The 65th BFI London Film Festival (LFF) in
partnership with American Express today announced the full 2021 programme line-up that will be
presented both in cinemas and virtually, incorporating some of the most popular elements of the
successful 2020 edition into the full large scale Festival model. Over twelve days from 6–17 October,
flagship venue BFI Southbank and the Southbank Centre’s Royal Festival Hall, the LFF Gala venue for
2021, will make London’s South Bank one of two London hub’s at the heart of the film festival
experience. Films will also screen in a number of cinemas in London’s West End, with a selection of
films at 10 venues in cities and towns across the UK. Audiences will enjoy a rich and varied programme
of fiction, documentary, animation, artists’ moving image, short film, restored classics from the
world’s archives as well as programmes of exciting international works made in immersive and
episodic forms. The Festival will also be accessible online to audiences across the whole of the UK
with a specially selected programme of feature and short films available on BFI Player, with online
short films and online events free to access. The LFF Expanded programme of Immersive Art and XR
will have a large physical exhibition at 26 Leake Street and the National Theatre and also be available
UK-wide and internationally via bespoke virtual exhibition space, The Expanse.
The LFF is one of Britain’s leading cinema events and one of the world’s most important film festivals
and the programme offers audiences the chance to be the first to see some of the most anticipated
new films from around the globe, including a host of new works destined to be major awards
contenders. The LFF competitive sections will return recognising remarkable creative filmmaking
achievements, and the winners will be selected by a soon-to-be
announced jury across four categories: Official Competition, First Feature, Documentary and Short
Film and The LFF Audience Award, introduced in 2021, with Festival-goers voting for their favourite
film of the Festival. The winner of the IWC Schaffhausen Filmmaker Bursary Award in association with
BFI will also be announced at the virtual Awards Ceremony.
Presented in partnership with the National Theatre, LFF Expanded will return in 2021 and will feature
work from artists and creative teams working in immersive media including virtual, augmented and
mixed reality from across the UK and internationally. With the full programme being announced later
in the week, the strand will showcase vibrant and daring new work which will be exhibited both
physically and virtually to audiences in the UK and globally via the virtual exhibition space, The
Expanse.
The Festival includes many ways audiences can engage with the LFF for free, including an international
programme of short films featuring established and breakthrough film talents, Screen Talks with major
filmmakers and actors and online Q&As across the Festival. The LFF Expanded strand of Immersive Art
and XR will also be free to access both virtually and in-person at LFF Expanded at 26 Leake Street and
LFF Expanded at the National Theatre and Rambert for the duration of the Festival.
Source: BFI
Image: Diaphana
