Mona Fastvold’s The Testament Of Ann Lee and Jonatan Etzler’s Bad Apples are among the 10 titles selected for the official competition of the 69th BFI London Film Festival (LFF, October 8-19).
The Testament Of Ann Lee, directed by Norway’s Fastvold (co-writer of The Brutalist), stars Amanda Seyfried, Christopher Abbott and Thomasin McKenzie. It follows the story of the titular religious leader who founded the ‘shaker movement’ in the US in the late 1770s.
The film world premieres in competiton at Venice and then plays Toronto before heading to London.
Another film coming to LFF after Toronto is Swedish filmmaker Etzler’s Bristol-shot Bad Apples. Saoirse Ronan, star of 2024’s LFF opening night film Blitz, plays a teacher who takes drastic measures to control an unruly child her class. The satire is also the opening night film of San Sebastian’s New Directors competition.
UK director Mark Jenkin’s Cornwall-set Rose Of Nevada is also headed for an LFF competition slot, with cast including Callum Turner and George MacKay. It premieres first in the Horizons strand at Venice.
The only world premiere in the competition line-up is London-based Yemi Bamiro’s UK-US co-production, Black Is Beautiful: The Kwame Brathwaite Story, a documentary spotlighting the life and work of US activist and photojournalist Kwame Brathwaite. It is produced by UK’s Misfits Entertainment and Wayfarer Studios, along with US outfit The Creative Coalition.
“Each title in this selection offers a bold and innovative approach to the medium,” said Kristy Matheson, LFF director. “We are delighted to welcome filmmakers into the competition who’ve previously screened with the LFF alongside those making their first appearance at the festival.”
Recent LFF winners include Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s Evil Does Not Exist in 2023 and Adam Elliot’s Memoir Of A Snail in 2024.
The winner of the official competition and the festival’s other competitive categories, the Grierson award for best documentary, the Sutherland award for best first feature and the short film award will be chosen by juries, the membership of which will be announced in the coming weeks.
LFF 2025 competition titles
Bad Apples (UK)
Dir. Jonatan Etzler
Black Is Beautiful: The Kwame Brathwaite Story (UK-US)
Dir. Yemi Bamiro
Black Rabbit, White Rabbit (Tajikistan-UAE) – world premiere
Dir. Shahram Mokri
Hair, Paper, Water (Belg-Fr-Viet)
Dirs. Nicolas Graux, Trương Minh Quý
Hedda (US)
Dir. Nia DaCosta
Landmarks (Arg-US-Mex-Fr-Neth)
Dir. Lucrecia Martel
Rose Of Nevada (UK)
Dir. Mark Jenkin
The Testament Of Ann Lee (US-UK)
Dir. Mona Fastvold
The Voice Of Hind Rajab (Tunisia-Fr)
Dir. Kaouther Ben Hania
The World Of Love (S Kor)
Dir. Yoon Ga-eun