Barry Keoghan And Sarah Snook Movies To Play In BFI London Film Festival 2024 Official Competition

Ahead of the programme release for the 2024 London Film Festival on Wednesday, the BFI have revealed which movies will be competing for the Best Film Award in this year's Official Competition line-up. Among the eleven hopefuls looking to scoop the prize taken last year by Ryusuke Hamaguchi's Evil Does Not Exist, highlights include Barry Keoghan and Christopher Abbott's feuding farmer feature Bring Them Down, Adam Elliot's (Mary & Max) long-awaited stop-motion movie Memoir Of A Snail with Sarah Snook and Eric Bana, and Geraldine Flower documentary The Extraordinary Miss Flower, the latest from 20,000 Days On Earth directors Iain Forsyth and Jane Pollard.

In a banner year for international representation at the London Film Festival (13 countries are represented across the Official Competition line-up), the rest of the buzzy films set to compete in competition are as follows: Rungano Nyoni's Cannes Un Certain Regard-winning Zambian drama On Becoming A Guinea Fowl; Dea Kulumbegashvili's April, a Luca Guadagnino produced exploration of rural life in Georgia; Darren Thornton's queer carer feature Four Mothers, adapted from past LFF winner Mid-August Lunch; Japanese filmmaker Mipo O's Living In Two Worlds, which follows a CODA (Child Of Deaf Adults) and their inner struggles; Thank You For Banking With Us, a tale of two sisters trying to secure their inheritance from Palestinian filmmaker Laila Abbas; Gabrielle Brady's Mongolia-focuesed climate change hybrid doc The Wolves Always Come At Night; Polish director Damian Kocur's timely Ukrainian family refugee drama Under The Volcano; and Venice Golden Lion contestant Vermiglio, Maura Delpero's Italian period piece about a remote mountain village visited upon by a military deserter.

“We have a stellar line up for audiences and our jury’s consideration," said Kristy Matheson, BFI London Film Festival Director, in a statement. "We’re immensely proud to have UK and Irish works alongside films from across the globe. Boasting an enormous breadth in terms of cinematic styles, there’s a world of cinema to be enjoyed in our 2024 Official Competition.”

With Gala screenings for Steve McQueen WWII drama Blitz, Morgan Neville's brick-based Pharrell Williams biopic Piece By Piece, and Bill Nighy IVF drama Joy all previously confirmed, and the Official Competition strand stuffed to the gills with homegrown and international talent, this year's festival is already shaping up to be a doozy. And if you've not already popped the dates in your film diary, then here's a reminder: the BFI London Film Festival 2024 is set to run from Wednesday 9 October to Sunday 20 October in London, at partner cinemas around the UK, and online. Until then, we're still keeping everything crossed and manifesting a Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl premiere at the fest. Wouldn't that just be cracking?