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Embracing the #MeToo era with violent gusto, this year’s BFI London Film Festival opening night gala has just been announced. And, boy, is it a cracker. Steve McQueen’s adaptation of Lynda La Plante novel ‘Widows’ will be raising the curtain on October 10, ushering in 12 days and nights of screenings, premieres, talks and Q&As.
McQueen, a Londoner, is one of Britain’s most exciting filmmakers and his latest is a thriller about a group of women brought together by their dead husbands’ criminal pasts. The actors playing those women? Viola Davis, Michelle Rodriguez, Elizabeth Debicki and Cynthia Erivo. Screenwriter of the moment Gillian ‘Gone Girl’ Flynn – co-writer on ‘Widows’ – may be there too. Not a bad line-up to get the fest underway.
‘I am absolutely delighted that “Widows” will be opening this year’s BFI London Film Festival,’ said McQueen in a statement. ‘Watching the UK TV version of Lynda La Plante’s original thriller as a teenager in the ’80s had a major impact on me, and so it feels very special to be sharing this film with a UK audience.’
Keep your eyes peeled on August 30 for the full festival line-up. Tickets go on sale to the public at 10am on September 13. BFI members will be able to buy tickets from 10am on September 6.
The 62nd BFI London Film Festival in partnership with American Express runs Oct 10-21.
Can’t decide what to see this summer? Here are July and August’s biggest releases.