In this week’s episode of The Screen Podcast, our team pick out the hidden gems from the autumn film festivals and reflect on a stellar edition of the BFI London Film Festival (LFF), which wrapped up on Sunday (October 19).

Watch above on video, or listen to below.

International reporter Ben Dalton joins Screen Podcast host Wendy Mitchell, editor-in-chief Matt Mueller and deputy editor Louise Tutt to discuss how the LFF has become a major stop on the awards circuit, with A-list stars including George Clooney, Julia Roberts and Steven Spielberg lining up to walk its red carpet.

Mueller says: “[LFF] is very much viewed as the launchpad for European premieres and for pushing films that are going to be in the awards season to Bafta and Ampas voters – and there’s a good reason for that. Obviously, Bafta voters are predominantly based in the UK. However, Ampas voters are also increasingly based in the UK. As they grow their international membership, I think around 8% of Ampas members are now based in the UK. If you count the European [based] cohort, that brings it up to 15% of the total membership. That’s why LFF suddenly has an enhanced importance and why the industry leans so hard into it.”

The team agreed that the festival will be pleased there were no significant political protests this year. Dalton says: “The LFF will be very happy with how that all went down… There’ll still be more conversations about some of these political and social issues at other events going forward, but this time it was very much about the films and the talent. There’s some relief probably from the industry on that front as well.”

Mitchell is also joined by Screen’s reviews editor Nikki Baughan and senior international critic Wendy Ide, who choose some of the smaller films they loved from the Venice, Toronto, Edinburgh and London festivals that they suggest buyers should be seeking out. 

The Screen Podcast is produced and hosted by Wendy Mitchell and edited by Ellie Calnan. New episodes every other Thursday.

For editorial enquiries about The Screen Podcast, please email matt.mueller@screendaily.com and indiewendy@gmail.com; for sponsorship opportunities, please contact scott.benfold@screendaily.com.

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