After premiering at the London and Toronto Film Festivals respectively, the organisers are proud to book end the festival with two wonderful epics set during the war  “Testament Of Youth” based on the famous memoirs of Vera Brittain and starring Alicia Vikander (Anna Karenina) and Kit Harrington (Game Of Thrones) as our opening night film and closing the festival will be the highly anticipated “The Imitation Game” starring Benedict Cumberbatch as Alan Turing who was successful in cracking Nazi Germany’s Enigma code during World War 2. The Imitation Game is certain to feature prominently in next year’s Academy Awards in all major categories.

There are new films from much heralded British Directors Ken Loach “Jimmy’s Hall” and Mike Leigh “Mr. Turner” featuring Timothy Spall in his Cannes Best Actor award winning role as J.M.W Turner one of the most prolific painters of the 19th century . New voices in British Cinema showcase their immense talent with their directorial debuts Yann Demange (71) , Andrew Hulme (Snow In Paradise) and Stuart Murdoch (God Help The Girl).

Billy Connolly appears in the humorous and heartwarming “What We Did On Our Holiday”, Charlotte Rampling is mesmerising in “The Sea” and a wonderful cast including Pierce Brosnan, Toni Collette and Imogen Poots star in “A Long Way Down” based on the best selling book by Nick Hornby.

The long rich history of British Cinema is represented in ‘Six From The 60s’ retrospective with six standout films from the era. The festival is thrilled to present the digitally restored 50th anniversary screenings of Richard Lester’s “A Hard Day’s Night” featuring a day in the life of The Beatles at the height of Beatlemania and a snapshot of the cultural revolution of the 60’s with Tom Courtenay as “Billy Liar”, Julie Christie in her Academy Award Winning role in “Darling”, the quintessential British caper film “The Italian Job” and Lindsay Anderson’s classic “IF…”. Michael Caine is featured in his first major film role in one of the great epic war films of the 1960’s “Zulu” .

The Emirates British Film Festival 2014
MELBOURNE 5 – 26 Nov -PALACE CINEMA COMO, PALACE BALWYN, PALACE BRIGHTON BAY
SYDNEY 6 – 26 Nov – PALACE NORTON STREET, PALACE VERONA
ADELAIDE 5 – 16 Nov – PALACE NOVA EASTEND
PERTH 5 – 16 Nov – CINEMA PARADISO
CANBERRA 6 – 23 Nov – PALACE ELECTRIC
BRISBANE 6 – 16 Nov – PALACE BARRACKS, PALACE CENTRO
BYRON 6 – 16 Nov – PALACE BYRON BAY
www.britishfilmfestival.com.au