Londoner’s Diary
The BFI London Film Festival is in full swing. Red carpets line the South Bank and stars of the silver screen have been braving the vagaries of the British weather with aplomb. All except, perhaps, director Alfonso Cuarón. “I’m freezing!” he repeated when we saw him on the rooftop of 180 House for the after party of his new Apple TV+ series, Disclaimer.
The series is set in London and stars Cate Blanchett as successful documentary maker with a secret past. Cuarón said the star did “so much research” that her script looked like it was annotated by “Dostoyevsky or a serial killer”.
The show also stars HoYeon Jung, Sacha Baron Cohen and Louis Partridge. Cuarón was full of praise for the latter: “He’s such a good actor, and he’s a hunk.” Partridge is billed as the next Timothée Chalamet, but still hasn’t got used to watching himself in the show. “It was a bit tough at Venice [Film Festival] because I had Apple CEO Tim Cook sitting behind me — and there’s quite a bit of nudity,” he confessed.
One of the most hyped films of the festival so far has been a Spanish-language musical crime comedy. Sounds niche, but Emilia Pérez has a starry cast including Selena Gomez and Zoe Saldaña, and received an 11-minute standing ovation at Cannes (don’t their hands get sore?). After a red carpet premiere, rapper Akala and actor Rami Malek joined the fashion pack for a second screening and afterparty at Tate Modern.
Over at the Chiltern Firehouse, actor Douglas Booth, Baby Reindeer’s Richard Gadd, presenter Jameela Jamil and fashion designer Grace Wales Bonner went to a cocktail party in celebration of the film festival, hosted by United Talent Agency.
