'Nowhere Boy' to close 2009 London Film Festival

Sam Taylor-Wood’s John Lennon biopic will close 2009 London Film Festival

Earlier this week we heard that Wes Anderson’s animated version of Roald Dahl’s ‘The Fantastic Mr Fox’ was set to open the 2009 London Film Festival. Now we know what the closing film will be.

‘Nowhere Boy’, a memoir of the early life of John Lennon, is the hotly anticipated feature debut of Brit artist/photographer Sam Taylor-Wood, and it has been locked in for closing night duties for this year’s festival. Starring British up-and-comer Aaron Johnson in the lead role, the film, which was partially shot around North London earlier this year, is based on the book written by Julia Baird, Lennon’s younger half-sister.

Many will be eager to see how Wood has made the transition from artist to filmmaker, especially after the success of Steve McQueen’s ‘Hunger’ at last year’s festival. The fact that her past work has demonstrated that she is uniquely attuned to the world of pop culture holds her in good stead. And, perhaps more encouragingly, her Patrick Marber-penned short, ‘Love You More’, in which a teenage couple make love to the sound of The Buzzcocks, was adoringly received when it premiered at the 2008 Cannes Film Festival.

That the film has been bestowed with this honour at all does in itself suggest that we could be in for something rather special. We only have to look back to last year, when audience members sheepishly filed in to the Odeon Leicester Square to see a little number called ‘Slumdog Millionare’, only to leave the cinema swooning.

And like ‘Slumdog’, a glance at the cast list doesn't reveal many faces that would have the local paparazzi slathering (Kristin Scott-Thomas, David Morrissey and Anne-Marie Duff also star), but we can probably bank on Wood’s no-doubt bulging book of celebrity contacts to ensure that the evening is – by some distance – London’s hottest ticket.

This year’s London Film Festival kicks off on October 14, and ‘Nowhere Boy’ will bring the final curtain down on October 29.

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