Star Wars Day at BFI Southbank
As soon as I heard about of Star Wars Day which is happening this Saturday (13th December) at the BFI Southbank. I thought of how amazing it would be to see Darth Vader and other characters adding a bit of festive cheer to their outfits and also enjoying festivities on the Southbank. (Hence the picture) Especially as you can start at Borough Market, stop at the Tate Modern for a pit stop and end up at the Winter Festival if you so choose.
In fact I was nearly as excited as these guys when they watch the trailer for Star Wars Episode VII The Force Awakens, but not quite.
So as part of the BFI’s three-month blockbuster season, presented together with O2, the BFI are celebrating Star Wars Day on Saturday 13 December 2014, with special guests that are TBA.
As the UK is playing a major role in the production of JJ Abrams’ forthcoming Star Wars film, the BFI are taking audiences back to the very beginning with a very special day dedicated to what the BFI refers to as “the mother of all space operas” (I think we can all agree on that)
Star Wars Day will comprises screenings of the special editions of Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope (1977), Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back (1980) and Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi (1983), plus special guests (TBA).
Dressing up is encouraged to the point where they will be giving prizes to audience members who dress to impress, plus at the end of the night there will be a themed DJ set and space-inspired cocktails in BFI Southbank’s bar benugo, which will be transformed into the BFI’s own Mos Eisley Cantina.
Sadly and not surprisingly this is sold out, but there’s nothing stopping you going down to the Southbank and cheering / fist bumping everyone in Star Wars get up or just going because it’s not quite as busy as Winter Wonderland. As there’s more than enough to keep you entertained, and you can get some pretty awesome shots of the Christmas tree maze and the London Eye from the wonderful Rekorderlig Cider Lodge. In the middle you’ll also find the fantastic looking LA SOIRÉE, with standing tickets from £15, plus enough food, drink and gift stalls to keep you going.
Thankfully all hope is not lost as this is a Sci-Fi season which lasts until January. So there’s many more opportunities to get your cinematic Star Wars fix and also look behind the scenes with a unique exhibition. On-set: Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope (until 4 January, BFI Southbank Atrium) promises to provided a rare opportunity to see one of the treasures of the BFI National Archive: an original shooting script for Episode IV: A New Hope.
If that sounds cool, then you’ll be even more excited to find out that it’s more than a book of scrap paper. The script, which was donated to the BFI by the film’s continuity supervisor Ann Skinner, also includes extensive shooting notes, deleted scenes and unique Polaroid photographs all of which give a eye opening insight into the making of the film.
So if never before seen pages and photographs from the script, exploring the style of the film and highly-skilled work that that went into creating probably THE most enduring and influential sci-fi films ever made sounds like your thing, you should head to the Southbank this Christmas. For everything else there’s also the Southbank, just remember to high five anyone is Star Wars costume if you’re there this weekend.
