Elsinore opens London Film Festival after 21-year journey
Twenty-one years after first pitching it by email, producer Andrea Occhipinti watched his film Elsinore open the BFI London Film Festival to a standing ovation.
The opening-night screening took place at the Royal Festival Hall on 7 October, with Occhipinti speaking about the long journey the next day, according to Variety. The festival billed the screening as the film's international premiere, and the 2026 edition runs from 7 to 18 October.
Elsinore is a biographical drama about Scottish actor Ian Charleson. Charleson, known for Chariots of Fire, gave a final performance as Hamlet at London's National Theatre in late 1989, shortly before his death from AIDS at age 40. Andrew Scott plays Charleson, with Olivia Colman co-starring, Variety reported.
For Occhipinti, the lead producer on the film, the story is personal. He co-founded the Italian distribution and production company Lucky Red with American business partner Kermit Smith, who was HIV-positive and died in 2001.
Occhipinti had known Charleson. They met in Spain in 1984 on the set of the miniseries The Sun Also Rises, in which Occhipinti played a bullfighter. They met again in Rome three years later while Charleson was shooting Dario Argento's Opera.
The idea for the film came from friend Ethan Silverman. Silverman told Occhipinti how Charleson, though ill with AIDS, was determined to play Hamlet. In 2005, Occhipinti emailed Silverman to propose turning that final act into a film.
It took years to assemble. Andrew Scott became attached to play the lead. Cameron McCracken at Pathé UK suggested Stephen Beresford as writer because Beresford had written Pride, in which Scott had starred. Producers Gabrielle Tana and Pete Shilaimon joined once the script and Scott were in place, and Tana brought in director Simon Stone.
Financing followed a direct pitch. Occhipinti took the project to Studiocanal chief executive Anna Marsh and executive vice-president of global production Ron Halpern, who agreed to back it.
As the festival's Opening Night Gala, Elsinore launched both the London programme and its own release calendar. The gala was held at Southbank Centre's Royal Festival Hall, with related screenings around the United Kingdom, according to the BFI. Fundraising tickets for opening night were priced at £1,000 with limited availability.
What makes this stand out is the length of the chain. A brief meeting in 1984, a conversation about a stage performance in 1989, and an email in 2005 became an opening-night premiere in 2026.
