54th BFI London Film Festival Opening And Closing Films

• 2nd Sep 2010

The 54th BFI London Film Festival has announced that this year’s Festival will open on Wednesday 13 October with the European premiere of Never Let Me Go, directed by Mark Romanek (One Hour Photo), based on the highly acclaimed, bestselling novel by Kazuo Ishiguro and adapted for the screen by Alex Garland (Sunshine, 28 Days Later). The film stars Keira Knightley, Carey Mulligan and future Spider-man Andrew Garfield.

Never Let Me Go is a remarkable story of love, loss and hidden truths. Kathy (Mulligan), Tommy (Garfield) and Ruth (Knightley) spend their childhood at Hailsham, a seemingly idyllic English boarding school where they discover a dark and haunting secret about their future. As they leave the shelter of the school behind and draw inexorably closer to the devastating fate that awaits them as adults, they must also confront the deep feelings of love, jealousy and betrayal that threaten to pull them apart. Twentieth Century Fox will release the film in the UK on 14th January 2011.

The closing night film will be the European premiere of 127 Hours on Thursday 28th October.

Danny Boyle’s highly anticipated 127 Hours stars Golden Globe winner James Franco (MILK). Boyle, the Academy Award winning director of 2008’s Best Picture, Slumdog Millionaire is reunited with Academy Award winning screenwriter Simon Beaufoy.

The filmmakers and stars, including Danny Boyle and James Franco, are expected to attend the red carpet. Boyle last attended the Festival in 2008 when the European premiere of multiple award-winning Slumdog Millionaire was also the closing night gala.

127 Hours is the true story of mountain climber Aron Ralston’s remarkable adventure to save himself after a falling boulder crashes on his arm and traps him in an isolated canyon in Utah. Over the next five days Ralston examines his life and survives the elements to finally discover he has the courage and the wherewithal to extricate himself by any means necessary, abseil a 65 foot rock face and hike over eight miles before he is finally rescued. A visceral thrilling story that will take an audience on a never before experienced journey and prove what we can do when we choose life.

The full programme for The 54th BFI London Film Festival will be announced on Wednesday 8th September.

The Festival runs from 13-28 October 2010. For more information: www.bfi.org.uk/lff