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<\/p>\nAfter sitting it out last year, Deadline’s Contenders film series returns to London this weekend with a strong lineup featuring Ridley Scott, Emerald Fennell, Todd Haynes and Michael Mann among the panelists on tap to attend the awards-season event.<\/p>\n
Contenders London gets underway Saturday morning at London’s Ham Yard Hotel and will feature panels on 13 of the year’s buzziest films from eight studios and streamers. Deadline will have full coverage of the event all day on the website and on our social channels, where you can follow along using the hashtag #DeadlineContenders.<\/p>\n
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In challenging times, it’s good to know quality cinema is never too far away, with films from some of the world’s biggest filmmakers on tap today. Along with Scott’s Napoleon<\/em>, Fennell’s Saltburn<\/em>, Haynes’ May December<\/em> and Mann’s Ferrari<\/em>, J.A. Bayona will present his Society of the Snow<\/em>, Jeymes Samuel will open The Book of Clarence<\/em>, Christos Nikou will polish his Fingernails<\/em>; and we’ll take a deep dive into Nyad <\/em>with one half of the directing team, Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi (her directing partner, Jimmy Chin, is on assignment somewhere remote, cooking up another great documentary to follow their hits Meru <\/em>and Free Solo<\/em>, so we’ll forgive his absence). Also on the panelist roster are the teams behind Martin Scorsese’s Killers of the Flower Moon<\/em> and David Fincher’s The Killer<\/em>.<\/p>\n At press time, there are no actors in today’s lineup, and this year’s round of labor action has shaped the start of the awards season inexorably. Still, as evidenced by the talented names that will grace our stage, that is not to suggest that there aren’t exciting stories to tell without them.<\/p>\n To wit, you’ll meet Kazu Hiro, the legendary prosthetics make-up designer responsible for transforming Gary Oldman into Winston Churchill a few years ago for The Darkest Hour<\/em>. He’s back at work this year with Bradley Cooper on Maestro<\/em>. Ever wonder how Aardman’s animation classics are designed? Look no further than our panel for Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget<\/em>, which features production designer Darren Dubicki. And I can tell you from personal experience that costume designer Janty Yates, a frequent collaborator of Scott’s who worked on his Napoleon<\/em>, will regale you with gripping stories about her masterful craft.<\/p>\n As for the year’s biggest film, Greta Gerwig’s Barbie<\/em>, production designer Sarah Greenwood, costume designer Jacqueline Durran, and hair and makeup designer Ivana Primorac — among other panelists — will discuss how they brought Barbie Land to life on the big screen. It’s a testament to their hard work that so many of us were able to do the “Barbenheimer” double bill earlier this year without batting a well-manicured eyelash at the change in tone. Great cinema is great cinema, whether it’s gritty and historic or pink and fantastical.<\/p>\n Deadline’s Contenders London kicks off with breakfast at 8:30 a.m. local time, with panels following at 9:30 a.m.<\/p>\n This year’s event sponsor is Eyepetizer. <\/p>\nMust Read Stories<\/h2>\n
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