The BFI London Film Festival returns this October for its 63rd edition, and the head programmers have lined up an absolute doozy for the Closing Night Gala.

Following its world premiere at the 57th New York Film Festival, Martin Scorsese’s hotly-anticipated mob biopic will receive its international premiere in the UK capital on 13 October. Starring Robert De Niro, Al Pacino and Joe Pesci, the film chronicles one of the great unsolved true crime cases of the 20th century – the suspicious disappearance of union chief Jimmy Hoffa (played by Pacino).

Excitingly, the director and cast are all expected to attend the Gala. Here’s what Marty had to say about the announcement: “I’m extremely honoured to be having the International Premiere of The Irishman at the closing night of the BFI London Film Festival. This picture was many years in the making. It’s a project that Robert De Niro and I started talking about a long time ago, and we wanted to make it the way it needed to be made. It’s also a picture that all of us could only have made at this point in our lives. We’re all very excited to be bringing The Irishman to London.”

Festival Director Tricia Tuttle added: “British Film Institute Fellow Scorsese is one of the true greats of cinema – as both a creator and a tireless champion of preservation and film history – and here he and his creative team have delivered an epic of breathtakingly audacious scale and complexity, exploring relationships of trust and betrayal, regret and remorselessness, which dominated a period of American history. This is a major occasion for film lovers and I cannot wait to share this film with UK audiences.”

The 63rd BFI LFF runs 2-13 October, with the full programme to be announced on 29 August. For more info visit whatson.bfi.org.uk/lff

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