Laurie Anderson, Guy Maddin and Chris Milk added to LFF Connects line-up

Laurie Anderson, Guy Maddin and Chris Milk

The 59th BFI London Film Festival in partnership with American Express® announces today further events featuring in this year’s industry programme providing UK and international filmmakers and film professionals with unique opportunities to share their knowledge, skills and experiences.

“The industry programme is a vital part of the BFI London Film Festival, offering filmmakers and executives at all stages of their careers a range of valuable opportunities to develop skills and make new connections and partnerships, helping them to grow their business and expertise in an environment where they can also see the best new films from around the world,” says Clare Stewart, Festival Director, BFI London Film Festival. “The Festival is committed to expanding the future of film and our new LFF Connects series is designed to build knowledge and understanding of film’s engagement with other creative industries and inspire new directions in filmmaking.”

LFF Connects

This new programme of thought-provoking and high-impact talks intended to stimulate new collaborations and ideas by exploring how film engages with other creative industries, welcomes international superstars in their fields of artistry: Laurie Anderson for LFF Connects: Performance/Music; Guy Maddin for LFF Connects: Art; and Chris Milk for LFF Connects: Creative Technologies. They join British filmmaker Christopher Nolan (Interstellar, Inception, The Dark Knight, Memento), Tacita Dean (the grand-scale Tate Modern exhibition FILM), Alexander Horwath, Director of the Austrian Film Museum and BFI Creative Director Heather Stewart announced for LFF Connects: Film, a conversation that reframes the future of film as a medium (BFI Southbank, 16:00, Friday 9 October).

LFF Connects: Performance/Music

Laurie Anderson is one of America’s most renowned – and daring – creative pioneers, best known for her multimedia presentations and innovative use of technology. As writer, director, visual artist and vocalist she has created ground-breaking works that span the worlds of art, theatre and experimental music. Her new film Heart of the Dog, which screens as a new programme addition at LFF, is her first feature since the 1986 concert movie Home of the Brave. With it, she bursts open the conventions of the documentary format and the essay film, distilling her key signatures and themes, among them the use of multimedia elements, a fascination with language, and an engagement with technology. Anderson discusses with her friend, the pioneering musician and artist Brian Eno, the moment where film, performance and music collide at BFI Southbank, 12:45, Thursday 15 October.

LFF Connects: Art

Canadian filmmaker Guy Maddin is critically acclaimed for his bold and visually innovative cinema (My Winnipeg, The Saddest Music in the World) and his art installations (Hauntings, Cowards Bend the Knee). Maddin’s latest production The Forbidden Room, which screens as LFF’s Experimenta Special Presentation, is co-directed with Evan Johnson and grew out of his interactive Seances project which brought to life forgotten silent films as improvised live ‘happenings’ staged in art institutions including Montreal’s Phi Center and the Pompidou Centre in Paris. Maddin will talk about how the project has inspired him to look differently at his work as both a filmmaker and an artist in conversation for LFF Connects at the BFI Southbank, 15:30, Saturday 10 October.

LFF Connects: Creative Technologies

Los Angeles-based Chris Milk is the world’s leading immersive storyteller, working in music videos, documentaries and digital installations with partners as diverse as Kanye West, Arcade Fire, Beck and the United Nations. Using cross-media technologies to expand the narrative and enhance the audience experience, Milk’s experimentation marks him out as a true pioneer. He joins LFF Connects to talk about the creative and emotional possibilities of Virtual Reality (VR) filmmaking and what he believes it has the capacity to deliver at the BFI Southbank, 20:45, Monday 12 October. His films Waves of Grace, which takes the audience into communities ravaged by Ebola, and Clouds Over Sidra, about a Syrian refugee in Jordan, are using VR to change policy and raise awareness for humanitarian efforts.

LFF Industry Partnership Programmes

Last year’s LFF industry events programme embarked on a new direction, opening up pathways and opportunities for emerging talent and industry professionals to learn from exposure to international filmmakers and industry professionals participating in the LFF. This year’s LFF is continuing to expand on this strategy with a programme that combines stimulating debate, addressing important areas of policy key to growth, sharing knowledge, generating business opportunities, showcasing talent and providing enhanced industry services for delegates.

A new partnership with the Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media and Women in Film and Television (WFTV) will see the Festival host the Institute’s first Global Symposium outside the US on 8 October, the day after the Festival opens with Sarah Gavron’s highly-anticipated Suffragette. The symposium will explore the impact of film on global issues concerning women and girls, addressing gender equality in film and empowering women and girls through film. Participants are now being announced with keynote speakers to include American Academy Award-winning actor and Founder and Chair of the Institute Geena Davis, Chair of Women in Film and Television, and Producer, Number 9 Films Elizabeth Karlsen (Carol), and BFI CEO Amanda Nevill CBE, with panellists including director of Liberty (The National Council for Civil Liberties) Shami Chakrabarti CBE; CEO of the Institute Madeline Di Nonno; writer/director Destiny Ekaragha (Gone Too Far!); global advocate for the rights of women and children Baroness Goudie; writer and critic Bonnie Greer; CEO, Ending Domestic Violence Deborah Jamieson; Director of Film4 David Kosse; producer Laurie MacDonald (He Named Me Malala); writer/director Deepa Mehta (Beeba Boys, Midnight’s Children); screenwriter Abi Morgan (Suffragette, The Iron Lady); Managing Director and VP UK-Ireland Sales and Operations Google Eileen Naughton; and BFI London Film Festival Director Clare Stewart.

The Festival is delighted to be welcoming back two returning flagship events, Power to the Pixel’s Cross-Media Forum and the Film London Production Finance Market (PFM).

Power to the Pixel: The Cross-Media Forum (PttP) held in association with the Festival takes place from 13-16 October comprising The Pixel Market which will present 35 cross-platform and interactive projects from across Europe, the USA, Canada, Australia and South America to international financiers and commissioners; a Conference offering a series of boundary pushing talks and case studies from international industry experts; and Virtual Stories, a free exhibition of virtual reality projects by leading international filmmakers and digital artists.

Film London Production Finance Market (PFM). This two-day event focuses on facilitating over 800 face-to-face meetings between producers and financiers from the international marketplace, to foster relationships and source financing for specific projects. A keynote address, workshops and networking opportunities are also part of the event. The PFM is supported by the Mayor of London, Creative Europe, UK Trade & Investment and the BFI.

Film London Micro Market. This innovative micro-budget finance market provides 25 filmmaking teams with a day of dedicated meetings with financiers looking to source projects budgeted at €1m and under. It also incorporates Market Place Live, which takes an interactive approach to bringing a project to market with industry experts in finance, distribution, international sales and marketing, and will be presented within the Festival programme at Picturehouse Central by Film London in partnership with Film Export UK and supported by Creative Skillset.

The second annual NET.WORK@LFF, the international talent development programme (managed by Creative England on behalf of the BFI, Ffilm Cymru Wales, Film London, Northern Ireland Screen, Scottish Film Talent and Creative Skillset), for 15 rising UK writers, directors and producers will take place during the Festival. The filmmakers will participate in workshops and salons with international Festival guests including writer/director Sean Baker (Tangerine) and producer Christine Vachon (Carol).

For the first time the Festival will celebrate the launch of this year’s Screen International UK Stars of Tomorrow, a highly-respected showcase of the UK and Ireland’s hottest emerging talent. Previous A-list stars identified have included James McAvoy, Gemma Arterton, Benedict Cumberbatch and Emily Blunt.

LFF Film Industry and Artists’ Moving Image Events

The BFI’s Diversity Discussion with invited guests and LFF industry delegates will look at the progress being made by the BFI’s ground-breaking ‘three ticks’ initiative for BFI-backed productions and how it is being extended further. Case studies on recent productions and new research will be discussed by the industry and with Ed Vaizey MP, the Minister for Culture and the Digital Economy in attendance.

The Festival is also partnering with the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences (AMPAS) in a panel event to highlight its support of the global filmmaking industry and discuss the process of submitting a film to the Oscar® Foreign Language Film category. Mark Johnson, Oscar-winning producer and the chairman of the Academy’s Foreign Language Film Award Committee will join filmmakers and Academy leaders in a conversation about the award category and its impact.

Further industry activities include The Greenlighters, a series of informal lunchtime talks at Picturehouse Central in which key executives including Christine Langan, the head of BBC Films, and Rose Garnett, the head of editorial at Film 4, discuss a film they love from the Festival programme with the filmmaker.

New this year, as part of an expanded Experimenta programme, the Festival presents a series of Artists’ Moving Image professional development events in partnership with Lux and supported by Arts Council England with events on writing and criticism; distribution as production; and the process and ethics of restoring artists’ film.

LFF International Industry Focus: China

Several UK-China co-production workshops between invited guests, industry delegates and visiting Chinese executives will take place during the Festival as part of the BFI’s wider international strategy to explore and build successful cultural, creative and business relationships with China. In addition a selection of some of China’s biggest, recent box office successes will be featured in the Insight into China film screening showcase.

LFF Press and Industry Screenings and Delegate Packages

The Festival presents almost 200 Press and Industry Screenings for delegates and its Meet the Buyer day provides a unique opportunity for visiting international sales agents to meet the maximum number of UK buyers in the minimum amount of time via a speed-dating style set of one-to-one meetings arranged by the Festival.

Enhanced services and facilities for industry delegates include an industry extranet; a new raft of delegate passes including a Documentary Pass, a Discovery Pass and a Gold Pass (with year-round benefits); press and industry screenings at the new Picturehouse Central; and West End and South Bank networking hubs. The Industry Delegate Centre will be located in the Atrium at BFI Southbank.