Olivia Colman’s Empire Of Light Sets London Festival Gala Screening

Written, produced, and directed by Oscar and BAFTA winner Mendes, the film stars Toby Jones, Tanya Moody, Tom Brook, and Crystal Clark.

Set in a British seaside town in the early 1980s, the film is about the connection between people and the magic of cinema. It marked Mendez’s first personal honor as a screenwriter and reunited him with Oscar-winning cinematographer Roger Deakins (“1917,” “Skyfall”).

The film is produced by Mendes and Pippa Harris’ Neal Street Productions in partnership with Searchlight Pictures. The film opens in the US on December 9 and in the UK on January 13. It will be screened as a special screening at the Toronto International Film Festival in September.

Empire of Light will premiere in Europe on October 12 as part of the London Film Festival, with Mendes, Harris, and the main cast expected to be in attendance.

Mendes said: “I am absolutely delighted to be attending this year’s BFI London Film Festival as a screening for the American Express Gala. Empire of Light is a very personal film for me and I can’t wait to see it in my hometown show.”

Tricia Tuttle, director of the BFI London Film Festival, said: “Mendez is a master storyteller, and here it is vividly captured what it was like to be on the south coast of England in the 1980s. Empire of Light” Explores the importance of community, the power of storytelling and cinema, especially the thrill of watching a movie in a dark cinema, and the tactile pleasure of celluloid.”

As mentioned, “Matilda the Musical” will open the festival, and “Glass Onion: The Knife Out of Mystery” will close it. The festival takes place from October 5th to 16th.