LONDON (AFP) — Hollywood stars including Tom Cruise, Robert Redford and Meryl Streep are expected to attend the 51st London Film Festival next month, organisers said Thursday.
The trio are due at the world premiere of "Lions For Lambs", a political thriller directed by Redford and also starring Cruise and Streep which explores the impact of war through entwined plots in Afghanistan and the United States.
The movie, the latest in a wave of upcoming films about the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan including "In the Valley of Elah" and "Grace is Gone", starring John Cusack, will get its first screening on October 22.
Opening and closing the festival will be David Cronenberg's new film "Eastern Promises", starring Viggo Mortensen, and Wes Anderson's "The Darjeeling Limited", featuring Owen Wilson and Adrien Brody.
Ang Lee's erotic spy thriller "Lust, Caution", which won the Golden Lion for best picture at the last Venice Film Festival, will also be shown, along with Todd Haynes's "I'm Not There", about musician Bob Dylan, Francois Ozon's "Angel" and Michael Haneke's "Funny Games".
The festival -- which runs from October 17 to November 1 -- will include 184 features and 133 short films from 43 countries around the world. It will also include special strands on new Romanian and French films.
Announcing the line-up, artistic director Sandra Hebron said: "In a very strong year for world cinema, we are delighted to be able to present such a wide-ranging and high quality programme of films and special events".
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