BFI THAMES SOUTHBANK SET ON FIRE

Stars Attend Set the Thames on Fire BFI Loco Film Festival Premier Screening and Q&A 

Set The Thames On Fire received its UK premiere last night, April 21st as the opening film of The LOCO London Comedy Film Festival. The premiere was followed by a Q&A session with Ben Charles Edwards, screenwriter Al Joshua, producer Sadie Frost and an impromptu special guest appearance from cult comedy star Noel Fielding. If you couldn’t make it on the night then read on… 

Early critical responses are positive for the distinctly dystopian fairy tale with film review site Dirty Movies making it a four star ‘dirty gem’, stating in their opinion it ‘establishes a dialogue with Terry Gilliam’s early work… with colourful tyranny and absurdity’  and that ‘it resonates with the absurdist play ‘Waiting for Godot’, by Samuel Beckett.’ Hey U Guys says that the film is ‘Visually enticing with solid special effects and an enchanting score’ with Smokescreenlondon adding that the ‘kaleidoscopic vision of the capital is a striking feast for the eyes.’ The Velvet Onion concluded that Set the Thames on Fire is ‘Beautifully-imagined and uncomfortably visceral’ and is ‘an astonishing achievement for a debut’.

The cast and Blonde to Black producers set the Thames Southbank on fire themselves at the BFI Southbank, with the prestigious British Film Institute having this to say about the movie ‘Ben Charles Edwards shows that the visionary tradition of British cinema is alive and well in his dazzling dark comedy debut.’

The screening was rounded up with a Q&A with producer Sadie Frost, writer Al Joshua and director Ben Charles Edwards who were gleefully joined on stage impromptu by another of the film’s guest stars Noel Fielding. Sally Pilllips was also in the audience and fielded some questions about her role in the film from her seat. Ex editor of Time Out Dominic Wells was there too and transcribed the proceedings for you all on his culture blog London, Hollywood and in his view ‘The BFI Southbank (was) an unexpectedly conventional setting in which to see one of the most original, daring and visually ravishing British debuts in years.’ Wells surmises his round up of the event by saying ‘when so many low-budget British films re-tread the same old gangster, horror or kitchen-sink clichés, it’s incredibly refreshing to see one that aims for the stars. This is one of the most startlingly original and ravishing films to come out of Britain since Ben Wheatley. Judging by the rapturous response of the packed house at the BFI Southbank, there is absolutely an audience for it.’