What do a shoplifting gang taking on the fashion industry, a South Korean drama about the limits of empathy and the rise of The Sun have in common? This October, they were among the stories brought to the big screen as part of the BFI London Film Festival, which partnered with Sheffield’s Showroom Cinema to bring an eclectic mix of international cinema to audiences across the city.
Running from 7–18 October, the festival showcased 251 works from 88 countries, including 33 world premieres. As one of ten UK partner cinemas, the Showroom gave Sheffield audiences the opportunity to experience one of the biggest events in the British film calendar without travelling to the capital. Here is a closer look at some of the films audiences could discover in Sheffield this month, and what you should look out for when they release nationwide.
Making Marie Antoinette – 4 Stars
Forget the powdered wigs and palatial excess of Versailles – the real story of Making Marie Antoinette unfolds behind the camera.
The documentary follows Oscar winner Sofia Coppola as she directs her 2006 historical drama, using footage captured by her mother, the late Eleanor Coppola. Nearly two decades after Marie Antoinette divided audiences with its candy-coloured visuals and contemporary soundtrack, the documentary reveals a more personal story: a mother watching her daughter establish an identity of her own.As Sofia defends her creative decisions and navigates the demands of directing, Eleanor reflects on the changing relationship between them. Her footage becomes a record of artistic independence, but also of the distance that grows as children build lives separate from their parents.
Although the film occasionally leaves the practicalities of production underexplored, its emotional core is far more interesting than a conventional behind-the-scenes account. What begins as a portrait of a filmmaker at work becomes a moving meditation on motherhood, ambition and the impossibility of holding on to time.
I Love Boosters – 4 stars
Boots Riley has never been particularly interested in subtlety, and I Love Boosters is all the better for it.
Following a group of professional shoplifters stealing luxury goods from the fashion industry, the film turns consumer culture into an absurdist playground. At its centre is Corvette, played by Keke Palmer, whose desire to challenge an exclusionary industry is complicated by her own ambitions to succeed within it. She wants to tear the system down, but she also wants a place in it.
Extravagant costumes, saturated colours and increasingly ridiculous scenarios make the film a visual feast. Palmer leads an ensemble that includes Naomi Ackie, Taylour Paige and Poppy Liu, whose chemistry gives the Velvet Gang a convincing camaraderie amid the chaos.
Riley occasionally piles one satirical detour on top of another until the narrative struggles to keep up, and his political commentary more smacks you in the face, then leaves something up for interpretation. Nevertheless, there is something exhilarating about a film so willing to embrace excess. In an industry often accused of playing it safe, I Love Boosters refuses to apologise for taking up space.
Possible Love – 5 Stars
In Possible Love, South Korean director Lee Chang-dong finds something deeply unsettling in the quiet failures of human empathy.
The film follows Ho-seok and Mi-ok, a married couple whose lives begin to unravel after Ho-seok loses his factory job. Their circumstances bring them into contact with Ye-ji, a documentary filmmaker, and her wealthy husband, Sang-woo. What follows is not a straightforward battle between rich and poor, but an examination of what happens when people attempt to understand lives they have never had to live.
Sul Kyung-gu is extraordinary as Ho-seok, conveying the humiliation of a man whose livelihood and sense of identity have collapsed together. Jeon Do-yeon and Cho Yeo-jeong are equally compelling, their characters’ growing intimacy complicated by envy, affection and the inequalities that neither can entirely escape.
At almost three hours, the film occasionally tests the audience’s patience, but Lee’s refusal to reduce these relationships to simple moral judgements is precisely what makes it absorbing. Its central question is deceptively simple: what good are our intentions if we cannot recognise the privileges that shape them?
Ink – 3 Stars
Few films in the programme feel quite as immediately relevant to British audiences as Danny Boyle’s Ink. Charting the relaunch of The Sun under Rupert Murdoch and editor Larry Lamb, it examines how sensationalism became a powerful weapon in the fight for newspaper circulation.
Boyle approaches Fleet Street like a pressure cooker. The pounding soundtrack, frantic editing and visual distortions make the newsroom feel increasingly monstrous, while Jack O’Connell delivers a commanding performance as Lamb. Guy Pearce’s Murdoch is equally imposing, capturing the ambition of a man determined to disrupt the established order.
But the film’s greatest weakness is also its most fascinating contradiction. For a story about the dangers of sensationalist journalism, Ink can seem remarkably seduced by the very men responsible for it. Murdoch’s outsider status and entrepreneurial ambition receive considerable attention, while the consequences of the power he would go on to wield remain frustratingly underexplored.
The result is an energetic, often gripping film that does not quite deliver the political reckoning its subject demands. It understands how the press learned to sell a story, but is less successful at confronting the price Britain continues to pay for it.
Overall, the BFI London Film Festival may carry London in its name, but its reach extends far beyond the capital. Thanks to venues such as The Showroom, Sheffield audiences can be part of the conversation, too.
