On the seventh of October, 2026, in London began the 70th BFI London Film Festival — one of the main film events of Great Britain and a notable point of the European festival season.
The festival began on 7 October and will continue until 18 October. Over 12 days audiences will be shown 251 works from 88 countries — feature-length and short films, series and immersive projects.
This year the programme is especially rich in premieres: 33 world, 16 international and 20 European. Moreover, all feature-length films and series are being shown to the British public for the first time precisely here.
The organisers separately emphasise the gender balance of the programme: 109 works out of 251 were created by women directors, that is, more than 40% of the entire programme.
The festival opened with “Elsinore” by Simon Stone — the dramatic story of the actor Ian Charleson, who was preparing to play Hamlet on the stage of the National Theatre despite a serious illness. The lead role was performed by Andrew Scott.
And the festival will close on 18 October with a new work by Jesse Eisenberg, “The Debut” — a comedy about the world of amateur theatre. The cast includes Eisenberg himself, Julianne Moore, Paul Giamatti, Halle Bailey, Bernadette Peters and others.
The official competition features 10 films from ten countries. Among the directors are Hirokazu Kore-eda, Sergei Loznitsa, Carol Morley, Małgorzata Szumowska, Lili Horvát, Rubaiyat Hossain and others. The winner of the main competition will be announced on 18 October.
Special attention is given to special screenings and meetings with major names in cinema. The programme features Andrew Scott, Ava DuVernay, Brad Bird, Cynthia Erivo, James Gray, Jesse Eisenberg, John Malkovich, Mahershala Ali, Sofia Coppola and Danny Boyle.
One of the notable special events was “Ink” by Danny Boyle, chosen as the Mayor of London gala screening.
Also in the programme — The Trip to the Northern Lights with Rob Brydon and Steve Coogan, a documentary film Carl Sagan: We Are Made of Star Stuff, a new animation from Laika Wildwood and Ray Gunn by Brad Bird.
The festival does not take place only at BFI Southbank and the Royal Festival Hall. Screenings are held in several central London cinemas, at BFI IMAX, and part of the programme is presented in another 10 cities across the United Kingdom, including Manchester, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Cardiff, Belfast and Birmingham.
For audiences and the industry alike, this is a particularly interesting moment: many films that are now being shown in London for the first time may, just a few months from now, find themselves at the centre of conversations about BAFTA, the Oscar and European film awards.
In short: 251 works, 88 countries, 33 world premieres and almost two weeks of cinema that is only just beginning its long journey through festivals and distribution.
This year's anniversary London Film Festival really does look like a place where you can see in advance what everyone will soon be talking about.
