Film festival season hits London

Following hot on the heels of the Venice Film Festival and with the Toronto festival already almost over, London is set to join in on the fun.

08:52 17 September 2004

Following hot on the heels of the Venice Film Festival and with the Toronto festival already almost over, London is set to join in on the fun with a celebration of celluloid of its own.

With the festival's curtain being raised on November 3rd the British Film Institute, sponsored by the Times newspaper, will show off director Mike Leigh's highly controversial 1960s-set abortion drama Vera Drake, which all but swept the board in Venice winning Best Film and Best Actress for Imelda Staunton's.

Bringing the festival to a close will be David O Russell's first outing since the critically acclaimed Three Kings, in the form of comedy I Heart Huckabees, while sandwiched in between in a frenetic fortnight of film-fuelled frolics will be, among others, Zhang Yimou's latest wushu masterpiece House Of Flying Daggers.

Other highlights include Enduring Love, starring British talent Daniel Craig and Rhys Ifans, Mira Nair's Vanity Fair with Reese Witherspoon and Pixar's latest attempt at CGI-rendered perfection The Incredibles.