London Film Festival unveils lineup

Source: variety.com

The London Film Festival unveiled its strongest lineup in years on Wednesday with an expanded awards ceremony, 15 world preems and a generous sprinkling of George Clooney among the highlights.

Aided by a cash injection of $2.7 million (£1.8 million) over the next three years from public sector funding org the U.K. Film Council, this year's fest features a bolstered lineup that includes a keynote industry address by Focus Features topper James Schamus. The awards section includes new categories for best film and best British newcomer, and a standalone ceremony on Oct. 28.

Fest will make its splashiest bow ever on Oct. 14 when it takes over two theaters in London's Leicester Square for simultaneous screenings of opener 'Fantastic Mr. Fox,' Wes Anderson's stop-action animation featuring the voices of Meryl Streep, Bill Murray and Clooney, all of whom are expected to attend.

Clooney has two other pics at the fest -- Grant Heslov's Men Who Stare at Goats' and Jason Reitman's 'Up in the Air' -- while Pixar supremo John Lasseter will jet into town to introduce the U.K. preem of 'Toy Story 2 in 3-D.'

World preems include Brit artist-turned-filmmaker Sam Taylor-Wood's feature debut 'Nowhere Boy' -- about the young John Lennon, which closes the fest on Oct. 29 -- as well as Malcolm Venville's Brit gangster drama '44 Inch Chest,' David Morrissey's 'Don't Worry About Me' and Penny Woolcock's '1 Day.'

Elsewhere, world cinema is well represented with pics including French helmer Jacques Audiard's 'A Prophet,' Austrian helmer Michael Haneke's Palme d'Or winner 'The White Ribbon' and Palestinian helmer Elia Suleiman's 'The Time That Remains' among the 191 films, which also features 23 European preems.

Up until this year, the festival's operating budget has been about 50% of what an equivalent festival might have to spend,' artistic director Sandra Hebron told Daily Variety. 'The additional money from the U.K. Film Council allows us to take a significant first step toward having a level of parity and allows us to invest in a number of new initiatives. We're raising the profile of the festival while making sure that the substance of the festival and its program remains in place.'