Tricia Tuttle at the BFI London Film Festival programme launch
(Picture: PA Wire)The director of the London Film Festival has said she opted to open and close with “joyous bits of cinema” that will leave the audience feeling “uplifted” in response to troubling recent world events.
The 66th festival, run by the British Film Institute (BFI), will open tonight with Roald Dahl’s Matilda The Musical starring Dame Emma Thompson and closes on October 16 with Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery with Daniel Craig.
Festival director Tricia Tuttle said: “What they share in common is they’re both very joyous bits of cinema and that felt really great this year, to have celebratory opening and closing moments.”
She described Matilda as “a great British story” and Knives Out as “a real crowd-pleaser”.
New releases at the festival will include the world premiere of Guillermo Del Toro’s Pinocchio starring Ewan McGregor, and the European premiere of Sir Sam Mendes’ Empire Of Light with Olivia Colman. My Policeman, with Harry Styles, also features.
