Steve McQueen’s Shame to close Leeds film festival

The 25th Leeds International Film Festival will close with Steve McQueen’s Shame, starring Michael Fassbender.

Chris Fell, Director of Leeds International Film Festival said: “We are thrilled to close the LIFF25 Official Selection with Steve McQueen’s mesmerising Shame, featuring an unforgettable performance from Michael Fassbender.”

The drama centres around the life of a young executive who revels in his sex-obsessed lifestyle until his free-spirited sister unexpectedly re-appears in his life. Shame had its world premiere in Venice, where Fassbender won the best actor prize. It also screened at Toronto and is set to screen at the BFI London Film Festival.

LIFF – celebrating its 25^th anniversary – will also feature the Golden Owl Competition: 12 UK premieres all made by rising talents who have not had their films previously distributed theatrically in the UK. Among the 12 titles are: The River Used to be a Man, for which director Jan Zabeil was bestowed the Kutxa-New Directors Award at San Sebastian Film Festival; Nana, awarded the Locarno 2011 Opera Prima for Best First Film; Paula Markovitch’s The Prize;  Adrian Sitaru’s Romanian drama Best Intentions; and Rebecca Daly’s Cannes Directors Fortnight selection The Other Side of Sleep.

Out of competition, there will be preview screenings from around the world including Take Shelter starring Michael Shannon, and Béla Tarr’s The Turin Horse - Hungary’s Oscar nomination for this year, and winner of both the Jury Grand Prix and the FIPRESCI prize at this year’s Berlinale.

Tarr’s epic Sátántangó will also screen in its full 450-minute form in Leeds’ retrospective selection. Two of Rotterdam’s 2011 Tiger Award winners — Finisterrae and Journals of Musan — will also screen as part of the Official Selection.

As previously reported, the festival will open with BAFTA- and Oscar-winning director Andrea Arnold’s Wuthering Heights.

The full programme is available at leedsfilm.com.