The 2024 London Film Festival will open with the world premiere of Steve McQueen’s latest movie Blitz.

The drama, written, directed and produced by the 12 Years a Slave filmmaker, features an all-star cast including Saoirse Ronan, Paul Weller, Stephen Graham, Harris Dickinson and Kathy Burke.

The film follows the epic journey of George, played by newcomer Elliott Heffernan, who is sent to the English countryside for safety during World War II. He embarks on an adventure to return home to his mother Rita (Ronan) and grandfather Gerald (Weller) and finds himself in immerse peril, while Rita goes on the search for her missing son.

“BLITZ is a movie about Londoners. It honours the spirit of what and how Londoners endured during the blitz, but also explores the true representation of people in London, while at its core is the story of a working-class family desperate to be reunited during times of war,” said McQueen in a statement. “I could not be more thrilled that the BFI London Film Festival have invited us to open this year’s festival, and to celebrate the World Premiere of Blitz in my hometown.”

McQueen has a long-standing relationship with LFF, having opened the festival twice before with Widows in 2018 and Mangrove in 2020. His films Hunger, 12 Years a Slave, Shame, Lovers Rock and Occupied City also premiered at his hometown festival.

Kristy Matheson, the festival’s Director, described Blitz as a film “of incredible scale” and added, “It’s an astounding production that will leave audiences in awe of the Director, his cast, and creative collaborators.”

Blitz will open the 68th BFI London Film Festival on 9 October at the Royal Festival Hall. The festival will then run until 20 October.

The film will premiere in select cinemas on 1 November before streaming on Apple TV+ on 22 November.

© Cover Media