British director Greengrass to open LFF 2013

The director best known for the Bourne Supremacy and the Bourne Ultimatum, Paul Greengrass, will be the first British director to open the London Film Festival since Andrew Macdonald had the honour with The Last King of Scotland in 2006.

Greengrass’s Captain Phillips, about the first American cargo ship to be hijacked by pirates in two hundred years, will be the opening night film of the festival, which for the first time is charging reviewers to cover the event.

Both Greengrass and the film’s star, Tom Hanks, are expected to attend the screening.

The film will be released to the general public on 18th October, midway through the festival.

The festival director, the BFI’s Clare Stewart, who laughed off criticism of charging journalists to promote her event by describing the fee as “just two trips to the cinema,” suggesting that she charges too much for tickets, said she was thrilled to be opening the festival with the European premiere of the award-hopeful thriller from Paul Greengrass, who she described as “one of the great supporters of the BFI and British film.” She said, “Our Festival audiences will be captivated by Greengrass’s virtuoso filmmaking.”