Top Picks from NFTS Curation Students: Must See Films at BFI London Film Festival 2023!
The BFI London Film Festival returns this week, bringing the world’s best new films, series and immersive storytelling to venues in London, around the UK and on BFI Player.
The National Film and Television School (NFTS) is excited to see multiple graduate names being celebrated across the selections. Molly Manning Walker’s How To Have Sex will have its UK debut, following the films Cannes La Cinef win earlier this year. Mahalia Belo’s feature debut The End We Start From is screening in the BFI Patrons’ Special Presentation strand, starring Jodie Comer and George Amponsah returns to LFF with high-octane feature film debut Gassed Up. Closing out the festival this year is also Daniel Kaluuya’s directorial debut The Kitchen, written by graduate Joseph Murtagh.
Alongside these stunning films made by our alumni are of course a vast array of stand-out productions made by incredible filmmakers across the world. Keeping a close eye on the programme are NFTS Film Studies, Programming and Curation MA students who are passionate about the world of film exhibition, programming and criticism. Below, you can explore a selection of our students' recommendations for what to watch at the 67th BFI London Film Festival!
Cat Riley's LFF pick (Instagram @catriley_)
All of Us Strangers dir. Andrew Haigh (UK 2023. 105min)
Andrew Haigh is a director that had slipped under my radar until now, but the intimate beauty of All of Us Strangers highlighted in the stills alone was enough to draw me in. With such a fantastic cast of British and Irish talent (Andrew Scott leading, supported by internet darling Paul Mescal and Claire Foy of The Crown fame), this queer romantic fantasy is sure to be a hit with me, and has certainly sparked my interest in the rest of Haigh’s filmography.
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Nathasha Orlando Kappler's LFF picks (X @tashakappler)
Macario dir. Roberto Gavaldón (Mexico 1960. 91min)
This year’s Treasures strand features a quintessential classic of Mexican Cinema, newly restored by The Film Foundation’s World Cinema Project and Fundación Televisa at L’Immagine Ritrovata in collaboration with Filmoteca UNAM. Roberto Gavaldón’s 1960 film Macario is a poignant, magical realist drama that centres around a hard-working peasant who in exchange for an act of selfless generosity, is bestowed the gift of healing by Death himself. Though such a gift comes at a mortal price.
Released at the tail-end of Mexico’s Golden Age of Cinema, Macario earned the country its first Academy Award nomination and it’s easy to see why - Gavaldón’s cautionary fable is filled with lush, spellbinding cinematography by Gabriel Figueroa; and stars an unforgettable performance by the late, great Ignacio López Tarzo who passed away earlier this year; but perhaps more significant than all this, it is unequivocally emblematic of Mexican spirituality.
The film captures the true authentic spirit of Dia de los Muertos, a sacred festivity bound by both Indigenous and Catholic beliefs in honouring the dead. While the iconography of La Catrina, decorated sugar skulls, and brightly coloured flowers have gained commercial popularity in recent years as an alternative to Halloween through increased exposure in films such as Coco and Spectre, by contrast, Gavaldón’s Macario gets to the heart of what this national holiday represents - a time of reflecting, reconnecting, and expressing gratitude to the people who make our lives so very rich and full.
Last Summer dir. Catherine Breillat (France 2023. 104min)
Following a ten year break since her 2013 feature, Abuse Of Weakness, Catherine Breillat returns with a French remake of May el-Toukhy’s 2019 Queen of Hearts. Last Summer follows successful lawyer Anne (played by Léa Drucker), who leads an idyllic life in Paris with her wealthy husband Pierre and their two young daughters. This harmonious family portrait soon begins to crack, as the arrival of teenage stepson Théo incites a desire within Anne that may have long been dormant.
Often described as an uncompromising film-maker in her challenging of ideas of love, sex, womanhood, and social taboos as explored in Fat Girl and Romance, the promise of a new film by Catherine Breillat is one that is always laced with anticipation of what new boundaries will be broken. For some, this anticipation may lean towards fear and discomfort, after all, Breillat is no stranger to holding a mirror to human nature’s ugliest facets - our narcissism, our shame, and our darkest desires.
While Last Summer’s initial premise of an incestuous, age-gap love affair is sure to test our feelings about the actions of its flawed heroine Anne, the trailer suggests a cruel, sensual power-play between both parties. As with all of Breillat’s films, boundaries exist to be questioned and defied, as only then, can we uncover a transformative, euphoric truth for ourselves.
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Archie Marshall's LFF pick (X @archiewmarshall)
The Bikeriders dir. Jeff Nichols (USA 2023. 116min)
I’m very excited to catch The Bikeriders, which marks the return of director Jeff Nichols (Take Shelter, Midnight Special). For me, Nichols is one of the most consistent and effective of modern America’s dramatic filmmakers. He’s renowned for his startling use of vast outdoor space in films like Take Shelter and Mud, but The Bikeriders sees him moving into the city. The backdrop of the outskirts of Chicago becomes the Wild Wild West, swapping horses for choppers.
The film boasts an all star cast, including Austin Butler, Mike Faist, Tom Hardy, Michael Shannon and a scene stealing Jodie Comer. Drawing influence from everything from Goodfellas to Mad Max: Fury Road, the film promises to be a fascinating examination of masculinity, exploring the deep, fractured interpersonal relationships that lurk begin the ‘tough guy’, leather jacket facade.
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Conor Riley's LFF picks (X @conorriley_ | Instagram @conor.riley_ | LinkedIn in/conor-riley/ | conorriley.contently.com)
Hoard dir. Luna Carmoon (UK 2023. 126min)
As Luna Carmoon's directorial feature debut, Hoard has been gathering interest internationally, winning three awards, including the Audience Award at the Venice Film Festival for its depictions of trauma and sexuality. In competition at the London Film Festival for First Feature Film, with lead performances from Joseph Quinn (Stranger Things), Hayley Squires (I, Daniel Blake) and introducing Saura Lightfoot Leon with their first feature credit, Hoard is poised to offer audiences a sensational character-led drama, and hopefully will create fantastic opportunities for the neurodivergent filmmaker.
Bonus Track dir. Julia Jackman (UK 2023. 98min)
It's rare, but the times a film feels like it was made with you specifically in mind is an indescribable euphoria. With its indie early 2000s soundtrack and a charming coming-of-age tale about a socially awkward teen finding solace through music, Bonus Track feels like plucked from my personal experience. Written by Josh O'Connor (The Crown), Bonus Track, I hope, will bring me back to that cringe phase of school with fondness in its tight, almost 90-minute runtime.
Robot Dreams dir. Pablo Berger (Spain-France 2023. 102min)
Being the only film in two strands at a festival, Love and Family, Robot Dreams is clearly one that needs to be seen by adults and children alike. Aiming to be a charming non-dialogue animation feature from Pablo Berger, based on the graphic novel of the same name by Sara Varon, the friendship of Dog and Robot in 1980s New York is explored tackling companionship, separation and loneliness. There is real art to making an animated film, the patience it requires and the attention to the smallest of details in every frame, so to do all this without a line of dialogue exchanged is something that needs to be seen.
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To explore the complete BFI London Film Festival programme and book your tickets, visit whatson.bfi.org.uk/lff
The festival runs from 4 to 15 October 2023.
Last few places available for the NFTS Film Studies, Programming and Curation MA!
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