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Yesterday, The
Times BFI 53rd London Film Festival rounded off another highly
successful year with the world premiere of Sam Taylor-Wood’s NOWHERE
BOY. This year’s Festival
hosted 193 feature films and 113 short films from 46 countries including 15
world premieres. There were 515 screenings and 553 filmmakers, with 277 of the
filmmakers from outside the UK.  With 874 industry delegates accredited,
the Festival exceeded last year’s figures and reports the highest ever audience
attendance in excess of 124,000 filmgoers, compared to 115,000 in 2008.

High-profile international filmmakers and actors attended their film’s
screenings over the 16 days. Opening the festivities was the world premiere
screening of FANTASTIC MR. FOX with director Wes Anderson in attendance
alongside actors Bill Murray, Jason Schwartzman
and George Clooney, with Clooney also attending the UK premiere of THE MEN WHO STARE AT GOATS with director Grant Heslov. 
Julianne Moore and Amanda Seyfried graced the red carpet with
director Atom Egoyan for CHLOE and Viggo Mortensen and director John
Hillcoat introduced THE ROAD.  In
addition, Carey Mulligan, Dominic Cooper and Emma Thompson joined
director Lone Scherfig for AN EDUCATION and Scott Hicks and Clive
Owen introduced THE BOYS ARE BACK.

Other Festival guests included Jane Campion who was joined by Ben
Whishaw and Kerry Fox for BRIGHT STAR and director Jason Reitman
attended the premiere of UP IN THE AIR with actresses Vera Farmiga and Anna
Kendrick. A SERIOUS MAN was introduced by Joel and Ethan Coen
and actor Michael Stuhlbarg whilst director Ang Lee alongside Imelda
Staunton and Henry Goodman presented TAKING WOODSTOCK.  Colin
Firth, Matthew Goode and Nicholas Hoult joined director Tom
Ford for A SINGLE MAN and directors Michael Haneke (THE WHITE
RIBBON), Steven Soderbergh (THE INFORMANT!) and Jean-Pierre Jeunet
(MICMACS) introduced their films respectively.   A PROPHET was
presented by director Jacques Audiard and finishing the Festival was the
Closing Night Gala screening of NOWHERE BOY attended by Sam Taylor-Wood,
Aaron Johnson, David Morrissey, Anne-Marie Duff and Kristin
Scott-Thomas.

British filmmaking and acting talent was once again well represented, as
seen in J Blakeson’s THE DISAPPEARANCE OF ALICE CREED which was attended
by the director alongside Gemma Arterton, Eddie Marsan and Martin
Compston. Lindy Heymann, director of KICKS, was joined by cast
members Kerrie Hayes, Nichola Burley and Jamie Doyle
whilst director Jordan Scott presented her film CRACKS with actresses Eva
Green and Juno Temple.  Julian Fellowes attended the
screening of his film FROM TIME TO TIME accompanied by cast members Timothy
Spall, Pauline Collins, Harriet Walter, Alex Etel and Eliza
Bennett.  Ben Freeth, one of the subjects of the documentary
MUGABE AND THE WHITE AFRICAN accompanied directors Lucy Bailey and Andrew
Thompson to their European premiere screening whilst David Morrissey was
joined by Helen Elizabeth and James Brough for his directorial
debut DON’T WORRY ABOUT ME and Penny Woolcock introduced 1 DAY with the
entire cast in attendance at the screening. Stephen Poliakoff was
present to introduce GLORIOUS 39 with cast members Romola Garai, Bill
Nighy, David Tennant and Hugh Bonneville whilst Thomas
Turgoose, Holly Grainger, Susan Lynch and Steven
Mackintosh all accompanied director Tom Harper for THE SCOUTING BOOK
FOR BOYS.  Malcolm Venville introduced 44 INCH CHEST with BFI
Fellowship Award recipient John Hurt and BUNNY AND THE BULL director Paul
King presented the film with Edward Hogg, Simon Farnaby, Noel
Fielding, Julian Barrett and Verónica Echegui. A strong
selection of British documentaries were also presented by Julien Temple
(OIL CITY CONFIDENTIAL), Jez Lewis (SHED YOUR TEARS AND WALK AWAY) Chris
Atkins (STARSUCKERS) and Matt Harlock and Paul Thomas
(AMERICAN: THE BILL HICKS STORY).

Other international filmmakers who flew into London included: Joko
Anwar (THE FORBIDDEN DOOR); Marco Berger (PLAN B); BFI Fellowship
Award recipient Souleymane Cissé (TELL ME WHO YOU ARE); Mar Coll
(THREE DAYS WITH THE FAMILY); Giorgio Diritti (THE MAN WHO WILL COME); Bruno
Dumont (HADEWIJCH); Xiaolu Guo (SHE, A CHINESE); René Bo Hansen
(THE EAGLE HUNTER’S SON); Cedric Kahn (REGRETS); Ahmed Maher (THE
TRAVELLER); Samuel Maoz (LEBANON); Cristian Mungiu (TALES FROM
THE GOLDEN AGE); Tarik Saleh (METROPIA); Gabriele Salvatores (AS
GOD COMMANDS); Elia Suleiman (THE TIME THAT REMAINS); Warwick
Thornton (SAMSON & DELILAH) and Nicolas Winding Refn (VALHALLA
RISING). Director Robert Connolly was joined by lead actor Anthony
LaPaglia for BALIBO, Hans-Christian Schmid attended STORM with Kerry
Fox and Mia Hansen-Løve was joined by actor Louis-Do de
Lencquesaing for FATHER OF MY CHILDREN. As their directors were unable to
attend, actress Jane Birkin introduced AROUND A SMALL MOUNTAIN and
actress Emily Watson presented COLD SOULS. Representing independent
American cinema were directors Andrew Bujalski (BEESWAX), Harmony
Korine (TRASH HUMPERS) and Joe Swanberg (ALEXANDER THE LAST), as
well as Nicholas Jasenovec, who presented PAPER HEART with
actress/comedian Charlyne Yi. In addition, experimental filmmakers Sarah
Turner (PERESTROIKA) and Ken McMullen (AN ORGANIZATION OF DREAMS)
each introduced their films.

Jane Campion, Julianne Moore, Clive Owen and Sam Taylor-Wood were welcomed on stage
for the “Screen Talks Sponsored by TalkTalk” series of career interviews while Gaspar
Noé (ENTER THE VOID) discussed his craft at a Masterclass presented in
association with Script Factory and NFTS. Jacques Audiard’s Masterclass
was presented in association with Unifrance, and another popular event was Nick
Park’s career interview in celebration of the 20th anniversary
of WALLACE & GROMIT.   Italian directors were present for the
panel discussion MAESTRI & MULTIPLEXES: ITALIAN CINEMA NOW including Giuseppe
Piccioni (GIULIA DOESN’T DATE AT NIGHT) and Valerio Jalongo (WHAT DO
YOU KNOW ABOUT ME), and a host of Iranian directors, including Bahman
Ghobadi (NO ONE KNOWS ABOUT PERSIAN CATS) and Shirin Neshat (WOMEN
WITHOUT MEN) debated the current state of Iranian films at the IRANIAN CINEMA:
POST NEW WAVE, POST-ELECTION...WHERE NOW? event. In Focus with Time Out
continued their tradition of sparking debate with discussion topics ranging
from ENVIRONMENTAL FILMMAKING: CAN CINEMA EVER BE TRULY GREEN? to FILM CREDIT
CRUNCH: CAN THE ECONOMIC CRISIS ACTUALLY BE GOOD FOR CINEMA?

The London Film Festival’s annual free screening of short films from the
BFI National Archive and London’s Screen Archives once again took place in
Trafalgar Square.  Bringing classic films to the public and greeted with
outstanding attendance figures, LONDON MOVES ME, in association with Film
London, was a celebration of transport in London from 1896 to 2009.  All
films were accompanied by a live piano score, improvised by pianist Neil
Brand, who also made an appearance with Prima Vista Social Club at
the Festival’s  first ever Archive Gala, the BFI’s new restoration of Anthony
Asquith’s UNDERGROUND.

Last night, the London Film Festival announced award
winners at a high profile ceremony held at London’s Inner Temple.  Hosted
by Paul Gambaccini, the six awards were presented by some of the most respected
members of the film community. Anjelica Huston presented the Star of
London for Best Film to Tahar Rahim, lead actor of Jacques
Audiard’s winning film A PROPHET whilst Dominic Cooper and Jodie
Whittaker presented the Star of London for Best British Newcomer to Jack
Thorne, screenwriter of THE SCOUTING BOOK FOR BOYS.  The Sutherland
Trophy was presented by director Alfonso Cuaron to
Scandar Copti and Yaron Shani for their film AJAMI and the
London Film Festival Grierson Award for Best Documentary in the Festival was
presented by Nick Broomfield to Yoav Shamir for
DEFAMATION.  BFI Fellowships, the highest accolade that the British Film Institute bestows were
awarded to John Hurt and Souleymane Cissé for their significant
achievements in the fields of acting and directing.  Hurt received his
award from producer Jeremy Thomas and director Michael Caton-Jones
both of whom have worked with Hurt on a number of films.   Cissé’s
TELL ME WHO YOU ARE had its UK premiere at the festival this week and his award
was presented to him by actress Charlotte Rampling.

In addition to welcoming the public, the Festival also hosted a wide
range of industry-related events including: the PRODUCTION FINANCE MARKET in
association with Film London; talent-development programme
THINK-SHOOT-DISTRIBUTE in association with Skillset, and POWER TO THE PIXEL:
THE CROSS-MEDIA FILM FORUM. Award-winning film producer and screenwriter James
Schamus’ Industry Keynote Address entitled: LESSONS IN STORYTELLING FROM
THE DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY: AN ANTI-KEYNOTE KEYNOTE SPEECH was an
inspiring highlight of the Industry programme.  Approximately 5,000 people
participated in education screenings and events at the Festival with all
workshops fully booked, including the Cinematography and AMAZING STRETCHY
FAMILIES Animation workshop. The series of Filmmakers’ Afternoon Teas saw over
50 directors complete a total of 230 interviews with international journalists
(with 1,367 accredited press delegates from 57 countries).

Festival Artistic Director, Sandra
Hebron, commented: “I'm delighted that this
year's festival has been so warmly received by the public, by the
media and by the industry at large. We have been fortunate to have a
strong and diverse line-up of films and a host of inspiring and enthusiastic
visiting film makers. These, together with increased investment in key areas,
have brought us record levels of public attendance, a wealth of lively industry
and educational events and have made for a particularly enjoyable and
successful festival.”

• Sam Taylor-Wood at the premiere of Nowhere BoyGetty Images
• Sam Taylor-Wood and Aaron Johnson at the premiere of Nowhere BoyGetty Images
• Kristin Scott Thomas at the premiere of Nowhere BoyGetty Images
• Ophelia Lovibond at the premiere of Nowhere BoyGetty Images
• Meredith Ostrom at the premiere of Nowhere BoyGetty Images
• Anne Marie Duff at the premiere of Nowhere BoyGetty Images
• David Morrissey at the premiere of Nowhere BoyGetty Images
• Dexter Fletcher at the premiere of Nowhere BoyGetty Images
• Thomas Sangster at the premiere of Nowhere BoyGetty Images
• Alison Goldfrapp and her guest at the premiere of Nowhere BoyGetty Images

• Paul Simonon at the Closing Night Gala afterpartyGetty Images
• Jarvis Cocker and Kim Sion attend the Closing Night Gala afterpartyGetty Images
• Kerrie Hayes at the Closing Night Gala afterpartyGetty Images
• Kerry Fox and Lucy Cohu at the Closing Night Gala afterpartyGetty Images
• Gurinder Chadha at the Closing Night Gala afterpartyGetty Images
• Ben Bradshaw at the Closing Night Gala afterpartyGetty Images
• Anjelica Huston at the Closing Night Gala afterpartyGetty Images
• Tallulah Adeyemi attends the Closing Night Gala afterpartyGetty Images