London fest unspools new look

Other kudos contenders using the London event to boost their profile for U.K.-based voters will include Peter Webber's "The Girl With the Pearl Earring," Sofia Coppola's "Lost in Translation," "Seabiscuit," "The Human Stain," "Wonderland" and Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu's "21 Grams."

"Film companies are increasingly seeing the festival as a great launch pad to spark off their award campaigns which has really raised the quality of films available to us," says fest director Sandra Hebron.

Rather than trying to hit the headlines with world premieres, the fest has always prided itself as a compendium of the best movies from the year's festival circuit.

This year's lineup includes Lars Von Trier's "Dogville," Bernardo Bertolucci's "The Dreamers," Gabriele Salvatores "I'm Not Scared," Lone Scherfing's "Wilbur Wants to Kill Himself" and Emily Young's "Kiss of Life."

"Every movie in the program is a U.K. premiere, but apart from that I always look at the film first, not where it's been shown before," emphasizes Hebron.

Traditionally, the LFF has been more an event for the general public than for the industry, offering Londoners films from 45 different countries, 70% of which have yet to find a U.K. distributor. The previous years were a great success among local filmgoers and it is expected that this year 100,000 people will attend the screenings.

However, Hebron hopes that the current reshuffle in the international markets calendar and the demise of the London Screenings will help to raise the industry profile of the fest and attract international buyers. "We are improving the provisions to members of the industry and hope to have a greater reach to the international film community."

In terms of talent attending, Hebron is still compiling the list. So far, Jane Campion, Meg Ryan and Mark Ruffalo have been confirmed for "In the Cut" and Gwyneth Paltrow is also expected to attend the European premiere of "Sylvia."