BFI London Film Festival 2025 records highest ever attendance as audience awards revealed

The 69^th BFI London Film Festival (LFF) reached its highest-ever audience numbers with 235,853 attendees across 12 days of screenings in London and other parts of the UK, according to figures released today. 

It is 3% up from last year, which recorded 230,342 attendees, previously a 10-year high for the festival. 

Occupancy across both free and paid-for in-person screenings and events at London venues increased to 94%, up from 92% in 2024, with 47% of these tickets being booked by first-time LFF attendees.

Audience award winner

Chloe Zhao’s Hamnet, starring Paul Mescal and Jessie Buckley in a semi-fictionalised account of William Shakespeare’s family life, won the audience award for best feature film. It adds a further award to its collection, following the People’s Choice award at Toronto and audience awards at the Valladolid and San Diego film festivals.

The audience award for best British discovery went to Yemi Bamiro’s documentary Black Is Beautiful: The Kwame Brathwaite Story. The film that follows the life of the activist and photographer had its world premiere at the LFF.

As previously announced, Lucrecia Martel’s Landmarks led the winners in the official competition.

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