London Film Festival 2019

View other London Film Festival Films by strand: Cult, Debate, Documentary Competition, Experimenta, Family, First Feature Competition, Headline Galas, Journey, Laugh, Love, Official Competition, Special Presentations, Thrill, Treasures

Little Joe Little Joe
Little Joe and Family Romance LLC
Beanpole (Dylda) (Country: Russia; Year: 2019; Director: Kantemir Balagov; Writer: Kantemir Balagov; Stars: Viktoria Miroshnichenko, Vasilisa Perelygina, Timofey Glazkov, Andrei Bykov)
Two young women search for meaning and hope in the struggle to rebuild their lives amongst the ruins of Leningrad after the Second World War.
Burning Cane (Country: US; Year: 2019; Director: Phillip Youmans; Writer: Phillip Youmans; Stars: Wendell Pierce, Karen Kaia Livers, Dominique McClellan, Braelyn Kelly, Emyri Crutchfield, Erika Woods, Cynthia Capers, Wendell Pierce, Karen Kaia Livers, Dominique McClellan, Braelyn Kelly, Emyri Crutchfield, Erika Woods, Cynthia Capers)
A deeply religious mother in rural Louisiana struggles to reconcile her convictions of faith with the love she has for her troubled son.
Divine Love (Divino Amor) (Country: Brazil, Uruguay; Year: 2019; Director: Gabriel Mascaro; Writer: Esdras Bezerra, Rachel Daisy Ellis, Gabriel Mascaro, Lucas Paraizo; Stars: Dira Praes, Julio Machado, Emilio de Melo, Teca Pereira, Mariana Nunes, Thalita Carauta.)
A deeply religious woman uses her position in a notary's office to advance her mission to save struggling couples from divorce. While waiting for a sign in recognition of her efforts, she's confronted with a crisis in her own marriage that ultimately brings her closer to God.
Dogs Don't Wear Pants (Koirat eivät käytä housuja) (Country: Finland; Year: 2019; Director: Jukka-Pekka Valkeapää; Writer: Jukka-Pekka Valkeapää; Stars: Krista Kosonen, Pekka Strang, Jani Volanen, Oona Airola, Tomi Salmela, Eeva Soivio, Samuel Shipway, Ilona Huhta, Iiris Anttila, Helmi Lahti, Viivi Ihalainen, Sofia Kaipainen, Krista Kosonen, Pekka Strang, Jani Volanen)
A widower is struggling years after his wife drowned... meeting Mona, a dominatrix, changes everything.
Don't Look Down (Country: France; Year: 2019; Director: Olivier Ducastel, Jacques Martineau; Writer: Olivier Ducastel, Jacques Martineau; Stars: Manika Auxire, Geoffrey Couët, Simon Frenay, François Nambot, Lawrence Valin, Manika Auxire, Geoffrey Couët, Simon Frenay, François Nambot, Lawrence Valin)
Six people gather in an apartment for an evening of fun... and revenge.
Dogs Don't Wear Pants Dogs Don't Wear Pants
Dogs Don't Wear Pants and Judy And Punch
Eternal Beauty (Country: UK; Year: 2019; Director: Craig Roberts; Writer: Craig Roberts; Stars: Robert Aramayo, Sally Hawkins, David Thewlis, Billie Piper, Banita Sandhu, Penelope Wilton, Robert Pugh, Alice Lowe, Ashley McGuire, Morfydd Clark, Paul Hilton, Kas Meghani, Elysia Welch, Rita Bernard-Shaw, anthony Leader)
A schizophrenic woman finds things change when she embarks on a romance with a failed musician.
Family Romance LLC (Director: Werner Herzog)
Docudrama about a company which hires out people to pretend to be family members.
Fire Will Come (O Que Arde) (Country: Spain, France, Luxembourg; Year: 2019; Director: Oliver Laxe; Writer: Santiago Fillol, Oliver Laxe; Stars: Santiago Fillol, Oliver Laxe)
A convicted arsonist returns to his rural home.
Ghost Town Anthology (Répertoire des villes disparues) (Country: Canada; Year: 2019; Director: Denis Côté; Writer: Denis Côté; Stars: Robert Naylor, Diane Lavallée, Rémi Goulet, Jocelyne Zucco, Josée Deschênes, Jean-Michel Anctil, Rachel Graton, Hubert Proulx, Normand Carrière, Larissa Corriveau, Robert Naylor, Diane Lavallée, Rémi Goulet, Jocelyne Zucco, Josée Deschênes)
After a man dies in a car accident, time seems to lose all meaning for the residents of a small town... and then strangers begin to appear.
I Lost My Body (J’ai perdu mon corps) (Country: France; Year: 2019; Director: Jérémy Clapin; Writer: Jérémy Clapin, Guillaume Laurant; Stars: Voices of, Victoire Du Bois, Patrick d'Assumçao, Hakim Faris)
A cut-off hand escapes from a dissection lab with one crucial goal: to get back to its body. As it scrambles through the pitfalls of Paris, it remembers its life with the young man it was once attached to… until they met Gabrielle.
Fire Will Come Fire Will Come
Fire Will Come and The Sharks
Judy And Punch (Judy & Punch) (Country: Australia; Year: 2019; Director: Mirrah Foulkes; Writer: Mirrah Foulkes; Stars: Mia Wasikowska, Damon Herriman, Benedict Hardie, Eddie Baroo, Don Bridges, Tom Budge, Amy Christian, Virginia Gay, Terry Norris, Michael M. Foster, Gillian Jones, Daisy Axon, Lucy Honigman, Xavier Gouault, Brenda Palmer)
Puppeteers Judy and Punch are trying to resurrect their marionette show. The show is a hit due to Judy's superior puppeteering but Punch's driving ambition and penchant for whisky lead to a inevitable tragedy that Judy must avenge.
Dare gala
Little Joe (Country: Austria, UK, Germany; Year: 2019; Director: Jessica Hausner; Writer: Géraldine Bajard, Jessica Hausner; Stars: Emily Beecham, Ben Whishaw, Leanne Best, Lindsay Duncan, Kerry Fox, David Wilmut)
A genetically engineered plant scatters its seeds and seems to cause uncanny changes on living creatures. The afflicted appear strange, as if they were replaced - especially for those, who are close to them. Or is it all just imagination?
Love Me Tender (Country: Switzerland; Year: 2019; Director: Klaudia Reynicke; Writer: Klaudia Reynicke; Stars: Antonio Bannò, Giorgia Del Don, Muriel Del Don, Anna Galante, Elena Gigliotti, Barbara Giordano, Thomas Mariniello, Jasmin Mattei, Cinzia Morandi, Siro Pedrozzi, Gilles Privat, Maurizio Tabani, Federica Vermiglio, Max Zampeti)
An agoraphobic pushes herself to overcome her fears.
The Man Who Cuts Tattoos (Country: Nigeria; Year: 2019; Director: Michael Omonua; Writer: Michael Omonua; Stars: Valerie Dish, Omowunmi Dada, Duke Elvis)
Across two crucial periods in Nigerian history, two young women must ponder the painful sacrifices they are forced to make for love.
The Miracle Of The Sargasso Sea (To Thávma Tis Thálassas Ton Sargassón) (Country: Greece, Germany, Netherlands, Sweden; Year: 2019; Director: Syllas Tzoumerkas; Writer: Youla Boudali, Syllas Tzoumerkas; Stars: Angeliki Papoulia, Youla Boudali, Hristos Passalis, Argyris Xafis, Thanasis Dovris, Laertis Malkotsis, Maria Filini, Michalis Kimonas, Christian Culbida, Thanos Tokakis, Laertis Vasiliou, Katerina Helmy, Alkistis Poulopoulou, Romanos Kalokyris, Areti Seidaridou)
Crime drama.
System Crasher System Crasher
System Crasher and A White, White Day
The Painted Bird (Country: Czech Republic, Ukraine, Slovakia; Year: 2019; Director: Václav Marhoul; Writer: Jerzy Kosinski, Václav Marhoul, Václav Marhoul; Stars: Stellan Skarsgård, Harvey Keitel, Barry Pepper, Julian Sands, Udo Kier, Aleksey Kravchenko, Tim Kalkhof, Jitka Cvancarová, Pavel Kríz, Petr Vanek, Lech Dyblik, Petr Kotlar, Radim Fiala, Milan Simácek, Filip Kankovský)
A lone Jewish boy has to fend for himself in Nazi-occupied eastern Europe.
The Sharks (Country: Uruguay, Argentina, Spain; Year: 2019; Director: Lucía Garibaldi; Writer: Lucía Garibaldi; Stars: Romina Bentancur, Federico Morosini, Fabián Arenillas, Valeria Lois, Antonella Aquistapache)
While a rumour about the presence of sharks in a small beach town distracts residents, 14-year-old Rosina begins to feel an instinct to shorten the distance between her body and Joselo's.
System Crasher (Systemsprenger) (Country: Germany; Year: 2019; Director: Nora Fingscheidt; Writer: Nora Fingscheidt; Stars: Helena Zengel, Albrecht Schuch, Gabriela Maria Schmeide, Lisa Hagmeister, Melanie Straub, Victoria Trauttmansdorff, Maryam Zaree, Tedros Teclebrhan, Matthias Brenner, Louis von Klipstein, Barbara Philipp, Amelle Schwerk, Sashiko Hara, Fine Belger, Imke Büchel)
Nine-year-old Benni radically defies every rule. But this feared ‘system crasher’s’ only desire is to stop living in a residential home and go back to her mother.
This is Not Berlin (Country: Mexico; Year: 2019; Director: Hari Sama; Writer: Rodrigo Ordoñez, Hari Sama, Max Zunino; Stars: Xabiani Ponce de León, José Antonio Toledano, Mauro Sánchez Navarro, Klaudia Garcia, Ximena Romo, Américo Hollander, Hari Sama, Marina de Tavira, Lumi Cavazos, Fernando Álvarez Rebeil, Juan Carlos Remolina, Rodrigo Rojo, Luna Balvanera, Sara Manni, Emilio Cuaik)
Seventeen-year-old Carlos doesn't fit in anywhere, not in his family nor with the friends he has chosen in school. But everything changes when he is invited to a mythical nightclub where he discovers the underground nightlife scene: punk, sexual liberty and drugs.
Tlamess (Country: Tunisia, France; Year: 2019; Director: Ala Eddine Slim; Writer: Ala Eddine Slim; Stars: Abdullah Miniawy, Souhir Ben Amara)
Following the death of his mother, “S”, a young Tunisian soldier, returns home. He deserts the army and is sought by the authorities. After several altercations with the police, “S” is seriously injured, and takes refuge in a nearby forest. “F”, a young pregnant woman, lives in a luxurious villa in the same forest. There she meets the strange “S”, who is undergoing some unusual changes of his own.
Tremors Tremors
Tremors and I Lost My Body
Tremors (Temblores) (Country: Guatemala, France, Luxembourg; Year: 2019; Director: Jayro Bustamante; Writer: Jayro Bustamante; Stars: Juan Pablo Olyslager, Mauricio Armas, Diane Bathen, María Telón, Pedro Javier Silva Lira)
The coming out of an evangelical father shatters his family, his community and uncovers a profoundly repressive society.
Vitalina Varela (Country: Portugal; Year: 2019; Director: Pedro Costa; Writer: Pedro Costa, Vitalina Varela; Stars: Vitalina Varela)
The story of a Cape Verdean who arrives in Lisbon just days after her husband’s funeral - a journey she has been wanting to make for a quarter of a century.
A White, White Day (Hvítur, Hvítur Dagur) (Country: Iceland, Denmark; Year: 2019; Director: Hlynur Palmason; Writer: Hlynur Palmason; Stars: Ingvar Eggert Sigurðsson, Ída Mekkín Hlynsdóttir, Hilmir Snær Guðnason, Sara Dögg Ásgeirsdóttir, Björn Ingi Hilmarsson, Elma Stefania Agustsdottir, Haraldur Stefansson, Laufey Elíasdóttir, Sigurður Sigurjónsson, Arnmundur Ernst Björnsson, Þór Hrafnsson Tulinius, Sverrir Þór Sverrisson)
An off-duty police chief begins to suspect a local man to have had an affair with his wife, who has recently died in a car accident. Gradually his obsession for finding out the truth accumulates and inevitably begins to endanger himself and his loved ones.
Zombi Child (Country: France; Year: 2019; Director: Bertrand Bonello; Writer: Bertrand Bonello)
Haiti, 1962. A man is brought back from the dead only to be sent to the living hell of the sugarcane fields. In Paris, 55 years later, at a boarding school, a Haitian girl confesses an old family secret to a group of new friends – never imagining that this strange tale will convince a heartbroken classmate to do the unthinkable.
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