Sam Mendes Empire Of Light To Premiere At BFI London Film Festival

Sam Mendes cinema Paradiso, Empire Of Light is set to make it’s European Premiere at BFI London Film Festival.

Set in an English seaside town in the early 1980s. The film is a powerful and poignant story about human connection and the magic of cinema.

The film stars Academy Award winner Olivia Colman, Micheal Ward, Academy Award winner Colin Firth, Toby Jones, Crystal Clarke and Tanya Moodie. It also reunites Mendes with Academy Award winning cinematographer Roger Deakins (1917, Skyfall).

Related Post: Production Starts On Sam Mendes Empire Of Light

Empire Of Light will join Matthew Warchus Roald Dahl’s Matilda The Musical. Which is set to open this year’s festival with Rian Johnson’s Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery that will close things.

“I’m absolutely delighted to be included in this year’s BFI London Film Festival as the AMEX Gala screening. Empire of Light is a very personal movie for me, and I can’t wait to show it in my home town”. said Mendes

Tricia Tuttle, BFI London Film Festival Director, said: “When I read that Sam Mendes’ next project was centred around a cinema, I was so excited about the possibility of being able to present it in the BFI London Film Festival. Mendes is a masterful storyteller and here vividly captures a sense of the South coast of England, in the 1980s. Empire of Light explores the importance of community, the power of storytelling and of the movies, specifically the thrill of watching a film in a dark cinema, and the tactile pleasures of celluloid. And these are themes so close to our hearts at the BFI. The entire ensemble cast is truly exceptional, with Olivia Colman and Micheal Ward offering stunning central performances. We are so looking forward to presenting the European Premiere of Empire of Light as the American Express Gala at the 66th BFI London Film Festival“.

The 2022 BFI London Film Festival line up will be announced on 1st September.

Empire Of Light will be released in UK and Irish cinemas from 17th January 2023.