Hey Lovelies, 

Okay so this is probably the biggest news of the day for the film world and I am excited to be sharing with you this news, because only a few moments ago, the London Film Festival was announced by the BFI and this year it is huge lovelies. 

With over 238 fiction and documentary films being aired this year, including 16 World Premieres, 8 International Premieres, 40 European Premieres, 11 Archive films with 5 Restoration World Premieres, 182 live action and animated shorts, plus a number of talks, Q&As and more lovelies, the festival which will run from the 7th to the 18th October is going to be amazing! 

Screenings will be held at the Vue West End, Odeon Leicester Square, BFI Southbank, BFI IMAX, Picturehouse Central, the ICA, Curzon Mayfair, Curzon Soho, Cineworld Haymarket and Ciné Lumière, Ritzy Brixton, Hackney Picturehouse, Curzon Chelsea, Vue Islington and Rich Mix, as well as  the Tate Modern, who will introduce some huge films into the world. 

Including the two opening and closing night gala films, including Suffragette which is the first film of the event and Steve Jobs which will close the event lovelies! As well as opening the event, Suffragette will also be screening around the country in different cinemas and on the BFI’s Youtube channel, which means everyone can watch all the action. 

The festival will then continue with a number of Headline Galas, which include the film Carol starring Cate Blanchett and Rooney Mara, which will be the American Express Gala screening. As well as the Accenture Gala screening of Trumbo and the Virgin Atlantic screening of Black Mass, which stars Johnny Depp, Benedict Cumberbatch and Dakota Johnson within it. The festival will also host the May Fair Hotel Gala screening of Brooklyn, while the Centrepiece Gala will screen The Lady in the Van, the Archive Gala will welcome Shooting Stars and the Festival Gala will screen High-Rise. 

As well as the Gala screenings, the festival will also welcome some very special presentations lovelies, as they welcome two new documentaries including The Forbidden Room and He Named Me Malala, plus the special presentation screening of Truth which will be held on the same night as Cate Blanchett gets her BFI Fellowship award. 

 And as for the Strand Galas, the festival will be hosting A Bigger Splash at the Love Gala, The Program at the Debate Gala, The Lobster at the Dare Gala, Brand: A Second Coming at the Laugh Gala, Beeba Boys at the Thrill Gala, Bone Tomahawk at the Cult Gala, as well as The Assassin, The Idol and Goosebumps which will air at the Journey, Sonic and Family Gala’s lovelies. 

Each gala, will also host themed screenings including the Dare themed films, such as Arabian Nights, Chemsex, Closet Monster, The Endless River, Flapping In The Middle Of Nowhere, Lucifer, Kothanodi, Madame Courage, One Floor Below and Queen of Earth. While the Laugh Gala screenings include, The Brand New Testament, Burn Burn Burn, From A To B, Grandma, Live From New York!,  Men And Chicken, A Perfect Day, Ruben Guthrie and Ryuzo and His Seven Henchmen. And the Love Gala will feature films such as ‘Departure’ lovelies!

In the Thrill themed films, you lovelies can enjoy, Assassination, Being Evel, The Ones Below, Remember, Steve McQueen: The Man & Le Mans, The Survivalist (due out on the 12th February!), Victoria And The Wave. And in the Cult section, you lovelies can enjoy, Don’t Grow Up, Elstree 1976, Ghost Theater, Green Room, Love And Peace And Yakuza Apocalypse. As well as a number of short films including 'Let’s Dance: Bowie Down Under' which will premiere at the BFI Southbank on the 10th October lovelies!

UPDATE: Watch the trailer for 'Elstree 1976' here lovelies...



This year also sees a number of these films working to win a number of awards, including the Official Competition award, in which these films are working to win: 

• 11 Minutes
• Beasts Of No Nation
• Cemetery Of Splendour
• Chevalier
• The Daughter
• Desierto 
• Evolution
• Office 
• Room
• Son Of Saul
• Sunset Song
• Tangerine
• Very Big Shot 

As well, the films competing for the Sutherland Award in the First Feature Competition includes:

• 3000 Nights (European Premiere)
• Bang Gang (A Modern Love Story)
• The Here After
• Krisha
• Lamb
• Light Years
• Partisan
• Paula
• Tanna
• The Wait
• Wedding Doll (European Premiere)
• The Witch

And the films competing for the Grierson Award in the Documentary Competition category are:

• (Be)Longing
• Censored Voices
• The Fear of 13 (World Premiere)
• Frame By Frame (European Premiere)
• Francofonia
• In Jackson Heights
• A Guy From Fenyang
• Mr. Gaga (International Premiere)
• The Pearl Button
• Public House (World Premiere)
• Sherpa (European Premiere)
• Something Better To Come

And in the Short Film Award category, those in competition include

• Command Action
• Dissonance
• Edmond
• The Exquisite Corpus
• A Hole In My Heart
• Lili 
• Mother(S)
• An Old Dog’s Diary
• Operator 
• Over
• Red Moon Rising 
• Tuesday

And if that wasn’t enough to make you want to attend lovelies then these guests might, as all of these stars will be attending the festival: Carey Mulligan, Helena Bonham-Carter, Meryl Streep, Sarah Gavron, Michael Fassbender, Kate Winslet, Danny Boyle, Cate Blanchett, Rooney Mara, Todd Haynes, Bryan Cranston, Helen Mirren, Jay Roach, Benedict Cumberbatch, Scott Cooper, Saoirse Ronan, John Crowley, Nick Hornby, Colm Toíbín, Maggie Smith, Alex Jennings, Nicholas Hytner, Alan Bennett, Tom Hiddleston, Ben Wheatley, Luca Guadagnino, Colin Farrell, Rachel Weisz, Yorgos Lanthimos, Ben Foster, Stephen Frears, Ondi Timoner, Randeep Hooda, Deepa Mehta, S. Craig Zahler, Hany Abu-Assad, Guy Maddin and Davis Guggenheim.

Throughout the festival there will also be a number of talks, including the one featuring Christopher Nolan and Tacita Dean, as well as educational and industry based projects lovelies!