TOP CANNES AND BERLIN PRIZE-WINNERS TO SCREEN AT 65th BFI LONDON FILM FESTIVAL

MEMORIA, BAD LUCK BANGING or LOONY PORN, and PETROV’S FLU – will be receiving their UK premieres at the 65th BFI London Film Festival next month.

MEMORIA

Winner of the prestigious Jury Prize at this year’s Cannes Film Festival, and nominated for the Palme d’Or, Oscar-winner Tilda Swinton stars in Apichatpong Weerasethakul’s meditative exploration of memory and the human condition.

Synopsis:

Visiting her sister in Bogota, Jessica (Tilda Swinton) is woken by a loud bang, audible only to her. Restless and disoriented, she roams the city in search of an explanation for the mysterious sound, becoming immersed in the aural richness around her – whispers in a hospital room, sound effects playing in an editing studio, indiscreet noises from a city square. Despite being present throughout, Jessica’s motives remain opaque and her encounters enigmatic.

BAD LUCK BANGING or LOONY PORN

Writer/director Radu Jude’s shocking satire, winner of the prestigious Golden Bear at this year’s 71st Berlin International Film Festival, stars Katia Pascariu as a teacher who finds her reputation under threat after a sex tape is leaked.

Synopsis:

Produced under conditions of lockdown, Jude’s uncompromising satire is a relentless attack on prejudice and hypocrisy. Divided into three parts, Jude describes it as a ‘sketch for a popular film’.

The first follows Emi as she walks through the COVID-emptied streets of Bucharest. The second – a dictionary of ‘anecdotes, signs, and wonders’ – embraces the construction of Ceausescu’s palace, Church support for dictatorships and other excesses. In the third, Emi faces a parents’ tribunal that becomes an exercise in misogyny and racism, with extensive recourse to the internet.

Hardcore images disturb but are also demystified by their context. Coming from the director of Aferim! and Scarred Hearts, it’s a striking antidote to complacency. (Synopsis by Peter Hames)