The 66th BFI London Film Festival in partnership with American Express has announced the eight films that will screen in Official Competition and contend for the Best Film Award.
This year’s Official Competition selection is presented in association with Sight and Sound.
The 2022 nominated films showcase a remarkable range of filmmaking talent from across the world with 13 countries represented across the selection. From a thrilling and uncompromising Argentinian political drama to a chilling British folk horror tale; and a breathtaking story of brotherly love to the poignancy of family displacement during the Syrian conflict in Damascus, the films selected for Official Competition celebrate passionate and inspired global filmmaking.
The 8 films in Official Competition are:
ARGENTINA, 1985 (Argentina, dir-scr. Santiago Mitre)
Ricardo Darín stars in this uncompromising political drama, thrillingly recreating one of Argentina’s most legendary trials, which sought to bring the country’s military dictatorship to justice.
BROTHER (Canada, dir-scr. Clement Virgo)
Clement Virgo’s film is a bold and breathtaking story of brotherly love, set over three separate time periods, in Toronto’s West Indian community.
CORSAGE (Austria-Luxembourg-Germany-France, dir-scr. Marie Kreutzer)
Sisi the Empress gets an irreverent make-over in Austrian director Marie Kreutzer’s exhilarating period drama.
LES DAMNES NE PLEURENT PAS (France-Belgium-Morocco, dir-scr. Fyzal Boulifa)
Fyzal Boulifa follows his arresting debut Lynn + Lucy (LFF 2019) with another striking film about the perils of falling foul of community and social expectations.
ENYS MEN (UK, dir-scr. Mark Jenkin)
Bait director Mark Jenkin follows up his acclaimed debut with this chilling, endlessly mysterious folk horror tale, beautifully shot on grainy 16mm.
GODLAND (Denmark-Iceland-France-Sweden, dir-scr. Hlynur Palmason)
With his third feature, Hlynur Pálmason (A White, White Day) delivers a breathtakingly inventive and ambitious historical epic, set in mid-19th-century Iceland.
NEZOUH (UK-Syria-France, dir-scr. Soudade Kaadan)
Soudade Kaadan (The Day I Lost My Shadow, LFF 2018) turns to her Syrian roots for this wry, poignant look at a family forced from their home in Damascus.
SAINT OMER (FRANCE, dir. Alice Diop)
Alice Diop reinvents the courtroom drama in this concentrated, gripping study of a writer and the young African woman whose fate comes to fascinate her.
BFI Southbank will be home to the Official Competition titles this year, as the 66th BFI London Film Festival once again celebrates the power of film in the heart of London.
The winner will be chosen by the Official Competition Jury, the members of which will be announced in the coming weeks. The other competitive categories, the Grierson Award for Best Documentary, the Sutherland Award for Best First Feature, the Short Film Award and the Best Immersive Art and XR Award will be revealed at the full programme launch on 1st September. The ever-popular Audience Award will also return for 2022– won last year by Mounia Akl’s ambitious debut feature Costa, Brava, Lebanon – while a new category the Audience Award, Best Short Film, has also been introduced.
This year’s Official Competition selection includes gifted and exciting filmmakers from across the world including the UK, Argentina, Morocco, Iceland, Syria and Canada.
The winner of the Best Film Award will be announced at a special virtual LFF Awards Ceremony event on Sunday 16 October on BFI YouTube and social media.
The 66th BFI London Film Festival in partnership with American Express takes place from Wednesday 5th October – Sunday 16th October, 2022. The BFI LFF Programme Launch will take place on Thursday 1st September, 2022.
