The annual Be Epic! London International Film Festival (BELIFF) comes to the Phoenix Cinema in East Finchley on September 8-10
An alien invasion, London’s accommodation crisis and a decade old murder case – all in the space of three days.
The annual Be Epic! London International Film Festival (BELIFF) comes to the Phoenix Cinema in East Finchley on September 8-10 to showcase inspirational works from around the world. This festival is all about those filmmakers whose innovative ideas and techniques are helping them to spread valuable messages.
“BELIFF aims to be the rising point of filmmakers and up and coming new artists by actively promoting talent and hard work,” they say. “We dedicate ourselves to both those looking to redefine film and those wanting to discover it so that film can continue to entertain and educate audiences all around the world.”
Actor Olivia Wild, director Keely Shaye Smith, producer Pierce Brosnan and producer Sharon Stone are among the artists presenting their independent works alongside emerging talent from across the board: quirky comedy, silent film, thrillers, sci-fi, drama and animation are on the bill, all with a conscientious tendency.
In the best feature category, journalist Smith’s documentary, Poisoning Paradise, about the Hawaiians whose communities are upwind of the pesticides sprayed into genetically engineered seed corn farms, raises awareness for a global health and environmental issue. (September 10, 1:30pm screening.)
The Box, an animated short directed by Merve Cirisoglu Cotur follows a young Syrian boy as his life is upturned by war. His box turns from a toy house to a place to shelter in a refugee camp to a boat to sail in to a better world (Sunday 10, 4pm screening, nominated in best animation category).
The stages of grief and the journey towards acceptance are the topic of Forwards Ever Backwards Never, a four-minute drama by Johny Morgue in which a man struggles to cope with the loss of his wife and his new position on his own (September 8, 8:30pm screening.)
Olivia Wilde and Dolly Wells star in Micah Perta’s road trip comedy, combining siblings, narcolepsy, nudity and senility for Daytime Noon (September 8, 9:45pm screening.)
Cheryl Allison, Bolette Engstrom Bjerre and Gaelle Chayer-Lanthier are up for best actress, while Gabriel Rush, Lado Hadzic and Xavi Siles are nominated for best actor.
For a full programme of all the films for the weekend, go to phoenixcinema.co.uk.
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