Saoirse Ronan's Bad Apples will debut in this year's competition at the BFI London Film Festival alongside Nia Dacosta's Hedda , starring Tessa Thompson and Mona Fastford's Ann Lee's Will, directed by Amanda Seyfried.
The 69th BFI London Film Festival, in association with American Express, has confirmed the selected resources to be shown in the official competition at this year's event. All will compete for the festival's Best Film Award, announced on October 19.
Irish actor Ronan Estrela Bad Apples as a sharp satire with a thriller flavor. Directed by Jonatan Etzler, the film tells the story of a teacher who takes care of an 11-year-old student. The UK production is the second film from its director, who wrote the award-winning short film Swimmer and the resource Once More (2023).
Dacosta ( The Wonders, 28 Years Later: Temple of Bones ) will present Hedda , directed by Tessa Thompson and starring Imogen Poots and Tom Bateman. Adapted Hedda Gabler , the film opens in Toronto for the first time before making its LFF debut. Elsewhere, George Mackay and Callum Turner feature in the time-travel, Venice-bound Rose of Nevada , also making its LFF debut, directed by Mark Jenkin. The story follows a fishing boat lost at sea 30 years ago that mysteriously reappears in the harbor of a fishing village.
Mona Fastvv, best known for her Oscar-nominated work on The Brutalist with her partner and co-writer Brady Corbet, will present her second film, Will of Ann Lee . It stars Seyfried as Ann Lee, founding leader of the Shakers religious sect in the 18th century. Thomasin McKenzie, Lewis Pullman, Stacy Martin, Tim Blake Nelson, Christopher Abbott and Matthew Beard round out the supporting cast.
This year’s official competition brings together new works from filmmakers around the world, with films by Yemi Bamiro ( Black Is Beautiful: The Kwame Bhthwaite Story ) and Shahram Mokri ( Black Rabbit, White Rabbit ). Nicolas Graux and Trương Minh Queý will present Hair, Paper, Water … about an elderly Ruc woman, and Lucrecia Martel will debut Marcos, a documentary about the assassination of Indigenous leader Javier Chocobar and the legacy of colonialism in Latin America.
Rounding out the 10-film competition are Kaouther Ben Hania's The Voice of Rajab about a five-year-old Palestinian girl killed by Israeli forces in the Gaza Strip and The World of Love by Yoon Ga-Eun, following a 17-year-old student in South Korea.
Kristy Matheson, BFI's London Film Festivals Director, said: "Each title in this selection offers a bold and innovative approach. We're delighted to welcome filmmakers in the competition who have already shown at the LFF with those making their first appearance at the festival."
The 2025 BFI London Film Festival will open with Rian Johnson's Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery and runs from October 8-19.
