The BFI London Film Festival (LFF) will hold its red carpet galas at the Southbank Centre’s Royal Festival Hall for the first time during its 2021 edition (October 6-17).
There will be no red carpet screenings in London’s West End, and previous gala venue the Odeon Leicester Square will not be used at all by LFF.
The Royal Festival Hall will host the opening and closing night galas, eight headline galas and a number of major special screenings. The capacity will be 2,700 seats.
The BFI Southbank will host the LFF’s competitive strands, as well as the new international episodic strand. The pop-up venue Embankment Garden Cinema will not return this year.
As with last year, selected titles from the line-up will screen at cinemas across the UK.
Partner venues include a number of sites in the West End, as well as Broadway (Nottingham), Chapter (Cardiff), Glasgow Film (Glasgow), HOME (Manchester), Queens Film Theatre (Belfast), Showroom (Sheffield), Tyneside (Newcastle) and Watershed (Bristol).
Select LFF titles will once again be available via the BFI Player, with each scheduled to premiere at a particular time, and include elements such as filmmaker Q&As. Special events and Screen Talks panels will also be available digitally to international audiences.
Episodic programme
The festival is launching a new strand for episodic works, following on from including two parts of Steve McQueen’s Small Axe mini-series in last year’s edition.
The LFF Series programme will feature premieres of 8-10 international series, including a red carpet event for a major show. The strand for immersive content, LFF Expanded, will also return for 2021.
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