BFI LFF PREVIEW: HELI

There weren't so many positive words to be heard out of Cannes as it kicked off earlier this year, when Heli was quite tepidly received by critics. But, as you'll see in the trailer below, the official jury rewarded its director, Amat Escalante with the Best Director award. Having only seen one of Escalante's previous works (there are only two though), I wouldn't say that Heli is among the films I'm most excited to see at the BFI London Film Festival, but I've booked a ticket nonetheless! A gritty drama, centred upon teens in gang-ridden Mexico, its graphic violence drew notices at Cannes, more so than its central romance. It was also selected as Mexico's Foreign Language Film Oscar for this year's nominations. Since Cannes, its festival appearances have included Munich, Karlovy Vary and Rio de Janeiro, and it's also headed to Chicago later this month.