This new poster has found its way online for  David Cronenberg’s upcoming drama ‘Cosmopolis.’ As a HUGEMONGOUS (yes, I know it’s not a word) Cronenberg fan I’ve been keeping a keen eye on this film. ‘Cosmopolis,’ which stars Robert Pattinson, Jay Baruchel, Samantha Morton, Juliette Binoche, Paul Giamatti, Mathieu Amalric, Kevin Durand, and Sarah Gadon, is based on Don DeLillo’s novel of the same name.

The story follows Eric Packer (Robert Pattinson), a multi-millionaire, across Manhattan as he goes through his fortune in a 24-hour attempt to get a haircut. Expected for release late 2012, look out for a confirmed release date soon. Source: IMPAwards.

Drawn from true-life events, David Cronenberg’s ‘A Dangerous Method’ chronicles the turbulent relationships between fledgling psychiatrist Carl Jung (Michael Fassbender), his mentor Sigmund Freud (Viggo Mortensen) and Sabina Spielrein (Keira Knightley), the troubled but beautiful young woman who comes between them. Into the mix comes Otto Gross (Vincent Cassell), a debauched patient who is determined to push the boundaries. In this exploration of sensuality, ambition and deceit set the scene for the pivotal moment when Jung, Freud and Sabina come together and split apart, forever changing the face of modern thought. ‘A Dangerous Method’ is out now in the US, and is set for release Febuary 10th in the UK.

‘A Dangerous Method’ is your third collaboration with David Cronenberg, what do you think he brings to this story? How is it working with him?

Viggo Mortensen: I think in the hands of another director who was less assured, less knowledgeable, less well-read about the subject matter – about Freud, Jung and Spielrein, I think it would have been a very dull movie. I think what was the best thing that David did, which is something I’ve always experienced with him, he instils confidence by creating a calm, professional and fun atmosphere on the set. He will get you under a spell. he creates the illusion that there’s a lot of time, there’s no pressure, that it’s all going to work out.

How was it playing such eminent and revered men, men with such a complex history? Other than the script there’s so much material to look at about Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung.

Viggo Mortensen: The fact that there’s a lot of material that Sigmund Freud wrote, a lot of material written about him, that actually made it a lot easier. I was a little hesitant to say yes at first because it seemed like a big stretch, in terms of my idea of what he looks like, from photographs, my idea of him felt like a bit of a leap. If it had been another director maybe I would have said no, I might have been more cowardly about it (laughs). But with David Cronenberg I knew I would have been in good hands with him and his crew, I’d get to see Vincent Cassell again, and also the fact that Michael Fassbender was gonna play Jung and that Keira Knightley was in it – also as I found out, Sarah Gadon, who plays Emma Jung, she’s a really good actress as well. There were many more reasons to say yes and take the plunge than to say no.

It was an education, it was an education in terms of acting, using different tools, speaking a lot more, speaking really well written words. Christopher Hampton’s script is like a very well laid out well manicured garden with very exotic blooms, in the shadows of which are really disturbing little creatures and secrets (laughs). It was a lot of fun to play as an actor, just the fact that the characters speak so much, I don’t usually get a chance to do that, even in David Cronenberg’s movies. For once he couldn’t tell me to shut up – I had to speak (laughs). We had a lot of fun, David’s sense of humour seems to be not unlike Freud’s, his kind of whit and intelligence. I think you could say about David what the New York Times said about Freud shortly after he died, which was that he was the most affective disturber of complacency in his time, I would say David’s right up there – maybe with Noam Chomsky (laughs).

What aspects of Sigmund Freud related to you as a person and as an actor?

Viggo Mortensen: In principle, at least the way I read it, the most positive aspect of what Freud had a large hand in pioneering was the idea of listening to people, in a particular way. Why I say positive is because I think it’s one of the most loving things you can do, just to listen to somebody. The idea was to listen to someone confess without judging them, you are of course going to judge them in some way, but the person that is being listening to, you are not being listened to by a family member, or someone who has some sort of emotional stake in what you are telling them, they’re just listening. If you listen first of all, that means you’re showing some interest in what is going on with them, and not just what’s going on with you, or your country, or your interests. It depends how you approach acting, but to me the best acting, the best directing comes from that. You can prepare everything as much as you want, but in the end when you get there, the foundation of good acting is really listening, even if you have a lot of dialogue (laughs). It’s positive, I like that aspect of the story we are telling.

Is the approach different, playing someone who people may have a set idea about compared to playing a completely fictional character?

Viggo Mortensen: In the end, no matter how much research you do, or how good the script is, or how historically accurate, or how interesting the material is, or how well known the character is – in the end your going to be adding yourself, your human body, your adding your voice, your adding your mind, your adding your feelings to it. People asked me during the ‘Lord of the Rings,’ “Do you feel a greater responsibility playing Aragorn?” I’d always reply, “No, I’m just playing the character,“ I learn as much as I can about the character however, so I don’t make an ass of myself (laughs), and the same goes for Sigmund Freud.

I was aware of the fact, just on the practical level, that I had a lot more dialogue, it was a challenge I really enjoyed. David and I agreed on, just based on the research, that he had a wicked sense of humour, he had a lot of whit and he appreciated it. The 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century in Vienna, and a lot of other places, it was pretty straight laced, in a lot of ways censorship laws were very strict. Freud appreciated wordplay, he appreciated whit, some of his favourite writers were humorists who got around the censorship laws by being clever. Even though the character in this case doesn’t out and out tell jokes, there’s a certain irony to the character, we were following the script but we were also trying to find a little bit of irony and humour. But I don’t feel differently about a character I imagined almost completely compared to someone people have a very set idea about.

This film doesn’t shy away from showing some of the flaws and quirks in Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung.

Viggo Mortensen: One of the things I liked a lot about the play and the screenplay is that neither Christopher or David, in executing this story, shooting this story, tried to make up for, or altered the realities of the time period. They didn’t try to make these men less vain, didn’t try to make them more liberated in their thinking towards women. You can’t separate them from their times, but it is remarkable what they were thinking about, what they originated in their time. They are, as we all are, products of their time. Sabina was given some credit by Freud, but he could have given her a lot more credit, and could have understood her better. But I think him being a man at that time, and his ego maybe got in the way of that – because he was capable of understanding her better, he certainly made use of her ideas to some degree, he did give her a footnote – Jung didn’t give her any (laughs). Both of them let their ego get in the ways of things, I like that that wasn’t varnished over, the script didn’t remove the flaws.

Drawn from true-life events, David Cronenberg’s ‘A Dangerous Method’ chronicles the turbulent relationships between fledgling psychiatrist Carl Jung (Michael Fassbender), his mentor Sigmund Freud (Viggo Mortensen) and Sabina Spielrein (Keira Knightley), the troubled but beautiful young woman who comes between them. Into the mix comes Otto Gross (Vincent Cassell), a debauched patient who is determined to push the boundaries. In this exploration of sensuality, ambition and deceit set the scene for the pivotal moment when Jung, Freud and Sabina come together and split apart, forever changing the face of modern thought. ‘A Dangerous Method’ is set for release November 23rd in the US and Febuary 10th in the UK.

How was it playing such an eminent and revered man, a man with such a complex history? Other than the script there’s so much material to look at about Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung.

Michael Fassbender: It’s always easier if there’s information available to you, and there is a lot, on both Jung and Freud. And then there’s the fear element, you know, playing someone with a very passionate and vocal following, loyal following. So you want to do justice to the character, you want to do justice to David Cronenberg and Christopher Hampton’s script. The main thing for me was to tackle the very eloquent muscular piece of dialogue. I sort of tried to treat it as a piece of music. I spent a lot of time with the text, trying to get the rhythms, find the different rhythms, just to get a power over the dialogue. Because again, we’re dealing with a period in time when discourse, especially in the academic world, it’s a weapon. If your not in charge of it your gonna get destroyed, so that was definitely an element that needed work. And then you just put it all together and see what you come up with. I think what’s interesting when your dealing with real heavyweight characters like this, real revered characters, you find out that there’s human beings underneath, they have egos, they have some very basic and obvious flaws, to play with those elements is also fun.

What were some of the things you found interesting about Jung?

Michael Fassbender: The words we use today; introvert and extrovert, things we take for granted now but back then people didn’t really think of that or comprehend it. People moved more as one lump, whereas Jung had the idea of finding yourself as an individual before you can finally access your full potential. He was really open to anything, while Freud was more set in one sort of form of psychology, this idea that all neurosis essentially springs from a sexual origin, I think Jung had a problem with that. And Jung, he was so ambitious and so driven….I think with both these characters, Freud didn’t like to be questioned. There’s so many thing about Jung I found interesting (laughs).

Your character in ’Shame’ would be a great patient for Freud. What order did you do the films in, and did the research for one help inform the other?

Michael Fassbender: (Laughs) No, the order was ’A Dangerous Method,’ ’X-Men: First Class,’ and then ’Shame’ – so I was manipulating metal in-between (laughs). It’s funny because when I do a film, I’m sort of in that, it’s a very intense time, the preparation and filming of it. And then I kind of discard it pretty quickly. So when I was doing ‘Shame’ I didn’t even think about the parallels, I didn’t even think I could take some information from what I gathered on ‘A Dangerous Method’ – I might have been doing it subconsciously though (laughs), but I certainly wasn’t aware of it.

How was it working alongside Viggo Mortensen and Keira Knightley in this film? There’s many layers to each of your characters.

Michael Fassbender: Viggo Mortensen is an absolute joy really, he has his work very methodically put together, he’s very precise. But he’s also got a great sense of humour, we had a lot of fun, a lot of fun doing our scene’s together. The more we did the more fun we had (laughs). It’s important as well I think when you’re dealing with very heavy material and serious material, that you keep a lightness in-between takes. So when you come to the scene a bit more loose and a bit more relaxed. That helps you find the little nuances within it.

Keira Knightley, I would say for me anyway, she has the hardest part to play in ‘A Dangerous Method.’ She goes through such an arrange of emotions and mental states. And from day one she came and sat down on the seat and went for it, she dived in head-first. She’s super talented and really easy to work with.

On the eve of World War I, Zurich and Vienna are the setting for a dark tale of sexual and intellectual discovery. Drawn from true-life events, ‘A Dangerous Method’ takes a glimpse into the turbulent relationships between fledgling psychiatrist Carl Jung (Michael Fassbender), his mentor Sigmund Freud (Viggo Mortensen) and Sabina Spielrein (Keira Knightley), the troubled but beautiful young woman who comes between them. Into the mix comes Otto Gross, a debauched patient who is determined to push the boundaries. In this exploration of sensuality, ambition and deceit set the scene for the pivotal moment when Jung, Freud and Sabina come together and split apart, forever changing the face of modern thought. ‘A Dangerous Method’ is set for release November 23rd in the US and Febuary 10th in the UK

What was the research process for you like on ‘A Dangerous Method,’ to help you understand Sabina more?

Keira Knightley: As soon as I knew I was going to play the part I phoned Christopher Hampton (screenwriter), and said, ‘help!’ He said, ‘alright, come around.’ I thought that he was going to give me a talk for a couple of hours and I’d take notes, which he did, but he also handed me a massive pile of books and said, ‘Read all of those, it’s somewhere in there.’ So I did that, I also found a translation of the diaries and Jung’s notes, Jung biographies, including ‘Memories, Dreams, Reflections.’ Sabina’s diary entries, a lot of that, they were very helpful. Then I spoke to couple of analyses as well, just to get an idea of what exactly hysteria was and what it would come from.

How was it starting the research, I can imagine it might have been difficult?

Keira Knightley: It was quite terrifying actually, because when I first read the script I thought, “God this is amazing,” and said yes to doing it. Then I thought this could be really difficult (laughs). But it was just about starting, and when I did start reading through the material I didn’t understand a word, because it was all in psycho-analytical talk (laughs), I didn’t know anything about that to start with.

I spoke to Viggo Mortensen about his research process, how was it working with him and maybe sharing research?

Keira Knightley: I was so excited when Viggo said he would play Freud, I think he’s the most phenomenal actor. I thoroughly enjoyed hearing about his research, what he found out. It was a joy, the little we did together, to kind of go, “Oh wow, what books have you been reading?” And he gave me a whole list of Freud books, and you know they’re gonna be good, because if Viggo’s read them and enjoyed them, you know they’re gonna be good (laughs).

It’s such a frantic and frenetic role, was that a challenge in crafting?

Keira Knightley: It was a very challenging role, I think that was one of the reasons I wanted to play her, because I didn’t know who she was. I think very often when you play characters, there are certain threads that link you, emotionally you can understand exactly what the person went through, with this one I had no frame of reference. But that was what was fascinating and exciting about it. So it really was a question of trying to find logic with what was perceived from the outside to be madness. Because I think as much as she knew that she was ill, there were logical reasons within her for the way she behaved, so it was really about trying to understand what that logic was, and then find out from the inside and build her up. With the help of David Cronenberg, we managed to craft something. It was a very exciting process.

Is it cathartic, in a strange way, playing a role like Sabina?

Keira Knightley Oh yeah, it can be incredibly cathartic, particularly with a role like this. It’s almost strange what a wonderful time we had making this film (laughs). It’s….particularly my character is very dark, so it seems almost perverse that we had such a wonderful and fun time outside that. I think part of that was because you’re going to these incredibly dark places, you’re trying to think of that and it all comes out in that direction, then afterwards you leave it and you go and watch football, have a beer and have a really nice time.

What was it like working out her look and costume?

Keira Knightley: A huge part of it is the costume. So it was great we found something that was never fussy, it never made her perfectly of that period. Going along the line of thinking you’re disgusting, thinking you’re vile, you don’t dress yourself up….have the hair done and everything else, because you don’t want everyone to look at you.

These five new clips have been unveiled from David Cronenberg’s Viggo Mortensen, Keira Knightley and Michael Fassbender starring ‘A Dangerous Method.’ The film is David Cronenberg’s and Viggo Mortensen’s third time teaming up. If this is even half as good as their previous collaborations – ‘A History of Violence’ and ‘Eastern Promises’ – we’re in for a treat! ‘A Dangerous Method’ is based on “The Talking Cure” play by Christopher Hampton. The film chronicles the intense relationship between Sigmund Freud (Viggo Mortensen) and his student Carl Jung (Michael Fassbender), and how it gave birth to competing theories of psychoanalysis. ‘A Dangerous Method’ is set for release November 23rd in the US, and Febuary 10th in the UK. Check out my interview with Viggo Mortensen here, Michael Fassbender here, and Keira Knightley here.

On the eve of World War I, Zurich and Vienna are the setting for a dark tale of sexual and intellectual discovery. Drawn from true-life events, A Dangerous Method takes a glimpse into the turbulent relationships between fledgling psychiatrist Carl Jung, his mentor Sigmund Freud and Sabina Spielrein, the troubled but beautiful young woman who comes between them. Into the mix comes Otto Gross, a debauched patient who is determined to push the boundaries. In this exploration of sensuality, ambition and deceit set the scene for the pivotal moment when Jung, Freud and Sabina come together and split apart, forever changing the face of modern thought.

CosmopolisFilm (via BleedingCool) has released these three new images from David Cronenberg’s upcoming film ‘Cosmopolis.’ As a HUGEMONGOUS (yes, I know it’s not a word) Cronenberg fan I’ve been keeping a keen eye on this film. Besides ‘Cosmopolis,’ which is set for release next year, Cronenberg has a film ready for release late 2011, ‘A Dangerous Method,’ which chronicles the intense relationship between Sigmund Freud (Viggo Mortensen) and his student Carl Jung (Michael Fassbender), and how it gave birth to competing theories of psychoanalysis.

‘Cosmopolis,’ which stars Robert Pattinson, Jay Baruchel, Samantha Morton, Juliette Binoche, Paul Giamatti, Mathieu Amalric, Kevin Durand, and Sarah Gadon, is based on Don DeLillo’s novel of the same name. The story follows Eric Packer (Pattinson), a multi-millionaire, across Manhattan as he goes through his fortune in a 24-hour attempt to get a haircut. Look out for a confirmed release date soon.

Drawn from true-life events, David Cronenberg’s ‘A Dangerous Method’ chronicles the turbulent relationships between fledgling psychiatrist Carl Jung (Michael Fassbender), his mentor Sigmund Freud (Viggo Mortensen) and Sabina Spielrein (Keira Knightley), the troubled but beautiful young woman who comes between them. Into the mix comes Otto Gross (Vincent Cassell), a debauched patient who is determined to push the boundaries. In this exploration of sensuality, ambition and deceit set the scene for the pivotal moment when Jung, Freud and Sabina come together and split apart, forever changing the face of modern thought. ‘A Dangerous Method’ is set for release November 23rd in the US, and Febuary 10th in the UK.

How was it playing such eminent and revered men, men with such a complex history? Other than the script there’s so much material to look at about Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung.

Viggo Mortensen: The fact that there’s a lot of material that Sigmund Freud wrote, a lot of material written about him, that actually made it a lot easier. I was a little hesitant to say yes at first because it seemed like a big stretch, in terms of my idea of what he looks like, from photographs, my idea of him felt like a bit of a leap. If it had been another director maybe I would have said no, I might have been more cowardly about it (laughs). But with David Cronenberg I knew I would have been in good hands with him and his crew, I’d get to see Vincent Cassell again, and also the fact that Michael Fassbender was gonna play Jung and that Keira Knightley was in it – also as I found out, Sarah Gadon, who plays Emma Jung, she’s a really good actress as well. There were many more reasons to say yes and take the plunge than to say no.

It was an education, it was an education in terms of acting, using different tools, speaking a lot more, speaking really well written words. Christopher Hampton’s script is like a very well laid out well manicured garden with very exotic blooms, in the shadows of which are really disturbing little creatures and secrets (laughs). It was a lot of fun to play as an actor, just the fact that the characters speak so much, I don’t usually get a chance to do that, even in David Cronenberg’s movies. For once he couldn’t tell me to shut up – I had to speak (laughs). We had a lot of fun, David’s sense of humour seems to be not unlike Freud’s, his kind of whit and intelligence. I think you could say about David what the New York Times said about Freud shortly after he died, which was that he was the most affective disturber of complacency in his time, I would say David’s right up there – maybe with Noam Chomsky (laughs).

How about you Michael as Mr Jung?

Michael Fassbender: Like Viggo said it’s always easier if there’s information available to you, and there is a lot, on both characters. And then there’s the fear element, you know, playing someone with a very passionate and vocal following , loyal following. So you want to do justice to the character, you want to do justice to David Cronenberg and Christopher Hampton’s script. Kind of echoing what Viggo said, the main thing for me was to tackle the very eloquent muscular piece of dialogue. I sort of tried to treat it as a piece of music. I spent a lot of time with the text, trying to get the rhythms, find the different rhythms, just to get a power over the dialogue. Because again, we’re dealing with a period in time when discourse, especially in the academic world, it’s a weapon. If your not in charge of it your gonna get destroyed, so that was definitely an element that needed work. And then you just put it all together and see what you come up with. I think what’s interesting when your dealing with real heavyweight characters like this, real revered characters, you find out that there’s human beings underneath, they have egos, they have some very basic and obvious flaws, to play with those elements is also fun.

Is the approach different, playing someone who people may have a set idea about compared to playing a completely fictional character?

Viggo Mortensen: In the end, no matter how much research you do, or how good the script is, or how historically accurate, or how interesting the material is, or how well known the character is – in the end your going to be adding yourself, your human body, your adding your voice, your adding your mind, your adding your feelings to it. People asked me during the ‘Lord of the Rings,’ “Do you feel a greater responsibility playing Aragorn?” I’d always reply, “No, I’m just playing the character,“ I learn as much as I can about the character however, so I don’t make an ass of myself (laughs), and the same goes for Sigmund Freud.

I was aware of the fact, just on the practical level, that I had a lot more dialogue, it was a challenge I really enjoyed. David and I agreed on, just based on the research, that he had a wicked sense of humour, he had a lot of whit and he appreciated it. The 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century in Vienna, and a lot of other places, it was pretty straight laced, in a lot of ways censorship laws were very strict. Freud appreciated wordplay, he appreciated whit, some of his favourite writers were humorists who got around the censorship laws by being clever. Even though the character in this case doesn’t out and out tell jokes, there’s a certain irony to the character, we were following the script but we were also trying to find a little bit of irony and humour. But I don’t feel differently about a character I imagined almost completely compared to someone people have a very set idea about.

Michael, your character in ’Shame’ would be a great patient for Freud. What order did you do the films in, and did the research for one help inform the other?

Michael Fassbender: (Laughs) No, the order was ’A Dangerous Method,’ ’X-Men: First Class,’ and then ’Shame’ – so I was manipulating metal in-between (laughs). It’s funny because when I do a film, I’m sort of in that, it’s a very intense time, the preparation and filming of it. And then I kind of discard it pretty quickly. So when I was doing ‘Shame’ I didn’t even think about the parallels, I didn’t even think I could take some information from what I gathered on ‘A Dangerous Method’ – I might have been doing it subconsciously though (laughs), but I certainly wasn’t aware of it.

The good folks over at Empire have unveiled this new UK quad poster for David Cronenberg’s Viggo Mortensen, Keira Knightley and Michael Fassbender starring ‘A Dangerous Method.’ The film is David Cronenberg’s and Viggo Mortensen’s third time teaming up. If this is even half as good as their previous collaborations – ‘A History of Violence’ and ‘Eastern Promises’ – we’re in for a treat! ‘A Dangerous Method’ is based on “The Talking Cure” play by Christopher Hampton. The film chronicles the intense relationship between Sigmund Freud (Viggo Mortensen) and his student Carl Jung (Michael Fassbender), and how it gave birth to competing theories of psychoanalysis. ‘A Dangerous Method’ is set for release November 23rd in the US, and Febuary 10th in the UK. Check out my interview with Viggo Mortensen here, and Keira Knightley here.

On the eve of World War I, Zurich and Vienna are the setting for a dark tale of sexual and intellectual discovery. Drawn from true-life events, A Dangerous Method takes a glimpse into the turbulent relationships between fledgling psychiatrist Carl Jung, his mentor Sigmund Freud and Sabina Spielrein, the troubled but beautiful young woman who comes between them. Into the mix comes Otto Gross, a debauched patient who is determined to push the boundaries. In this exploration of sensuality, ambition and deceit set the scene for the pivotal moment when Jung, Freud and Sabina come together and split apart, forever changing the face of modern thought.

The 55th BFI London Film Festival has today announced the shortlists and juries for the 2011 Festival Awards, supported by MontBlanc, which will take place at LSO St Luke’s on October 26th. At this year’s ceremony, the BFI will bestow its highest honour, the BFI Fellowship, on David Cronenberg and Ralph Fiennes. The original and provocative Canadian filmmaker David Cronenberg is internationally renowned for films exploring the darker impulses and inner lives of his characters. His distinctive films have gone beyond the science-fiction genre and have had a powerful and enduring influence on contemporary filmmakers. His impressive list of credits includes The Fly, Videodrome, Scanners, Naked Lunch, Crash, Eastern Promises, The History of Violence and premiering at this year’s festival, A Dangerous Method. David Cronenberg said “This is a monumental, in fact overwhelming, honour, and my being the first Canadian to receive it makes it all the sweeter. British cinema has been a potent inspiration for me, and to be associated with this particular group of filmmakers is tremendously exhilarating.”

Ralph Fiennes is one of Britain’s pre-eminent actors, who has achieved a singular career in which he manages to command equal respect among theatre-goers, lovers of art-house film and audiences for international blockbusters. With Coriolanus, featured in competition in the Berlin Film Festival 2011 and selected as a Gala screening in this year’s LFF, he has made a bold and critically well received transition to film directing. In addition to his portrayal of Lord Voldemort in the Harry Potter films, his extensive acting credits include The End of the Affair, The Reader, Strange Days, Spider, Quiz Show, The English Patient, The Constant Gardener and Schindler’s List. Ralph Fiennes said “I’m extremely honoured and delighted to be given this fellowship by the BFI”

The Best Film Award, presented in partnership with the festival’s headline sponsor American Express, celebrates original, inventive and distinctive filmmaking in the festival. The initial shortlist was drawn up by Artistic Director Sandra Hebron and the programming team, and will be judged by the Oscar-nominated director John Madden, Emmy and Golden Globe winner Gillian Anderson, the BAFTA-winning writer and director Asif Kapadia, Oscar-nominated and BAFTA-winning producer Tracey Seaward, writer Andrew O’Hagan and the Turner Prize-nominated YBA and film director Sam Taylor Wood OBE.

This year’s shortlist is:

360, Fernando Meirelles, UK/Austria/France/Brazil
THE ARTIST, Michel Hazanavicius, France
THE DEEP BLUE SEA, Terence Davies, UK
THE DESCENDANTS, Alexander Payne, USA
FAUST, Aleksandr Sukurov, Russia
THE KID WITH A BIKE, Luc & Jean-Pierre Dardenne, Belgium/France/Italy
SHAME, Steve McQueen, UK
TRISHNA, Michael Winterbottom, UK
WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT KEVIN, Lynne Ramsay, UK/USA

The award for Best British Newcomer is presented in partnership with Swarovski and honours new and emerging film talent, recognising the achievements of a new writer, producer, director, actor or actress. This year’s jury comprises the BAFTA-nominated actress Anne-Marie Duff, actor Tom Hollander, producer and director of the National Film and Television School Nik Powell, Oscar-nominated and BAFTA-winning producer Andy Harries, Radio 1 and Channel 4’s Vue Film Show presenter Edith Bowman and Oscar-nominated and BAFTA-winning producer Stephen Woolley. Jury chair Andy Harries said “Tomorrow’s UK film business is all about the young and exciting talent that is emerging today. There’s loads of it and the annual London Film Festival remains a brilliant showcase for really great new actors, directors and producers to shine.”

The shortlist for Best British Newcomer is:

Nick Murphy, Director, THE AWAKENING
Tinge Krishnan, Director, JUNKHEARTS
Candese Reid, Actress, JUNKHEARTS
Nirpal Bhogal, Writer/director, SKET
Aimee Kelly, Actress, SKET
Tom Cullen, Actor, WEEKEND
Chris New, Actor, WEEKEND
D.R. Hood, Writer/Director, WRECKERS

The Jury for the prestigious Sutherland Award, presented to the director of the most original and imaginative feature debut in the festival includes Turner Prize nominee Phil Collins, producer Andrew Eaton, director Joanna Hogg, BAFTA-winning director Peter Kosminsky, actress Saskia Reeves, Hugo Grumbar, managing director (International) Icon UK Group, and film journalist Tim Robey. Peter Kosminsky said “I’m absolutely thrilled to have been asked to join this year’s Sutherland Jury by the BFI. The support of the BFI London Film Festival is a vital lifeline for new filmmakers struggling to achieve visibility in a crowded cinematic world. I am delighted to play a small part in assisting new talent to break through in this way”.

The previously announced Sutherland shortlist is:

CORPO CELESTE, Alice Rohrwacher, Italy/Switzerland/France
ETERNITY, Sivaroj Kongsakul, Thailand
HERE, Braden King, USA
THE HOUSE, Zuzana Liová, Czech Republic
LAS ACACIAS, Pablo Giorgelli, Argentina/Spain
LAST WINTER, John Shank, Belgium/France
MICHAEL, Markus Schleinzer, Austria
MOURNING, Morteza Farshbaf, Iran
SHE MONKEYS, Lisa Aschan, Sweden
SNOWTOWN, Justin Kurzel, Australia
THE SUN-BEATEN PATH, Sonthar Gyal, China
WITHOUT, Mark Jackson, USA

Joanna Hogg said “’I love the BFI London Film Festival. It’s a thrill and a privilege to be judging The Sutherland Award.”

The Grierson Award for Best Documentary, a partnership between the Grierson Trust and the Festival, recognises outstanding feature-length documentaries of integrity, originality, technical excellence or cultural significance. The Award is presented in commemoration of John Grierson. Two-time BAFTA winner Adam Curtis will chair the jury, which also includes documentary filmmaker Kim Longinotto, Mandy Chang of the Grierson Trust, and Charlotte Moore, Head of Documentary Commissioning at the BBC.

This year’s shortlist is:

BERNADETTE: NOTES ON A POLITICAL JOURNEY, Lelia Doolan, Ireland
BETTER THIS WORLD, Katie Galloway, Kelly Duane de la Vega, USA
THE BLACK POWER MIXTAPE 1967-1975, Goran Hugo Olsson, Sweden/USA
DRAGONSLAYER, Tristan Patterson
DREAMS OF A LIFE, Carol Moley, UK/Ireland
INTO THE ABYSS: A TALE OF DEATH, A TALE OF LIFE, Werner Herzog
LAST DAYS HERE, Don Argott & Demian Fenton, USA
WHORES’ GLORY, Michael Glawogger, Austria/Germany

On chairing the Best Documentary category, Adam Curtis said “It is a great privilege and I am really looking forward to watching all the films and I am also hoping that somehow the films will help me make a bit more sense of what is happening in the world at the moment because frankly not much else on television or the cinema is doing that at present”.

The 55th BFI London Film Festival (in partnership with American Express) – the run dates are 12th October to 27th October. The booking details are:  www.bfi.org.uk/lff

Drawn from true-life events, David Cronenberg’s ‘A Dangerous Method’ chronicles the turbulent relationships between fledgling psychiatrist Carl Jung (Michael Fassbender), his mentor Sigmund Freud (Viggo Mortensen) and Sabina Spielrein (Keira Knightley), the troubled but beautiful young woman who comes between them. Into the mix comes Otto Gross (Vincent Cassell), a debauched patient who is determined to push the boundaries. In this exploration of sensuality, ambition and deceit set the scene for the pivotal moment when Jung, Freud and Sabina come together and split apart, forever changing the face of modern thought. ‘A Dangerous Method’ is set for release November 23rd in the US, and Febuary 10th in the UK. Check out what Keira Knightley had to say about the film in a quick interview below.

What was the research process for you like on ‘A Dangerous Method,’ to help you understand Sabina more?

Keira Knightley: As soon as I knew I was going to play the part I phoned Christopher Hampton (screenwriter), and said, ‘help!’ He said, ‘alright, come around.’ I thought that he was going to give me a talk for a couple of hours and I’d take notes, which he did, but he also handed me a massive pile of books and said, ‘Read all of those, it’s somewhere in there.’ So I did that, I also found a translation of the diaries and Jung’s notes, Jung biographies, including ‘Memories, Dreams, Reflections.’ Sabina’s diary entries, a lot of that, they were very helpful. Then I spoke to couple of analyses as well, just to get an idea of what exactly hysteria was and what it would come from.

It’s such a frantic and frenetic role, was that a challenge in crafting?

Keira Knightley: It was a very challenging role, I think that was one of the reasons I wanted to play her, because I didn’t know who she was. I think very often when you play characters, there are certain threads that link you, emotionally you can understand exactly what the person went through, with this one I had no frame of reference. But that was what was fascinating and exciting about it. So it really was a question of trying to find logic with what was perceived from the outside to be madness. Because I think as much as she knew that she was ill, there were logical reasons within her for the way she behaved, so it was really about trying to understand what that logic was, and then find out from the inside and build her up. With the help of David Cronenberg, we managed to craft something. It was a very exciting process.

Is it cathartic, in a strange way, playing a role like Sabina?

Keira Knightley Oh yeah, it can be incredibly cathartic, particularly with a role like this. It’s almost strange what a wonderful time we had making this film (laughs). It’s….particularly my character is very dark, so it seems almost perverse that we had such a wonderful and fun time outside that. I think part of that was because you’re going to these incredibly dark places, you’re trying to think of that and it all comes out in that direction, then afterwards you leave it and you go and watch football, have a beer and have a really nice time.

You seem to love acting in historical based films.

Keira Knightley: I do a lot of costume dramas (laughs), I don’t know why, I really just enjoy them. I think it’s a taste thing, I just really enjoy them. I love reading about them, I love history books so it’s a privilege that that’s part of my job.