AFI FEST Los Angeles International Film Festival 2009

On July 7, 2005, four Muslim assassins, traveling on London’s public transport during morning rush hour, activate a series of bombs. They kill 56 people and injure many others on three underground trains and one double-decker bus. Rachid Bouchareb’s LONDON RIVER tells the emotional story of an unlikely friendship that develops between Mrs. Sommers (Brenda Blethyn) a prejudiced Christian mother, and Ousmane, a Muslim father (Sotigui Kouyaté, 2009 Berlin Silver Bear winner as best actor), who search for their children following the attacks. Though they differ in religious beliefs and cultural background, Ousmane and Mrs. Sommers share the common hope of finding their children alive. When they arrive in the British capital, they discover truths about their children that stun them.

–Stacey Marbrey