Breathe to open the 2017 BFI London Film Festival | Little White Lies

Festivals

Breathe to open the 2017 BFI Lon­don Film Festival

29 Jun 2017

Words by Little White Lies

Two people embracing in a romantic pose against a warm, golden background.
Two people embracing in a romantic pose against a warm, golden background.
Andy Serkis’ peri­od dra­ma has been cho­sen to kick off this year’s festival.

The 61st BFI Lon­don Film Fes­ti­val will kick off on Wednes­day 4 Octo­ber with the Euro­pean pre­mière of Breathe. Direct­ed by Andy Serkis, the film is based on the true sto­ry of Robin Cavendish, a promi­nent cam­paign­er for the dis­abled dur­ing the mid­dle part of the 20th cen­tu­ry who was left paral­ysed by polio while on a trip to Africa.

Andrew Garfield steps into the lead role along­side The Crown’s Claire Foy as Cavendish’s wife, Diana. It’s being pitched as a heart­warm­ing tale of young love and human endurance, and sounds like a fit­ting cur­tain-rais­er for the most pres­ti­gious event on the UK film calendar.

Get more Lit­tle White Lies

LFF direc­tor Clare Stew­art has said of the film’s open­ing slot selec­tion: ​“We are proud to be open­ing the 61st BFI Lon­don Film Fes­ti­val with a film that is a bea­con for remark­able British tal­ent: the direc­to­r­i­al debut of Andy Serkis, com­pelling per­for­mances from a stel­lar cast led by Andrew Garfield and Claire Foy, and a sto­ry of uni­ver­sal res­o­nance that is also deeply per­son­al for pro­duc­er Jonathan Cavendish.

“Breathe is not only an inspi­ra­tional love sto­ry, it is also a film about two tru­ly indomitable spir­its who defy the odds and the scep­tics to pave the way for change.”

The 61st BFI Lon­don Film Fes­ti­val runs 4 – 15 Octo­ber, 2017. The full Fes­ti­val pro­gramme will be announced on Thurs­day 31 August. Breathe is release nation­wide on 27 October.

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