We also had a short movie filmed in our reception and rooms (click here to read about!) and there is a Vue Cinema just 10 minutes by walk from the Hostel, in the Angel area, with many screens with all the latest releases.
(Click here to check if your favourite movie is already on screen!)

With so many great Festival all around Europe, travelling for film-lovers has never been so appealing!

Cannes, Venice, Rome, New York… so many great cities are hosting directors and actors, and of course London is right on the top of the list!!

The Times BFI 53rd LONDON FILM FESTIVAL 2009 will take place from Wednesday 14 October through Thursday 29 October 2009.

This amazing event attracts every year many international filmmakers, promising to show you the best of the best in contemporary world cinema.

Last year the Festival opened with the World Premiere of Ron Howard’s Frost/Nixon and closed with the European Premiere of Danny Boyle’s Slumdog Millionaire, and this year the program is not less exciting.

As the Film Festival Artistic Director Sandra Hebron says, “What is the cinema, if not dreams?”
This year’s Festival you will find plenty of films that work on many levels, enough for every taste and expectation.

Anyone looking for work by some of the world’s most significant filmmakers can enjoy new films from Claire Denis, Joel and Ethan Coen, Manoel de Oliveira, Frederick Wiseman, Bong Joon-ho, Steven Soderbergh, Jim Jarmusch, Shyam Benegal and many more.
They will be represented alongside a wealth of newer talents including Warwick Thornton, Jordan Scott and Mia Hansen-Løve, with also the welcome return of such maverick voices as Eugène Green, Andrew Kötting and Harmony Korine.

The opening and closing night films, both presented as World Premieres, will be Fantastic Mr. Fox by Wes Anderson, and Nowhere Boy, by Sam Taylor-Wood, where John Lennon’s early life is told as a love story.

In between these two, alongside the new fiction features and documentaries from around the world, there will be a lively programme of short films, animation, avant-garde and experimental work.

And if all this is not enough, what if we tell you about the FREE SCREENINGS in Trafalgar Square, taking place on the 22nd October?

Under the granite eyes of Horatio Nelson, in the most famous and central of London squares, you will be able to enjoy a selection of short films from the BFI National Archive and London’s Screen Archives.

All the films will be screened in various venues all around the city, so you will be able to see some of the most beautiful London landmarks as long as your favourite flicks.

For all the details about the Festival and its prestigious participants, just check the BFI official website.

If you love cinema, why not coming to London, this October?

Here at Ashlee House Hostel we offer you 10% DISCOUNT on your stay, if you book with us to attend to the Film Festival!

And if you did not have enough of seeing movies all day, you can keep doing it in Ashlee House!
Every night is a movie night, in our Hostel, thanks to the big screen in our lounge and our wide collection of DVDs.

What are you waiting for?
The best of the world cinema and the best Hostel in London are here waiting for you!!

WHERE: Many cinemas all around London, and also Trafalgar Square!
WHEN: From 14/10/09 to 29/10/09
WHY: Because it’s a great chance to see the preview of some of the best world movies and meet your favourite filmmakers and actors!

WE LOOK FORWARD TO SEE YOU THEN!
(But hey… don’t forget the pop corn!)

{Thank you very much to Steve Rhodes, Richard White and Simon Pearson for the beautiful photos attached to this post!}

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What we like the most of our job is the possibility to cross the lives and stories of so many different people from all around the world.
We have been travellers ourselves, so we know how it feels to be on the other side of the desk, no matter if your journey is a holiday, a break or a path of self discovery.
Every day is different and we are happy to say that our job is never dull or boring, and we are pretty much prepared for any situation…

We must say, though, that we would have never imagined that our Hostel could become the set for a film!! And yet, this is exactly what happened last week!

When Darren Sharland, the director, contacted our manager Kristine about the possibility to film some scenes of his short-film in our reception area, we have been all very thrilled by this idea.

He chose our Hostel because his background is Interior Design and Architecture and our Hostel’s spaces had all the elements needed as it was written in the script.
He thought – in his own words – that “choosing Ashlee House was the right choice because of the great light coming in the window and designed interior and space for movement.”

Of course we have been very happy to accept, so we arranged to have them invading our reception on a sunny Sunday morning.

This short film is called The Traveller (check it out on the official website) and it’s a story about an encounter.
A mysterious guy arrives in a new city and into the lives of a couple of fellows travellers, and join them on their exploration of London.
But something happens and a possible revelation threatens the very base of the couple’s relationship. Who is this guy? And what did he see?

There is only a way to discover it… watching The Traveller, that soon will be ready for screening. Keep an eye on the official website to know more about it.

The day of the filming has been fun and busy at the same time.
Lucie has been working wonderfully as usual to welcome all our Guests at her best, despite not being able to use the reception desk, completely surrounded by cameras and with real actors playing our role!
At the end of the day, though, she got some ice cream from the filming crew as a thank you for her patience.

Emily, the production assistant, has been very kind and nice, as everyone else. The crew and actors used our kitchen to cook their lunch and they have been around our Hostel for more than 10 hours of filming!

It has been truly an interesting and particular day and we are very glad they decided to choose us as a set for this great story.
Meeting all the crew and actors has been a real pleasure. We look forward to be in a cinema to see the première of this short film.

If you have been travelling in your life, you know that “travelling for a long stretch becomes less about the places you visit and things you see and far more about the experiences you have and people you meet.”

We look forward to discover which story will bring us the next ring of our entrance bell.
Maybe will be you, coming to stay with us?

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