HOWZAT

As previously announced, Ron Howard’s Frost/Nixon, based on Peter Morgan’s play will open the festival and Danny Boyle’s Slumdog Millionaire will close it.

Other directors include Laurent Cantet (who won the Cannes Palme d’Or for The Class ), Steven Soderbergh (Che part 1 & part 2), Jonathan Demme (Rachel Getting Married),Woody Allen (Vicky Cristina Barcelona) Stephan Elliott (the Australian director of The Adventures of Priscilla: Queen of the Desert who takes on a Noel Coward costume drama in Easy Virtue), Nuri Bilge Ceylan (Three Monkeys) and the veteran British director Terence Davies (Of Time and the City).

Other prominent British films include Winterbottom’s Genova, Eyre’s The Other Man, Steve McQueen’s acclaimed Hunger about IRA hunger strikers and Richard Jobson’s New Town Killers, starring Dougray Scott as a hedge fund manager who gets his kicks hunting children from housing estates in the mean streets of Edinburgh.

Beyond the UK there are films from Australia, Iceland, Mexico and Senegal and most places in between.

Alex Gibney’s Gonzo: The Life and Work of DR. Hunter S. Thompson, narrated by the maverick jounalist’s friend Jonny Depp, and James Toback’s Tyson are two of the 19 films in competition for the Grierson Award for best feature-length documentary.

And after all that if festival audiences find themselves in need of a little escapism, they will also have the chance to attend the first public screening of Marc Forster’s Quantum of Solace, the new James Bond film, immediately following the film’s world premiere in Leicester Square but outside the festival on 29 October.

Guests expected to attend include: Michael Sheen; Eva Green; Atom Egoyan; Gwyneth Paltrow; Charlie Kaufman, Robert Carlyle, Sam Riley; Nanni Moretti; Rian Johnson; Omar Sharif; Laurent Cantet; Jessica Biel; Arnaud Desplechin; Colin Firth; Laura Linney; Michel Houellebecq; Liam Neeson; Alex Gibney; Antonio Campos; Penelope Cruz; Ben Barnes; Boyle, Winterbottom and Soderbergh.

Sandra Hebron, the festival’s artistic director, said: “We are excited that London in October will play host to world renowned directors, writers and actors, as well as to some of the most important new voices in international cinema.”

James Harding, the editor of The Times, said: "Yet again the programme for The Times BFI 52nd London Film Festival has produced an outstanding selection of films with an extraordinary blend of cultures, themes, and formats ensuring something for all tastes and all ages. The London Film Festival has a breathtaking schedule that mixes films from those new to the scene, as well as great offerings from established filmmakers. It is a programme that clearly demonstrates London's role as a unique showcase for the industry. We are thrilled to be part of the Festival for our sixth year as title sponsor.”

The Times BFI 52nd London Film Festival runs from 15-30 October. For tickets call 02079283232 or visit www.bfi.org.uk/lff .

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