Films On Filmmaking at the 56th BFI London Film Festival

A recurrent theme throughout this year’s programme is the rather reflexive and tongue-in-cheek notion of films concerning the art of filmmaking.

Many films in the Festival either focus on famous film-makers, have actors playing actors, directors or screenwriters and the physical act of making movies itself. There is also a strong focus on the practice of film-making in the events and Experimental strands alike...

Ben Affleck’s political thriller ARGO is based on real declassified events concerning a risky government initiative to free American prisoners by masquerading as the cast and crew of a new science fiction movie in pre-production.

Similarly, Colin Farrell plays a troubled LA screen-writer in Martin McDonagh’s SEVEN PSYCHOPATHS; a follow-up to the seminal In Bruges that is competing for Best Film. When Sam Rockwell and Christopher Walken decide to help him conduct research for his latest script, they all end up getting far more than they bargained for.

Highly anticipated in the Laugh strand this year is Florian Habicht’s charming and original romantic comedy; LOVE STORY, following a New Zealand director in the streets of New York city, accruing the opinion of random citizens to dictate the plot of his love story; blurring the line between documentary and fiction with hilarious, authentic and heart-warming effect.

BERGMAN AND MAGNANI: THE WAR OF THE VOLCANOES sits in the Treasures from the Archives strand – a scintillating documentary examining the love triangle surrounding Italian director Rossellini who left his wife Anna Magnani for lead actress Ingrid Bergman during the filming of their 1950s epic War of the Volcanoes.

Similarly, Paolo and Vittorio Taviani’s CAESAR MUST DIE, artistically follows a group of Italian convicts who prepare to put on a version of Julius Caesar in prison – a film within a film of a play – this brilliant blend of documentary and drama won the Golden Bear at the 2012 Berlin Film Festival.

The filmmaking theme is reinforced by the presence of Debate Gala THE PERVERT’S GUIDE TO IDEOLOGY; an on screen reflective essay on some of cinema’s most historical works, complimented by an ‘in conversation’ event with subject Slavoj Zizek. Alongside this is a tribute to Australian filmmaker Peter Kubelka – a revolutionary and uncompromising force in cinema for more than half a decade. He condenses and articulates the essential qualities of analogue cinema, distinguishing film as an autonomous art form.

THE 56TH BFI LONDON FILM FESTIVAL RUNS FROM 10-21 OCTOBER | BOX OFFICE NOW OPEN