{"id":655859,"date":"2026-10-15T20:58:13","date_gmt":"2026-10-15T20:58:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/655859\/"},"modified":"2026-10-15T20:58:13","modified_gmt":"2026-10-15T20:58:13","slug":"jack-oconnell-sandra-huller-attend-london-film-fest-variety-dinner","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/655859\/","title":{"rendered":"Jack O’Connell, Sandra H\u00fcller Attend London Film Fest Variety Dinner"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tMarking the awards season kickoff, a starry crowd of filmmakers and talent including Jack O\u2019Connell and Danny Boyle (\u201cInk\u201d), Sandra H\u00fcller (\u201cRose\u201d), Taron Egerton<\/a> (\u201cEverybody Wants to F*ck Me\u201d), Rosalind Eleazer (\u201cMisty Green\u201d), Billie Piper (\u201cElsinore\u201d), Gemma Chan (\u201cJosephine\u201d) and Florian Zeller (\u201cBunker\u201d) turned up at Variety\u2018s intimate yet glamorous dinner at Soho Mews House to celebrate the BFI London Film Festival<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe evening marked Variety\u2019s first London dinner, hosted by international editor Elsa Keslassy alongside London-based colleagues Alex Ritman and Ellise Shafer, in collaboration with Studiocanal. <\/p>\n

\n\tThe European powerhouse, which is part of the London-listed Canal+ Group, was out in force at the event with some hot talent from the highlights of their fall festival slate at Venice, Toronto and Telluride, as well as LFF. These included Venice opener \u201cInk\u201d director Boyle, who was joined by writer James Graham and star O\u2019Connell; LFF opener \u201cElsinore\u201d writer Stephen Beresford and singer-turned-actor Piper; Zeller with \u201cBunker\u201d starring Penelope Cruz and Javier Bardem; as well as \u201cEverybody Wants To F*ck Me\u201d director Jonathan Schey and his key cast Egerton and Mia McKenna-Bruce. Studiocanal chairman Anna Marsh, who traveled from Paris for the occasion, was there with Ron Halpern, EVP of global production, and Joe Naftalin, SVP of production and development.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tMia McKenna-Bruce, Taron Egerton and Jack O\u2019Connell.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tTim Whitby<\/p>\n

\n\tH\u00fcller, dressed in a silky red dress, also attended with \u201cRose\u201d director Markus Schleinzer. Besides \u201cRose,\u201d the German star is at LFF with Pawel Pawlikowski\u2019s \u201cFatherland,\u201d which could land her a pair of best actress nominations. Also in attendance were Eleazar, whose first leading role in Chris Rock\u2019s \u201cMisty Green\u201d has earned some strong Oscar buzz; Chan, who stars opposite Channing Tatum in the Sundance highlight \u201cJosephine\u201d; and MacKay, who is currently shooting the \u201cOcean\u2019s Eleven\u201d prequel in France and presented Calvin Demba\u2019s \u201cThe Animals\u201d at LFF.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe gathering also drew a mix of rising talents and filmmakers, including \u201cThe Outrun\u201d director Nora Fingscheidt; Olivia Washington, who starred in the West End production of Jeremy O. Harris\u2019 \u201cSlave Play\u201d; and Savanah Leaf, who made her feature directing debut with \u201cEarth Mama.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tSandra H\u00fcller and Markus Schleinzer.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tTim Whitby<\/p>\n

\n\tThe guest list reflected the breadth of the British and international film industry, with Mubi founder Efe Cakarel, whose company\u2019s fall slate includes \u201cRose\u201d and \u201cFatherland\u201d as well as France\u2019s Oscar candidate \u201cMinotaur;\u201d and prominent producers including Katie Goodson of Searchlight Pictures, who produced \u201cWild Horse Nine\u201d; Ed Guiney and Andrew Lowe of Element Pictures; Graham Broadbent and Pete Czernin of Blueprint Pictures; Rosie Alison of Heyday; Ed Macdonald of Plan B Europe; Ben Browning of Path\u00e9 UK; Tanya Qureshi of LuckyChap International; and up-and-coming independent producer Rosa Attab; as well as Paris-based entertainment attorney Elsa Huisman, Independent Talent Group\u2019s CEO Sally Long-Innes, BFI\u2019s well-respected CEO Ben Roberts and senior production and development executive Ama Ampadu. London Film Festival artistic director Kristy Matheson, who is on her fourth year at the helm of the fest, also joined the dinner after the presentation of Andrew Haigh\u2019s \u201cA Long Winter.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tGeorge MacKay and Rosalind Eleazar.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tTim Whitby<\/p>\n

\n\tAfter a lively cocktail reception in the warmly lit lounge decorated with vintage furniture, guests sat down for a four-course dinner around two long tables dressed in white linen and softly lit by small lamps. The menu included smoked salmon with buckwheat blinis, burrata with black figs, Suffolk chicken and baked potato gnocchi, followed by desserts including sticky toffee pudding and dark chocolate mousse. <\/p>\n

\n\tIn a short speech welcoming guests, Keslassy highlighted the importance of bringing the international film community together at a time of upheaval and consolidation within the industry.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cWe\u2019re here to celebrate the London Film Festival, but also to celebrate you \u2014 filmmakers, talent, producers and executives who all have one thing in common: a desire to make movies that are not just entertaining but also bold and meaningful,\u201d Keslassy said. \u201cThis event is meant to bring this community together, and reflect how vibrant and diverse it is.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tBillie Piper and Gemma Chan.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tTim Whitby<\/p>\n

\n\tThe evening also celebrated the close ties between the French and British film industries, with Studiocanal\u2019s strong presence at the festival illustrating the growing crossover between talent, producers and financing partners on both sides of the Channel.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cThe French and British may be the biggest rivals in many fields \u2014 including in soccer \u2014 but when it comes to cinema, we\u2019re the best of allies!\u201d Keslassy said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Marking the awards season kickoff, a starry crowd of filmmakers and talent including Jack O\u2019Connell and Danny Boyle…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":655860,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[321,93,61,60,99893,49962,142519,45793],"class_list":["post-655859","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-celebrities","tag-celebrities","tag-entertainment","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-jack-oconnell","tag-london-film-festival","tag-sandra-huller","tag-taron-egerton"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/655859","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=655859"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/655859\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/655860"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=655859"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=655859"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=655859"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}