Wednesday night was the opening night gala of the 58th BFI London Film Festival. The opening film was World War II drama, The Imitation Game and the stars were in attendance, including Benedict Cumberbatch, Keira Knightley and Mark Strong. Cumberbatch gave an impassioned introduction before the film and with Turing’s family in the audience, emotions were understandably high. After the film, the audience retreated to the Roundhouse in Camden for the after party and the venue was beautifully decorated with vintage furniture.
This year the festival showcases 248 feature films from around the world and 148 short films. There’s also a host of filmmaker talks, Q&As and other events. The festival takes place in 17 venues across London over the next 12 days and tickets are still available for many of the events, so get online or pop down to the BFI box office. It’s a wonderful 12 days in the capital, so don’t miss out. Read more
Following in the wake of the superb Captain Phillips opening last year’s BFI London Film Festival, Yann Demange’s debut ’71 is a worthy counterpart to Paul Greengrass’s film in terms of delivering sheer relentless tension that will have you gasping for air. Even at a brisk 99 minutes, ’71 is as impressive an example of conducting gripping human drama since Greengrass’s own debut Bloody Sunday, and is sure to be heralded in this year’s First Feature Competition strand.
Set in 1971 during the volatile conflict in Northern Ireland, rookie soldier Gary Hook – played by a sensational Jack O’Connell - and his inexperienced regiment are deployed as peacekeepers but are suddenly embroiled in an explosive riot. Separated in the mêlée, Gary is abandoned, left to navigate the murky waters of the Catholic and Protestant divide, as well as the sinister gangsterism of undercover British military – singularly captured in a terrifying performance from Sean Harris. Exactly who is the enemy is constantly questioned as Gary descends further down the rabbit hole. Read more
This year’s BFI London Film Festival kicked off with gala premiere The Imitation Game, the winner of the People’s Choice Award winner at Toronto Film Festival this September. Usually a very reliable predictor of Oscar success, with previous winners such as 12 Years A Slave, Silver Linings Playbook and The King’s Speech all going on to achieve further awards success, it is safe to say that director Morten Tyldum’s expertly crafted tale of Alan Turing and his team of mathematicians cracking enigma during WW2 will be dining at all the top tables this awards season.
The Imitation Game tells the story of Alan Turing (Benedict Cumberbatch) leading a renegade team of code breakers to break German communication efforts in a race against time, but actually gives the audience much more than a simple narrative of English wartime efforts. The film examines the key periods of Turing’s life, such as his unhappy childhood and stint at boarding school, his time at Bletchely helping the government crack Enigma, up to the later stages of his life and eventual post-war decline, to give the audience a fully encompassing story of Turing’s life. These highs and lows are perfectly portrayed by Cumberbatch, whose performance is remarkably layered and nuanced. He brings a variety of emotions to the role, with the film’s lighter moments especially funny yet remarkably subtle, and the middle stages of the film show the genuine wholeheartedness bordering on arrogance with which he believes in his own ability. Cumberbatch deserves significant credit for this – the scenes where he is being interviewed for one of the chief jobs at Bletchley is especially memorable for his quick yet almost nonchalant wit. Read more
This month, we’re giving you eight reasons to love cinema for the remainder of 2014. There are three very big reasons and five smaller ones, but they are all equally as deserving of their place on this list. Read on to learn more about DCM’s eight reasons to continue loving cinema this year...
1. Interstellar Read more
The Weekend Round-up
Gillian Flynn’s Gone Girl has been the literary phenomenon over the past 18 months, with seemingly 50% of tube users at any one time reading the book. The film adaptation hit cinemas on Thursday and with master-director, David Fincher pulling the strings, it was hugely anticipated. An opening weekend of £4.1m (including £517k from previews) is a strong start and the second 18-certificate film this year to open above £4m, after January’s The Wolf Of Wall Street (£4.6m). The obvious comparison for Gone Girl is David Fincher’s last film, The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo. Another 18-cert literary adaptation, TGWTDT opened with £4.3m in 2012 but that included four days of previews, so Gone Girl’s opening is much more impressive. TGWTDT finished its run with £12.3m, so Gone Girl will be aiming for a total north of that. Read more
CEA Digital Conference – 27 Nov @ Cineworld at the O2, Greenwich, East London
The ‘Cinema of the Future: innovation driving the audience experience’ conference is open to colleagues from across the industry. Read more
The BFI London Film Festival is set to be promoted through the Digital Cinema Media (DCM) app, cinime.
Those who use the app will receive a notification alerting them that new content will be made available during this year’s BFI London Film Festival, which runs from 8 to 19 October. Read more
The 58th BFI London Film Festival, in partnership with American Express®, kicks off today (Wednesday) with the European premiere of WWII drama, The Imitation Game, starring Benedict Cumberbatch and Keira Knightley.
Taking place over 12 days, the 2014 BFI London Film Festival includes a huge 248 feature films and 148 shorts across 17 venues, finishing on 19 October with David Ayers’ tank drama Fury. Read more
The 11th Advertising Week in New York saw some serious star power at large and the synergy between advertising, film and cinema, was great to see.
Gaining inspiration from other creative industries in particular, such as music, fashion, books and film can help challenge all of us to push boundaries and innovate. Read more
It’s that time of year again, and this season’s meeting began with the first London CEA meeting, for some time. We all met up at the fabulous Olympic Barnes, in glorious ATMOS sound.
The first CEA meeting of the Autumn season also had a new feel, as the format has been refreshed somewhat - now the open meeting is conducted in the afternoon, which enables a longer more energetic closed meeting in the morning (or so I heard) and makes it far more practical for all of us who sit alongside our Exhibitor partners. There were some great updates, some of which are summarised below: Read more
Thanks to a partnership between Digital Cinema Media (DCM) and MyMovies, users of the cinime app will now be able to access all the latest film content, wherever they are. The enhanced functionality is being launched as the app reaches the milestone of 500,000 downloads in the UK.
Going to the cinema to experience movies at their peak intensity, offers a genuine passion point for film fans and smartphones now allow people to plug into the experience at every step from preview to review – not just when they’re in the foyer or sitting in front of the big screen. Research has also revealed that the average dwell time in the cinema foyer of smartphone users is 15 minutes before the movie, while 50% of respondents are interested in doing some form of integrated activity with their phone in the movie theatre (FAME 2013). Read more
The ever-expanding Encounters Film Festival is famous for being the UK's best known showcase for short film and animation, as well as an annual meeting place for filmmakers and industry professionals. The six day festival kicked off last week, where it was hosted in two main venues on Bristol’s scenic Harbourside, one of which is The Watershed, part of DCM's independent portfolio.
This year saw the celebration of Encounters' 20th anniversary, featuring inspirational screenings and events, radical debates and cutting edge workshops. The special celebration presents 20/20: Looking back to look forward, a theme connecting the past to the future. The programme explores the festival's history, marking two decades which saw the change from analogue to digital. Read more
