes, as well as DJ nights inspired by films of the festival, discussions on film genres and themes – from new genre cinema to documentary. The programme also includes short film showcases from NETWORK@LFF and Film4, immersive album listening sessions in the dark with Pitchblack Playback, a family animation workshop, a movie quiz hosted by Little White Lies and a live concert with BBC Radio 3’s Sound of Cinema exploring the world of Dickens on film. PROGRAMME OF FREE EVENTS: (BFI London Film Festival runs 2nd – 13th October) Friday 4th October BBC Radio 3 Sound of Cinema: What's the Score With Dickens? Alexandra Palace Theatre, 20.00- 21.30. The LFF hosts a special edition of BBC Radio 3’s weekly film music programme Sound of Cinema with a concert of live music performed by the BBC Concert Orchestra conducted by Ben Palmer and presented by Matthew Sweet in the decayed Victorian splendour of Alexandra Palace Theatre. The programme reflects our Opening Night gala: The Personal History of David Copperfield, with a wide- ranging selection of music exploring the world of Dickens on film. DJ Night: My Friend Fela: BFI Bar & Kitchen, BFI Southbank, 21.00-01.00. DJ Volta 45 (Doin’ Our Own Thing) and Aquila (Zilla Nights) will keep the dancefloor grooving with their collection of West African and pan-African vinyl; including tunes from Fela, along with those he inspired and those who inspired him. Saturday 5th October AniMation IMagination! The Blue Room, BFI Southbank, 10.30-12.00. Join us for a family animation workshop where you can set your imagination free and create animated masterpieces you will be proud of! Don’t worry if you’ve never animated before as there are tutors on hand to show you how to make them like a pro - and all materials are supplied! You can get busy and messy on the crafting table making puppets and backgrounds too... all you need to bring is your love of animation! Age: 5+ Parents are welcome to stay for the duration and must accompany children below the age of 8. Children over 8 can be left to enjoy the workshop without parents in attendance. NetWork@LFF Shorts Screening PrograMMe 1: AtoMisation & Loss The Studio, BFI Southbank, 12.00-12.45. NETWORK@LFF is an internationally focused talent development programme at the very heart of the BFI London Film Festival, delivered by BFI NETWORK. Now in its sixth year, we’ve selected 12 new UK-based writers, directors and producers to join us for an intensive programme of masterclasses, screenings, events and one-to-ones with industry professionals. This year, we’ve focused on filmmakers telling stories with global ambitions; stories that can be culturally specific whilst resonating internationally. Join us to see a selection of shorts from this year’s selected filmmakers. This programme brings together films that explore the importance of community and companionship through the prism of immigration and bereavement. AnatoMy of a FilM - A Q&A With Tony Grisoni The Studio, BFI Southbank, 13.15-14.15. BAFTA Winner Tony Grisoni is one of the UK's great established film and TV screenwriters with hugely impressive credits ranging from In This World directed by Michael Winterbottom to C4 series, Red Riding Trilogy and Southcliffe; his longstanding film collaboration with Terry Gilliam included the dazzling Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, Tideland and LFF2018 Laugh Gala The Man Who Killed Don Quixote. As writer/director, he has also made a number of short films (including BAFTA-nominated Kingsland #1: The Dreamer) and the brand new The Sands of Venus. Using his new short film as a jumping off point, we host a Q&A on his creative process - where do film ideas come from, are there different storytelling ‘muscles’ used for writing and directing, do you ever stop learning, and does it ever get any easier? FilM4 Shorts The Studio, BFI Southbank, 15.00-16.00. A selection of recent Film4 shorts including Naptha, directed by Moin Hussain, which was selected for Critics Week at Cannes Film Festival 2019, Pompeii from directors Harry Lighton, Marco Alessi and Matthew Jacobs Morgan, and Rebecca, the directorial debut from screenwriter Keith Akushie (Fresh Meat, Siblings, The Festival). There will also be a sneak peek at some upcoming Film4 shorts! Film4 is Channel 4 Television’s film division. Film4 develops and co-finances films and is known for working with the most distinctive and innovative talent in UK and international filmmaking, both new and established. In an Age of Consent: A Discussion: The Blue Room. BFI Southbank, 16.00-17.00 In the wake of #MeToo the issue of consent in filmmaking and in the industry has become an urgent topic. The filmmakers in our In An Age of Consent programme tackle the complex issues of consent and here we invite you to join them for a discussion and Q&A around the questions raised in their films around consent, intimacy and sexuality in film. Pitchblack Playback: Fela Kuti – Fela’s London Scene: The Studio, BFI Southbank, 16.30-17.15. Immersive, meditative album listening sessions in the dark. Enjoy classic album playbacks in our Studio screen, picked to complement some of our music film selections. Prepare to experience music with more detail and focus than ever before. Fela Kuti: Fela’s London Scene - Recorded at Abbey Road in London in 1971, this stunning record captures Fela at the beginning of his purple patch of studio recordings. The jazzy, sprawling arrangements will truly come alive at Pitchblack Playback’s free listening session in the dark, which compliments the LFF screening of My Friend Fela. DJ Night: White Riot: BFI Bar & Kitchen, BFI Southbank, 21.00-01.00. DJs Dapper D and Jaybyrd Slim (The Nitty Gritty) play reggae and new wave inspired by the Rock Against Racism movement of the late 70s and early 80s including Steel Pulse, The Clash, Misty In Roots, X-Ray Spex, The Beat, Aswad, The Slits and The Specials. Sunday 6th October FilM CriticisM Read-along: BFI Reuben Library, BFI Southbank, 11.00-12.00. From waxing lyrical on Letterboxd, to reeling off a late-night drunken IMDb review, if everyone’s a critic, who should you be reading? Where’s the good writing at? Hear from some of the most exciting film critics of today on the writing that inspires them, and where to find it. Come with an appetite for wit, critical analysis and sparkling insight, and leave with a free copy of Sight & Sound! Cult in the Canon: The Blue Room. BFI Southbank, 12.00-13.00. Horror is back in vogue amongst filmmakers at LFF this year; just don’t call it ‘Elevated Genre’. Filmmakers can’t keep their hands-off horror this year, with many of your favourite arthouse auteurs using supernatural or sci-fi elements in their films to tell political or very personal stories. Here programmers and podcasters survey the scene, checking on the pulse of cult cinema, and ask what draws filmmakers to the genre? NetWork@LFF Shorts Screening PrograMMe 2: We Are FaMily The Studio, BFI Southbank, 12.00- 13.00. NETWORK@LFF is an internationally focused talent development programme at the very heart of the BFI London Film Festival, delivered by BFI NETWORK. Now in its sixth year, we’ve selected 12 new UK-based writers, directors and producers to join us for an intensive programme of masterclasses, screenings, events and one to ones with industry professionals. This year, we’ve focused on filmmakers telling stories with global ambitions; stories that can be culturally specific whilst resonating internationally. Join us to see a selection of shorts from this year’s selected filmmakers. We Are Family explores family relationships from conception to death; prospective parents, absent fathers and disconnected brothers all attempt to understand each other. The FilMs That Made Me With Peter BradshaW: BFI Reuben Library, BFI Southbank, 13.00-14.00. Join one of the UK’s most respected film critics as he explores the films that have had the biggest impact on him over the last twenty years. Peter Bradshaw is the film reviewer for intelligent, curious cinemagoers; he has worked at The Guardian for twenty years. The Films That Made Me collates his finest reviews from the last two decades, which carry with them his deep experience, knowledge and understanding of film. NetWork@LFF Shorts Screening PrograMMe 3: Sisters Are Doin’ It For TheMselves The Studio, BFI Southbank, 13.15-14.15. NETWORK@LFF is an internationally focused talent development programme at the very heart of the BFI London Film Festival, delivered by BFI NETWORK. Now in its sixth year, we’ve selected 12 new UK-based writers, directors and producers to join us for an intensive programme of masterclasses, screenings, events and one to ones with industry professionals.