The 69th BFI London Film Festival (8 – 19 October) announced September 3 its full programme line-up to be presented in cinemas and online across the UK.
Two documentaries are selected for Official Competition: Black Is Beautiful: The Kwame Brathwaite Story by Yemi Bamiro and Lucrecia Martel’s Landmarks (Nuestra Terra). Meanwhile 8 films are selected for Doc Competition. Iain Forsyth & Jane Pollard’s Broken English is selected as a Special Presentation. A further 12 docs feature in the festival’s Love, Debate, Thrill, Journey, Create and Experimenta strands.
Kristy Matheson, BFI London Film Festival Director, commented: “This Autumn we invite audiences to craft their own festival journey across our programme of premiere screenings, dynamic interactive exhibitions and compelling talks programmes with some of cinemas leading practitioners. We look forward to you joining us this year to experience the incredible state of the medium in 2025 – brimming with formal innovations, provocations and essential roadmaps for navigating the world around us.”
Ben Roberts, Chief Executive, BFI added: “Audiences are at the heart of the LFF and the festival brings them an incredible breadth of stories from some of the most talented and creative filmmakers from the UK and across the world.”
Official Competition (synopsis texts courtesy of LFF)
- Black Is Beautiful: The Kwame Brathwaite Story (UK-US) by Yemi Bamiro. Synopsis: Photographer to the greats, collaborator in African liberation movements and archivist of Harlem culture, Kwame Brathwaite’s impact on Black culture is undeniable. Yet his achievements went unrecognised for many years. Bringing his story to light, this film sees family and friends honour his artistry, and features insights from Gabrielle Union, Alicia Keys and Jesse Williams. (World Premiere)
- Landmarks (Nuestra Terra, Arg-US-Mex-Fr-Neth) by Lucrecia Martel. Synopsis: Artistic ambition and political advocacy meld in Lucrecia Martel’s documentary, a bold and beautiful reflection on the death and legacy of indigenous activist Javier Chocobar.
Documentary Competition
- Always (US-China-Fr-Tai) by Deming Chen. Synopsis: Deming Chen’s sophomore feature, the recipient of the top prize at CPH:DOX, is a lyrical portrait of a gifted young poet growing up in rural China.
- The Eyes Of Ghana (US) by Ben Proudfoot. Synopsis: Ben Proudfoot’s film is a love letter to cinema and Ghanian icon Chris Hesse who, in his nineties, still works tirelessly to preserve the country’s film legacy and the lessons of colonialism.
- Life After (US) by Reid Davenport. Synopsis: Reid Davenport’s thought-provoking and personal project explores the complex debates and hidden motives surrounding assisted dying.
- Only On Earth (Den-Sp) by Robin Petré. Synopsis: Breathtaking visions of wildfires in Galicia during the hottest summer on record centre this stunning reflection on the delicate balance between humans, animals and the environment.
- Seeds (US) by Brittany Shyne. Synopsis: Sundance Film Festival’s documentary Grand Jury Prize winner is an empathetic and soulful debut that vividly captures a community of Black farming families in the American South.
- Singing Wings (Iran-Geo-Belg) by Hemen Khaledi. Synopsis: Rich with humour and heart, Hemen Khaledi’s documentary debut shows life outshining fiction, painting a lyrical portrait of a magical stork village in Kurdistan.
- Super Nature (UK) by Ed Sayers. Synopsis: A spellbinding visual and auditory experience, beautifully shot in Super 8, which invites you to marvel at nature and the wildlife around us. (World Premiere)
- The Travelers (Cameroon-Sp) by David Bingong. Synopsis: David Bingong’s personal film is an intimate and hopeful account of the dangerous journey taken by a group of migrants from Cameroon to Europe.
Special Presentation
- Broken English (UK) by Iain Forsyth, Jane Pollard. Synopsis: Jane Pollard and Iain Forsyth deliver an inventive and soulful portrait of cultural icon Marianne Faithfull.
Strand: Love
- Endless Cookie (Can) by Seth Scriver, Peter Scriver. Synopsis: The classic hangout film gets a charming, witty and politically sharp make-over with this inventive animation that explores the complex and enduring bond of family.
- Kim Novak’s Vertigo (US) by Alexandre O. Philippe. Synopsis: Alexandre O. Philippe’s latest film essay is a conversation with cinema icon and mental health activist Kim Novak about Hollywood, ghosts and finding herself as an artist.
Strand: Debate
- Cover-Up (US) by Laura Poitras, Mark Obenhaus. Synopsis: Acclaimed documentary directors Mark Obenhaus and Laura Poitras team up to deliver an engrossing portrait of investigative journalist Seymour M. Hersh.
- John Lilly And The Earth Coincidence Control Office (US) by Michael Almereyda, Courtney Stephens. Synopsis: This superbly crafted documentary on utopian neuroscientist John C. Lilly is a fascinating tale of paranoia, obsession and discovery.
- Love+War (US-UK) by Chai Vasarhelyi, Jimmy Chin. Synopsis: From the directors of Free Solo comes this blistering profile of Pulitzer Prize-winning conflict photographer Lynsey Addario, a woman balancing two callings: career and motherhood.
- Orwell: 2+2=5 (Fr-US) by Raoul Peck. Synopsis: Raoul Peck channels the clarity and urgency of George Orwell’s prose into a gripping cinematic statement – elegant, forceful and uncompromising.
Strand: Thrill
- Ultras (Swe-Den-Fin) by Ragnhild Ekner. Synopsis: Forget the dramatic headlines and take a joyful deep dive into the ‘world’s most popular subculture’: football’s infamous ultras.
Strand: Journey
- Below The Clouds (It) by Gianfranco Rosi. Synopsis: This breathtaking documentary explores past and present lives of the communities living in the shadow of Vesuvius.
Strand: Create
- Khartoum (UK-Sudan-Ger-Qat) by Rawia AlHag, Ibrahim Snoopy, Anas Saeed, Timeea M. Ahmed, Phil Cox. Synopsis: In this playful yet quietly radical film, five citizens of Khartoum, deeply affected by the ongoing conflict and forced to flee their homes, powerfully articulate their memories, hopes and dreams.
Strand: Experimenta
- The Memory Of Butterflies (Peru-Port) by Tatiana Fuentes Sadowski. Synopsis: Drawing from the shadows of the colonial rubber trade, this evocative film uncovers the lost stories of two Indigenous men taken to London to be ‘civilised’.
- With Hasan In Gaza (Palestine-Ger-Fr-Qat) by Kamal Aljafari. Synopsis: Kamal Aljafari returns with a poignant reimagining of Palestinian history – a profound meditation on absence and loss, crafted with quiet integrity.
- Afterlives by Kevin B. Lee (Ger-Bel-Fr). Synopsis: Media artist, filmmaker and critic Kevin B. Lee presents an unflinchingly complex and thought-provoking tapestry that interrogates the many faces of violence confronting our lives.(Experimenta Special Presentation)
