Capital Celluloid 2024 — Day 287: Sun Oct 20

Anora (Baker, 2024): Prince Charles Cinema, 8pm


68th LONDON FILM FESTIVAL (9th - 20th October 2024) DAY 12

With its date at the end of the year, London is a "festival of festivals", as Telegraph film critic Robbie Collin put it in one of his previews, so the films shown have mostly been seen and commented on by critics who have watched the features at such high-profile festivals as Cannes, Venice, Toronto, Sundance and Berlin.

So I'm making it simple with one recommendation a day. I will be concentrating on the repertory choices but I've also read the reviews of the contemporary releases and talked to and listened to the trusted critics all year and I am as confident as I can be that this is the pick of the movies within the parameters I have set. Firstly, there's no point highlighting the major gala films - they will be sold out quickly. Secondly, there is little to be gained in paying the higher Festival ticket prices to see films that are out in Britain soon. I will be returning to the London Festival films worthy of seeing and set to be released in the coming months on this blog as and when they get a general release in London.

Here then (from October 9th to October 20th) are the films you are likely to be able to get tickets for and the movies you are unlikely to see in London very soon unless you go the Festival. Here is the LFF's main website for the general information you need. Don't worry if some of the recommended films are sold out as there are always some tickets on offer which go on sale 30 minutes before each screening. Here is the information you need to get those standby tickets.

This film also screens at the Southbank Centre on October 11th and 15th. You can find all the details here.

BFI introduction:
Sean Baker (Florida Project, Red Rocket) presents a modern-day Cinderella story about Ani, a young sex worker from Brooklyn, meeting Vanya, a spoiled son of a Russian oligarch, who offers her a glamorous new life of possibility and incredible wealth. Ani’s wild ride and fairytale is soon threatened when news of their whirlwind marriage gets back to Russia, resulting in Vanya’s parents flying to New York to manage the situation. Both wildly entertaining and heartbreaking, Anora takes audiences on a freewheeling, rambunctious adventure that escalates to dizzying levels. Drawing comparisons to Pretty Woman, it constantly plays with genre and audience expectations. But what shines through most, as it does in all of his films, is Baker’s love for and unwillingness to judge his characters.
Isabel Moir

Here (and above) is the trailer.

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