The BFI London Film Festival runs from 10th -21 October showcasing a range of films for all of the family to enjoy. Tickets for the Family strand are £1 for Children under 16’s and £10 for Adults. Check out the great films on offer.
Mirai
- The Family Gala is Mamoru Hosoda’s rapturous and fantastical take on childhood MIRAI. Young Kun has a new baby sister and the loving attention showered on him by his parents for all his years appears to evaporate overnight. While Mum rushes between her job and looking after baby Mirai, Dad is at home trying to keep things afloat. A series of fantastical events ensues, including the revelation that family dog Yukko was once the Prince of the House before the children were born, but who informs Kun about the lack of attention he received following the boy’s own arrival. Kun is also visited by Mirai, as a grown-up from the future. And he subsequently takes a ride with his late grandfather who has journeyed from the past to scold him for his selfish behaviour. Like the apparitions who visit Dickens’ Ebenezer Scrooge, these visitors – imagined or otherwise – have the desired effect of helping Kun cope with the changes that are affecting his life. Mirai articulates themes regarding the importance of family, along with the virtues of patience and tolerance. This is a beautifully crafted piece from an auteur director who succeeds in capturing the universal issues affecting childhood with great insight and a lot of fun. First premiering to acclaim at the Cannes Film Festival, this screening coincides with the exhibition ‘The World of Mamoru Hosoda’, showing at Noho Studios during the Festival. Additional Information
• Suitable for ages 8+
The Elephant Queen
- Shot over eight years, Mark Deeble and Victoria Stone’s THE ELEPHANT QUEEN is a stunning documentary, beautifully narrated by Chiwetel Ejiofor, which tells the story of Athena, the Elephant Queen, who leads her family across Africa when drought hits their region. Athena is a 50-year-old matriarch. Her family includes new-born Mimi and mischievous youngster Weiwei. When their water supply is threatened, they embark on a journey in the gruelling heat to the badlands in search of a freshwater source. En route, they endure both heartbreak and joy in a gripping tale that’s reminiscent of great wildlife documentaries such as March of the Penguins. Through the remarkable footage, they shot, award-winning directors Victoria Stone and Mark Deeble
skilfully introduce us to the smaller creatures who depend on the elephants to sustain their own fragile ecosystems. There are a lost goose, the aptly named foam frogs and a star cameo from a determined dung beetle. Chiwetel Ejiofor narrates, while Alex Heffes provides a richly evocative score. But it’s the majestic beauty of the elephants that stuns.
Additional Information
• Suitable for ages 6+
Pachamama
- Juan Antin’s authentic animated tale, about a Peruvian village during the time of the Incas, is the
latest from Ernest and Celestine producer Didier Brunner. 16th-Century Peru is ruled over by the Inca empire. Its citizens are a superstitious people. They make offerings to Pachamama, the Earth Mother, and her gods in order to thank them for abundant crops and good weather. A visit from the greedy Inca tax collectors and the subsequent invasion by Spanish troops provide a compelling backdrop for this exciting animated adventure story, which focuses on fun-loving 10-year-old Tepulpai, who sets off to rescue the village’s precious golden
statue from the Inca palace. With his friend, Naira and their llama companion, a David versus Goliath battle ensues. From Didier Brunner’s (Ernest and Celestine) new animation studio Folivari comes to a well-researched, captivating and fun animated film that is geared towards the under-10s but has plenty to appeal to older audiences.
Additional Information
• Suitable for ages 8+
Alone in Space
- Ted Kjellsson’s exciting and thought-provoking Swedish sci-fi family drama, ALONE IN SPACE, unfolds on a huge spaceship that hosts just two human passengers… and an otherworldly lifeform. This wonderful Swedish sci-fi family drama unfolds on a huge spaceship that hosts just two human passengers… and an otherworldly lifeform. Siblings Keaton and Gladys are travelling alone on a spaceship to a planet that, confoundingly, never
appears to get any closer. They are the sole members of what should have been a group voyage from a dying Earth to a world where humanity was planned to begin anew. Instead, it’s just them. Or at least, it was. The arrival of an alien act as a wedge between brother and sister, with both unsure of its motives. Their situation isn’t helped by the sensation that there is also an unidentified outside force at work. This high concept, family sci-fi, bolstered by the sharp production design and visual effects, is exciting and thought-provoking for the way it raises questions about life and death.
Additional Information
• Suitable for ages 8+
Subtitled in English. An actor will read out the subtitles via headphones for younger
audiences.
DILILI IN PARIS
- The great master of French animation, Michel Ocelot, returns to the Festival with DILILI IN PARIS, his exquisite tale set in Paris during the Belle Époque. It’s the turn of the century and Paris is a city of diversity, architecture, culture and home to Dilili, a Kanak girl who hails from a French territory in the South Pacific. With her new friend Orel, a delivery boy, Dilili investigates a mystery involving a dastardly plan devised by a secret society called The Master-Men. Their investigation, that soon finds them being followed, finds Dilili and Orel
encountering an unlikely but impressive rollcall of Parisian luminaries, from Marcel Proust, Claude Monet and Marie Curie to Louis Pasteur, Erik Satie and Sarah Bernhardt. Although there’s an unsettling sting in the tale that could prove challenging for very young viewers, Ocelot’s film employs his lovingly crafted trademark style, foregrounds the universal aspiration of good triumphing over evil, and features immensely likeable lead characters.
Additional Information
• Suitable for ages 8+
• Subtitles
Jim Button and Luke the Engine Driver
- Quirky, upbeat fantasy adventure JIM BUTTON AND LUKE THE ENGINE DRIVER is based on the bestseller by the author of The Neverending Story. On the small island of Morrowland, where a group of unusual people live, an unexpected package arrives by post for Mrs Grindtooth. It contains a baby, whom the community adopt and name Jim. As he grows up, Jim becomes aware that his skin colour is different from the other islanders and
becomes increasingly keen to discover more about his heritage. Eventually, he and engine driver Luke embark on an epic journey that takes them to an underground kingdom named Sorrowland and an encounter with the talkative half-dragon, half-hippo Nepomuk. Jim Button’s offbeat charm is guaranteed to keep the audience entertained and enthralled, which is hardly surprising considering it came from the pen of Michael Ende, author of the classic The Neverending Story.
Additional Information
• Suitable for ages 6+
• Subtitles
Gordon & Paddy
- Voiced by Stellan Skarsgård and Melinda Kinnaman, Linda Hamback’s GORDON & PADDY is the ultimate mash-up, as Nordic Noir meets family animation when elderly toad Gordon and fearless young mouse Paddy join forces to solve the case of the missing nuts; this witty, heartwarming tale is a detective adventure for the whole family. Detective Gordon, an elderly toad nearing retirement joins forces with a fearless and intelligent
young mouse named Paddy, a possible successor who studies the detective’s every move as he carries out his work. What begins as an investigation into missing nuts soon takes an unexpected turn when youngsters also go missing. The chief suspect for both crimes is a disreputable fox. Based on the books by Ulf Nilsson and with Stellan Skarsgård bringing gruff gravitas to the role of the detective, Gordon and Paddy employ good humour and much charm in its pastiche of Nordic Noir. Though clearly aware of its young audience, the film has enough flair and wit to defy age boundaries.
Additional Information
• Suitable for ages 6+.
• Subtitled in English. An actor will read out the subtitles via headphones for younger
audiences.