If Beale Street Could Talk premiere: On the red carpet with Barry Jenkins, Colman Domingo and Nicholas Britell at London Film Festival 2018

At the 62^nd BFI London Film Festival, we went long to the premiere of If Beale Street Could Talk, the much-anticipated film from Oscar-winning Moonlight director Barry Jenkins.

For his follow up, Jenkins has chosen to adapt the 1974 James Baldwin novel of the same name. The film tells the story of Tish and Fonny, played by KiKi Layne and Stephan James, whose childhood friendship blossoms into romance until a cruelly unjust criminal system allows Fonny to be jailed for a crime he didn’t commit. A strong supporting cast – Regina King, Colman Domingo – completes a beautifully crafted, visually powerful and elegiac screen version of a tale that carries with it timely themes of racial justice as well as a belief in love trumping all else.

At the LFF premiere, we were lucky enough to speak with the Academy Award-winning director about why he chose to adapt Baldwin’s novel, his filmmaking style and assembling and working with his cast.

Colman Domingo spoke about how he saw his character, Tish’s father Joseph Rivers, and his experience of working with an incredible film director.

We also had the pleasure of speaking with Nicholas Britell about his work composing the film’s score.

Sarah Bradbury
Videos: Filippo L’Astorina

If Beale Street Could Talk is released nationwide on 8^th February 2018.

Read more reviews and interviews from our London Film Festival 2018 coverage here.

For further information about the festival visit the official BFI website here.

Watch the trailer for If Beale Street Could Talk here: