Starring Barry Keoghan, Jacob Elordi and Rosamund Pike, Saltburn is Emerald Fennell’s follow-up to her Oscar-winning thriller Promising Young Woman.
The opening night gala will take place at the Royal Festival Hall on October 4. Whether or not the cast will attend the event is currently up in the air with the current actors’ strike causing chaos.
Saltburn is set for a cinema release November 24. The film follows Keoghan’s Oliver Quick, a student at Oxford University, who becomes enamored with the aristocratic Felix Catton (Euphoria star Jacob Elordi). Felix invites Oliver to his family’s lavish estate, the titular Saltburn, for the summer.
Credit: Amazon Studios
“I’m honored that our film is able to open this year’s BFI London Film Festival. It is a festival that inspired me so much growing up, one that I followed excitedly from my bedroom on the other side of London. It feels extra-special that Saltburn, this very British tale of excess, is able to make its international debut at the wonderful BFI,” Fennell commented on the news.
Taking over from Tricia Tuttle as festival director, 2023 will mark Kristy Matheson’s first year helming the festival.
“As soon as the credits rolled on Saltburn it was clear we’d met our opening night film. Academy Award winner Emerald Fennell returns with an expertly crafted and exhilarating thrill ride of a film that showcases an enormous depth of U.K. talents in front of and behind the camera. With its exceptional performances, delicious plot twists and a soundtrack of early 21st century pop bangers; this hugely ambitious film immediately stole our hearts and we can’t wait to share it with audiences in London and across the U.K. this October,” Matheson said.
BFI London Film Festival will take over London in October. Competition films will play at BFI Southbank while films will also play at Curzon Mayfair, Curzon Soho, Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA), Prince Charles Cinema, BFI IMAX and Vue West End.
Promising Young Woman earned Emerald Fennell the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay. Credit: Universal Pictures
Once again, LFF will hold screenings across the country. You can catch a variety of the films from the fest at Broadway Cinema in Nottingham, Chapter in Cardiff, Glasgow Film Theatre, HOME in Manchester, MAC in Birmingham, Queen’s Film Theatre in Belfast, Showroom Cinema in Sheffield, Tyneside Cinema in Newcastle and Watershed in Bristol.
Audiences can also watch a selection of LFF films, both past and present on the BFI Player. LFF has always been branded as the more accessible version of the glamorous European film festivals. The full programme of films will be launched later this month.
