London-set dystopian drama “The Kitchen,” directed by Kibwe Tavares and Daniel Kaluuya, will close the 67th BFI London Film Festival.
The film marks the feature directorial debut of Oscar-winning actor Kaluuya, who also co-wrote with Joe Murtagh (“Calm With Horses”). Tavares previously directed the Sundance-winning short “Robots of Brixton.”
In “The Kitchen,” the gap between rich and poor has been stretched to its limits. All forms of social housing have been eradicated and only The Kitchen remains: a community that refuses to move out of the place they call home. The film follows Izi (Kane Robinson), who lives there by necessity and is desperately trying to find a way out, and 12-year-old Benji (Jedaiah Bannerman), who has lost his mother and is searching for a family, as they struggle to forge a relationship in a system that is stacked against them.
The cast also includes Hope Ikpoku Jr, Teija Kabs, Demmy Ladipo, Cristale and BackRoad Gee.
The film — which was was made in association with Film4, who also supported development, and is produced by DMC Film and 59% Productions — will receive its world premiere on Oct. 15 at London’s Southbank Centre’s Royal Festival Hall, ahead of its release into U.K. cinemas and subsequent launch on Netflix.
As previously announced, Emerald Fennell’s “Saltburn” will open the festival and James Hawes’ “One Life” is the gala from festival sponsor American Express.
“We both grew up in London, and ‘The Kitchen’ is a love letter to our city, so it’s a true honour to premiere it here, in our hometown, on the closing night of BFI’s London Film Festival,” Tavares and Kaluuya said in a joint statement. “Starting a decade ago as a workshop in a local barbershop, the film’s journey from script to screen has been a continued collaboration between us, and the community of cast and crew that came to make up our ‘Kitchen,’ including our two amazing leads Kane Robinson and Jedaiah Bannerman, whose performances anchor the heart of our story. Together we have aimed to make something fresh, thoughtful and cinematic — an allegory and homage to the residents of ‘The Kitchen’ in every city in the world.”
Kristy Matheson, BFI London Film Festival director, added: “Kibwe Tavares and Daniel Kaluuya have made a film that totally explodes our expectations of contemporary U.K. cinema. ‘The Kitchen’ offers such scope for audiences — the essential social politics and high-octane energy gel perfectly to create an electrifying big screen experience. We could not be more excited to close the festival with this inventive film set in a near future London that showcases this incredibly talented team who call this city home.”
The winner of the BMW Filmmaking Challenge in partnership with the BFI will be revealed on the closing night.
The BFI London Film Festival runs Oct. 4-15.
