Alan Turing biopic The Imitation Game named as London film festival opener /Alan Turing biopic accuracy questioned / VIDEO The Imitation Game - Official UK Teaser Trailer

--IN CINEMAS 14th NOVEMBER--

The Imitation Game is a nail-biting race against time following Alan Turing (pioneer of modern-day computing and credited with cracking the German Enigma code) and his brilliant team at Britain's top-secret code-breaking centre, Bletchley Park, during the darkest days of World War II. Turing, whose contributions and genius significantly shortened the war, saving thousands of lives, was the eventual victim of an unenlightened British establishment, but his work and legacy live on.

THE IMITATION GAME stars Benedict Cumberbatch (Star Trek Into Darkness, TV's Sherlock) as Alan Turing and Keira Knightley (Atonement) as close friend and fellow code-breaker Joan Clarke, alongside a top notch cast including Matthew Goode (A Single Man), Mark Strong (Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy), Rory Kinnear (Skyfall), Charles Dance (Gosford Park, TV's Game of Thrones), Allen Leech (In Fear, TV's Downton Abbey) and Matthew Beard (An Education).

http://www.facebook.com/imitationgameUK

https://twitter.com/ImitationGameUK

Alan Turing biopic The Imitation Game named as London film festival opener

Prestigious red-carpet slot in London's West End goes to life story of renowned codebreaker, starring Benedict Cumberbatch

Andrew Pulver

 theguardian.com, Monday 21 July 2014 / http://www.theguardian.com/film/2014/jul/21/alan-turing-imitation-game-benedict-cumberbatch-london-film-festival

The London film festival has announced that the Alan Turing biopic The Imitation Game will be the opening film for its 58th edition.

Starring Benedict Cumberbatch as Turing, the film is expected to help elevate even further the reputation of the pioneering British scientist, whose work was crucial to cracking German cypher codes during the second world war but who then killed himself in 1954 after being prosecuted for gross indecency in 1952 after the revelation of a then-illegal gay relationship. Prime minister Gordon Brown released a statement of apology in 2009 on behalf of the British government for the "appalling" treatment of Turing.

Directed by Morten Tyldum and co-starring Keira Knightley as Turing's friend and fellow code-breaker Joan Clarke, the London film festival screening is being billed as a European premiere, which suggests the film's world premiere will be held outside Europe, most likely at the Toronto film festival in early September.

The London film festival runs from 8-19 October

Alan Turing biopic accuracy questioned

Film starring Benedict Cumberbatch and Keira Knightley accused of romanticising pioneering scientist's life

Andrew Pulver

Follow @Andrew_Pulver Follow @guardianfilm

theguardian.com, Tuesday 19 November 2013 / http://www.theguardian.com/film/2013/nov/19/alan-turing-film-biopic-accuracy-keira-knightley-benedict-cumberbatch

Alan Turing's niece Inagh Payne has questioned the accuracy of The Imitation Game, the forthcoming biopic of her uncle, the codebreaker and pioneering computer scientist, starring Benedict Cumberbatch.

Speaking to the Mail on Sunday, Payne particularly expressed concern over the casting of Keira Knightley as parson's daughter Joan Clarke, who worked at Bletchley Park with Turing and was briefly engaged to him.

"Joan Clarke was rather plain," Payne said. "But she was very nice, bright and a good friend to Alan... When he told her about how he was she accepted it, didn't make a scene or anything like that."

"I think they might be trying to romanticise it. It makes me a bit mad. You want the film to show it as it was, not a lot of nonsense."

Turing worked at Bletchley Park as a codebreaker during the second world war, before joining the National Physical Laboratory, where he designed the early computer ACE, and then Manchester University's Computing Laboratory. Turing was convicted of gross indecency in 1952, and accepted "chemical castration" – hormone treatment – to avoid imprisonment. He killed himself two years later, in 1954.

In 2009, prime minster Gordon Brown issued an apology on behalf of the government for its treatment of Turing, and parliament agreed to pass a bill giving him a posthumous pardon.

The Imitation Game, directed by Headhunters' Morten Tyldum is due for release next year.