London Film Festival opens with '360'

GlobalPost

Serious cinema-lovers and amateur celebrity stalkers unite!

The 55th BFI London Film Festival opened Wednesday, and the two-week long showcase will feature more than 300 features and shorts from countries around the globe, BBC reported.

The festival opened with “360,” a fitting pick in a cinema festival showing work from 55 countries. The film, based on Arthur Schnitzler’s play “La Ronde,” stars Anthony Hopkins, Jude Law and Rachel Weisz in a drama that portrays a series of love stories that jumps from spots in England to Italy, Brazil and the United States, according to AP.

Hopkins and Weisz did not make an appearance at the premiere, Reuters reported, but Law posed for photographers in a dapper-looking suit and fedora on his way into the theater.

Celebrities expected to walk the red carpet later in the week offer a wide range of characters from the international movie-scene. AP reported that stars expected range from comedian Seth Rogen to Michael Fassbender, known for his stunning dramatic performances.

According to The Telegraph, Madonna, Ralph Fiennes — making his directorial debut with the literary-inspired “Coriolanus” — and George Clooney  are also likely to attend the showings.

And if you’re not a cinema pro and aren’t sure which films to look out for, the UK film blog Cine-Vue weeds out the best from the rest in a handy list naming their top 20 picks from this year’s program.

Their top spot goes to the film “We need to Talk About Kevin,” which stars Tilda Swinton as a “grief-stricken mother coping with the aftermath of an abhorrent act of violence by her son.”

The London Film Festival was founded in 1957 to provide British audiences the chance to watch many of the world’s best cinema of the year.

AP reported:

The festival has in the past few years tried to carve out a place on the international festival calendar with bigger pictures and more glittering stars. While most of the films have already made their debuts at Sundance, Cannes, Toronto or Venice, there are 13 world premieres in the lineup, most of them new British features.

The festival also will award a best picture prize to one of the films featured. It is only the third year that the film festival will have a formal awards ceremony, and according to AP, films being considered include “The Artist” and “The Descendants.”

The French film “The Artist,” a silent film recreation of 1920s era Hollywood, has already received Oscar buzz, according to Time Out London.

Last year, the top prize went to director Alexei Popogrebsky’s “How I Ended This Summer.”

Sign up for our daily newsletter

Sign up for The Top of the World, delivered to your inbox every weekday morning.