London Film Festival is one of the most exciting times on the UK film calendar, with this year being no exception. Last year I had the privilege of attending for the first time, learning from scratch how the festival runs, how to buy tickets as well as how to manage your time, at some points I learned the hard way but in others I managed to grab some incredible experiences.. This was somewhat of a challenging feat to nativagate on my own, so as I look to attend for the second time this year, I’m here to help all the first timers with the entire process of the festival.
With the program being revealed on September 2nd, here are my tips and tricks for this year’s festival
1. Booking
Booking for LFF works in a tiered system, with Patron members being given first access on September 9th. In order to obtain this booking level you must have an annual subscription of £2000, gaining you access to exclusive events and priority booking for various screenings. This for many is out of reach and so opt for the BFI membership, this comes in at £45 a year and will give you access to the second round of priority booking for the festival on September 10th, as well as priority booking on all BFI screenings for the rest of the year. This is a very good option if you have a very specific list of films you want tickets for during the festival as well as gala/ red carpet screenings as these tend to sell out during these two booking periods. However, if you would rather just wait for general booking and not have to pay extra, general onsale is September 17th, I personally waited for this last year and was able to get many of the tickets I wanted for the festival and so do not be completely put off by the two priority bookings beforehand.
Tickets for the festival range in price depending on the event, there are a range of free events all the way up to red carpet tickets which are around £40, if you are planning to see multiple films at this year’s festival this can rack up the total pretty quickly. However, if you are under 25, if you sign up to BFI’s 25 and under scheme, you will be able to book any ticket for the festival for £6, yes this includes the red carpet! Whilst if you are like me and buy every ticket possible, this will add up, it does really make the festival more accessible for young people looking to attend.
If you miss out on the one ticket that was at the top of your list, don’t worry, the BFI releases more tickets for screenings and events each day of the festival at 10am everyday. I used this last year, and managed to secure multiple tickets to screenings that were otherwise sold out. Also note that there will be more tickets released on the BFI website on October 1st at 10am.
2. Transport
London film festival lives up to its name and is hosted in many cinemas across London, not just the BFI southbank. Red carpet screenings are held at Southbank centre just next door to BFI southbank, however other screenings are held at many other cinemas including picturehouse central and the prince charles cinema, both of which are in Chinatown. This means that you will spend a lot of the festival running around the city to make it to your next screening. Kep this in mind when booking your tickets, London is busy and many people will be travelling in for the festival so do not overload your schedule and miss out on the film you want to see due to poor travel planning. The tube is always a safe bet, as well as buses, however do not forget these venues can oftentimes be within walking distance of one another, and it may be a quicker route.
3. Events
When talking about the London film festival, oftentimes you will be talking about the films presented and screening showing them. However, I would like to note not to skip over the events in the program. During the festival there will be talks with directors, actors and other industry professionals – last year there was a great talk from Tessa Thompson. During the festival there will also be exhibitions throughout London. Last year, I was lucky enough to attend a Wicked for good exhibit in BFI Southbank as well as a Frankenstein exhibit in Selfridges. Both of these were incredible opportunities to get up close with the film’s props and costumes. These were made even better as they were free events to attend, but you must ensure you have a ticket so have a look when booking your screenings in September.
4. A veteran’s advice
Having attended the festival last year, I learnt a lot and quickly! If you are a sentimental person (like me!), choose paper ticket when booking, this means you will go to the ticket stand when arriving and get a physical ticket, it really is the perfect memento for the festival.
Attending screenings of films you wouldn’t normally go to, last year I booked to see Lurker on a whim as I had a free evening. This ended up being one of my top films of the festival and There was a Q&A with the two lead actors plus the director afterwards!
Have fun! Booking is stressful, transport plans are stressful. But do not forget this is a fun time to be in London and the film’s you’re watching are some of the best, don’t let the experience pass you by!
London Film Festival runs from October 7th – 18th, with press screenings from September 28th! See you there!!
