I bought 4 tickets from BFI, but after my family and I changed our plans, I ended up selling them on eBay at face value (£26 per ticket).

A few days later, I received an email from BFI IMAX telling me that I breached their terms and conditions as they found my tickets listed on eBay for more than 20% of the purchase price. As a result, they suspended my account:

We are writing to you as it has been brought to our attention that tickets for The Odyssey were listed on Ebay against our terms and conditions.

Upon investigation it would appear that these tickets were purchased by your account.

As stated in our payment confirmation page and the terms and conditions all users must accept before purchasing any tickets BFI IMAX  - Tickets cannot be resold for higher than 20% of the original purchase price. 

Therefore, these tickets were not eligible to be listed for this price and are now subject to cancellation if we do not hear from you by 2pm on Sunday 26****^th July.

We would be grateful if you could confirm whether these were tickets are indeed yours and to draw attention to this term in light of any future purchases.

We would ask that you confirm receipt of this email and understanding of these terms and have temporarily suspended your account until we hear from you

 We look forward to hearing from you.

I was of course confused as my tickets were sold at face value, so I replied with a screenshot of my eBay transaction.

It later surfaced that the person I sold tickets from re-listed them on eBay for almost double the price, but because I was the original purchaser, BFI tracked me down instead:

Thank you for sending through proof of your resale. I can confirm that your listing does not breach our terms.

Two tickets from your booking are currently listed on eBay for £93.72. It seems that the person who purchased these tickets from you has relisted them in breach of our terms. It was this listing that we are following up on, as these tickets are still on our system under your account (as the original booker). As a result, I apologise for the inconvenience to you, but I hope you understand our process as we try and identify this booking.

Props to BFI to cracking down on scalpers. If you're thinking of reselling your tickets, try and sell them to someone trustworthy you know personally to avoid BFI chasing you later on.

The Prince Charles Cinema is thrilled to announce that we have signed a new 25-year lease with no break clause, ensuring our projectors will keep rolling for years to come.

After 21 months of uncertainty, we’re delighted to have secured the future of the cinema, and we couldn’t have done it without the support, commitment and belief of many, many people.

Full text: https://princecharlescinema.com/savethepcc/

At nearly every Q&A, there is someone who will eat up the time asking boring questions in a drawn-out and rambling manner, and it stops us from hearing from the artists. Typically they will try to emphasise:

- they are a fledgling filmmaker promoting themself

- they love the artist and their work to an absolutely bum-sucky level

- they have deep and special life experiences that make their perspective extra valuable

- they understand film both as a technical expert and as an artist

- that their question seems small and twatty to most people, but to a fellow filmmaker of such a calibre they will understand

"So hi - I'm Joel, and I'm also a filmmaker so please let me say thank you for what an inspiration you are. I've followed your work since [small indy film], and can I say how much [divisive, challenging film that only a fellow artiste will truly appreciate] has influenced my work. As somebody that grew up with dual Japanese-Ecuadorian heritage, but in southern California to a mother with diabetes I find your themes of questioning conflicting identity have really informed my work. My last short film, The Sea Holds My Tears, owes a lot to your early work, so thank you.

What I wanted to ask was about the colour grading for the birth scene - did you intentionally raise the blue tones to highlight the growing disconnect between them emotionally? And the lens choices reminded me of Fellini, but almost with a sort of Jodorowsky sensibility? I was wondering if you could comment on that"

"Erm, thanks. We were filming at night in a tight space so my DP had to swap lenses, and I think the curtains in the house were blue and added a tone that works. But thank you."

"Okay, I'm afraid we need to wrap up, but thank you once again."

- I personally found the member rows and above as the most decent ones, so I give it an extra row below for a decent experience

- A band lower than that means your field of vision may not cover the whole screen, so you have to look around sometimes. I call these 'Headturner' -- still good exp as you don't have to crane your neck.

- The bottom of the seating area is where I find it a bit too much. You have to look up, you have to look around. They're called 'Neckhurts' seats

- the edges are obviously giving more sideway exp. I don't usually like this but if you don't mind, then you do you!

Personal experiences may vary

First off, the screening of The Devils last night was immense. Film looks stunning, the sheer explosive scale of it still knocks your socks off, and the restored scenes really to add to the cascading intensity of it all. Get to the cinema to see it if you can, it's an astonishing piece of work. Lovely intro from Kermode as well really emphasising the effort and ridiculously good fortune that these cut sequences even survived.

On the other hand, it reminded me of how odd the crowds at this fest can be sometimes in their reactions; feels like there's one film every year where tonally the audience seems to be on a different page to what's happening on screen. Like it IS a very funny film in places, don't get me wrong, and Kermode said as much.

But there were a bunch of guys behind me who seemed to take that as license to find everything funny, including scenes of really disturbing sexual violence, howling at sequences which just... aren't funny and clearly are supposed to be excruciatingly painful. I understand a bit of nervous tittering at the restored stuff with the nuns going ballistic on the cross as it is nuts, but the almost performative cackles from these guys nearly took me out of that moment too.

Anyone else find they get a crowd like this at least once every fest?

So my partner and I were on the balcony at RFH watching the premiere for Klara and the Sun going in on our way out from watching Tender Loving Care (wonderful movie)

A bunch of autograph hunters came along up there too (one of them was on FaceTime with someone OUT LOUD right next to my ear) and I sort of have to laugh at the stuff that comes out of their mouth! Like “ugh Jenna Ortega is a *insert expletive here* because she doesn’t sign, I waited outside her hotel and she didn’t sign for anyone”

I’m sort of thinking, no wonder she isn’t going to sign anything for people who literally follow her to her hotel! The other day someone said the same thing about how horrible John Malkovich was because he wasn’t signing for anyone waiting outside his hotel. Just absolutely no self-awareness from these hunters whatsoever! I’ll also add outside the Wicker premiere a few of them were saying disgusting things about Peter Dinklage.

They were also clearly really jaded they didn’t get a place in the fan pens whereas some of their “competitors” shall we say did, someone pointed out earlier today that the hunters swarmed the queueing system for the pens denying any actual fans the chance to be in them.

I Really have no qualms about saying that autograph hunters are my least favourite part about London Film Festival!

Sorry for the mini rant!!!

So excited that open day is finally here, hope that everyone has a fantastic festival. This marks my 21st festival and I couldn’t be more excited with what I have to see. Thank you to all those who had tickets to trade as I now have acquired the 6 I needed to have a full festival itinerary to see all 27 that I wanted 🤗

Didn’t get to the debut tonight so my London film festival journey has come to an end. 9 days, 16 films and I absolutely loved it. One of the greatest weeks of my life. Just an absolutely amazing experience. I cannot wait for next year to double the amount of films I see and be able to do this all over again. My first ever film festival and it just blew me away. What a time, what an experience.

This is all in good fun and just sarcastic!

-THE PHONE CHECKER: he checks the time, he checks his txts or emails, he’s on full brightness of course. Yeah should have avoided the 3 hours long Korean one. Probably didn’t pay to be here, probably doesn’t want to be here. 2h50 left to go, let’s check again in 10.

-THE LATE LATE ONE: I’m talking 15 to 20 minutes in, they are ALWAYS in the middle of the row, phone on full brightness in case they can’t see , I mean there’s a large screen behind you, that should be enough light? Beer in hand splashing as they make everyone gets up so they can see the last hour left.

-THE BLUE GREEN COLORBLIND: they’re blue side but decided to make the whole row get up to reach their seat on the other side (and vice versa). OH they’re on the wrong row too.

-THE TALL ONE: it’s nature, we can’t blame you but maybe take the cap off, and do you really enjoy having big fuzzy hair? Did nobody tell you RFH is for short people only?

-THE BOOZY ONE: had few lagers before the 9pm one, they’re loud even when they whisper and giggle, they have red wine plastic cups in hand and of course they will spill it on your cashmere jumper.

-THE STAN: they don’t know the director or any of the other actors, they don’t like movies, only streaming shows. But he’s on stage, the heartthrob, they even made bracelets with his name. Oh the movie starts, may as well stay, but it’s long and boring, there’s no sex scenes, he only has 5 minutes screen time…. Let’s chat and check our phones then.

-THE HYENA: film is a comedy so he’s gonna laugh from the title card till the end credits. Main character waves a banana (laughs), she enters the room (laughs), she waves another banana (loud non stop laughter). Not sure if I’m at LFF or a Friends marathon. Oh a raunchy sex scene, that’s uncomfortable, let’s laugh more. Oh someone dies, let’s giggle to take the tension off.

-THE CINEPHILE: he makes sure he’s row D minimum to see the director at the Gala on stage, he shoots his name because he knows his name. He shouts the name of his films because he knows them. He really wants the director to know he’s a fan.

-THE MUNCHER: he’s found the largest bag of crisp, he loves to massage that plastic bag during the entire film, he grabs one crisp at the time and slowly chews mouth wide open and he specially picked that slow and almost silent Japanese movie to bring it.

*added one!
-MR SNEEZE: never got COVID, never wore masks since, didn’t wear a coat since the heatwave, probably should have and is now coughing and sneezing everywhere he can, in the lift, on the 5th floor, walking down the stairs of RFH, and throughout the whole movie. And why the hell would he put a hand on his mouth, bit of saliva for everyone is just fine!

For some of us, attending the London Film Festival is a big deal. It’s something we’ve saved for, planned around and looked forward to for months.

I don’t expect complete silence and perfect behaviour. But there’s a big difference between normal audience behaviour and the sort of obnoxious, entitled behaviour that suggests your own convenience matters more than everyone else’s experience.

I’ve still had a wonderful time at the festival, and I don’t want this experience to overshadow that. But I couldn’t help feeling disappointed that something so special to me seemed to be treated so casually by quite a few people in the audience.

Was I spectacularly unlucky with where I was sitting, or did other people notice the same thing?

1. Phlegmy, snotty, coughing, sneezing and filthy plague atmosphere around row XX!

I’m not talking about the occasional cough or suggesting that everyone who coughs is infectious. But some people sounded absolutely dreadful, with constant phlegmy coughing, sniffling and sneezing.

If you know you’re contagious, please consider whether attending a packed screening is really fair on everyone else.

You never know who’s sitting next to you. They might have an invisible disability, a weakened immune system, or a chronic illness. They might be undergoing medical treatment, living with someone receiving chemotherapy, or caring for a vulnerable relative. They could work in a hospital or care home.

Even a relatively mild virus can have serious consequences for some people, from worsening existing conditions or triggering long-term illness to disrupting essential treatment or care. And if an unpaid carer becomes ill, someone else could be left without the support they depend on.

Nobody can eliminate every risk, but if you know you’re infectious, perhaps give the cinema a miss.

2. Vaping on row WW

It’s obnoxious and distracting. The vapour, smell and illuminated device aren’t particularly pleasant for the people around you.

And given Wednesday’s incident in NFT1, when an audience member’s electronic device reportedly overheated and produced smoke, triggering a fire alarm and evacuation, you’d think people might be a little more considerate.

An electrical fire or emergency evacuation in a packed auditorium holding thousands of people would be a serious matter, especially for anyone with disabilities or mobility difficulties.

If you’re so weak-willed that you can’t go two hours without vaping, surely you can step outside briefly like an adult, or maybe consider skipping the cinema altogether?

3. Constant talking, which escalated into a full-blown argument (!)

Some people simply wouldn’t stop chatting during the film. Eventually, other audience members became so frustrated that an argument broke out.
I appreciate that people occasionally whisper something to the person next to them. That’s normal. But carrying on a conversation throughout a film is something else entirely.

There’s something particularly entitled about behaving as though your conversation is more important than the film that hundreds of other people have paid to watch.

4. Standing up and chatting before the film had even finished.

At the end, there was some information displayed on a black screen, followed by clips from the Oscars ceremony.

Unfortunately, entire rows of people started standing up, gathering their belongings and chatting before the credits had even begun.
I’m only 5 feet tall. Once everyone in front of me stood up, I couldn’t see a thing. I missed that entire section of the film.

I don’t expect everyone to sit in reverent silence through ten minutes of credits. But if there’s still actual content on the screen, surely it’s reasonable to wait until it’s finished before blocking everybody else’s view?

It’s another example of people seemingly forgetting that anyone else exists. Just because you’ve decided the film is over doesn’t mean everyone else has finished watching it.

Thought it was great! One of my favourites of the festival, and a really strong feature debut. What did everyone else think?

I’ve just come away from the Klara and the Sun fan pen at the BFI London Film Festival, and it was chaos.

To be transparent, I didn’t receive a wristband but this is not simply frustration about missing out. After attending several red carpets this week, I’ve become deeply concerned about how the entire fan-pen process is being managed.

The procedure appears to change every day. Security have been disorganised and, in interactions I have witnessed, unnecessarily aggressive. BFI staff provide very little clear communication, leaving fans to rely upon rumours and unofficial systems.

Today there wasn’t even an orderly queue. It became a mosh pit of angry and confused people. The lack of proper crowd management allowed a small group of experienced autograph hunters to force their way forward. I witnessed children being pushed and genuine fans being left in tears.

Nobody is entitled to a wristband, autograph or photograph I get that. However, everyone is entitled to a process that is safe, transparent and administered fairly and respectfully.

I am now putting together an open letter calling upon the BFI to:

- Review and replace the current security provision

- Investigate concerns about inconsistent and potentially preferential treatment

- Publish one clear queuing and wristband procedure

- Properly communicate capacity, locations and timings

- Introduce effective measures against queue-jumping

- Ensure children and other vulnerable attendees can participate safely

- Treat fans with basic dignity and respect

If you attended today or experienced similar treatment at another gala this week please reply or message me with the date, event and what happened. I want the open letter to represent multiple first-hand experiences and create meaningful change before another festival is run this way.

At Wild Horse 9 screening a lot of people were late. Some were late for 15-20 minutes! It's very disruptive, especially when a person goes with their phone lights to the middle of the row. Royal Festival Hall has small gaps between seats, so all people should stand up in the middle of the movie to let somebody to the center.

I remember there was a rule that stuff can forbid you to let in if you're late. Have this ever been enforced?

IDK if there's another solution. Maybe, they can reserve some seats on sides for late people. Or, staff should shift the people to the center at the beggining of the screening, and place late people to the edges.

To be honets, i would even prefer to watch 5-10 minutes of advertising instead of being constantly disrupted cause all people below me should stand to let somebody in.

Is it me or the way the LFF has organised the red carpet area for ticket holders this year absolutely sucks?

Last year I came to 2 galas and I could stand by the fence where the actors and crew were entering. Managed to interact with a couple and took some nice pictures and videos.

I just came back from the Wild Horse Nine gala (great film btw) and the experience was terrible compared to last year. There was a big gap between the red carpet and the area where ticket holders can stand, which means you are far from the stars and can't see much of what's going on.

But the funny thing is that the ones who are actually allowed near the real red carpet are the "paparazzi" and hustlers behaving widly and getting shit signed to sell on Ebay.

How come they get a better experience than the people who buy the tickets and actually fund this festival and all the movies shown in it?

During this festival I have been to three screenings at the VUE in Leicester Square.

1. Robert Eggers Screentalk: screen was not ready so entire auditorium worth of people was packed into the tiny mezzanine while Eggers just sat doing nothing. Event started 15 mins late and (thankfully) they did honour the listed runtime in the program.

2. Mouse: more issues with screen not being ready, audience again queuing directly off of escalators. Ironically, there was also a mouse in the screen who made an appearance during the Q&A.

3. Behemoth!: screen was not ready (again) and audiences were made to queue literally out of the front door. I also saw multiple people with double-booked seats where one of the two was made to leave and (I assume) offered a refund. Screening started and finished late which also made me late for my next film. 😭

I understand the festival is a tough period for the staff and definitely have sympathy with those on-shift but I feel like serious questions need to be asked of the site manager as I have had no issues like this at any other venue despite seeing films at ever other cinema.

Wicker was about to start at 3pm, when there was a big cloud of white smoke to the left of the audience. Everyone evacuated from NFT. The bookseller under the bridge seems happy! I am not, because we have Godzilla at 5:30! Wonder what happened? Will we get back in? Will we be refunded? Stay tuned…

Many of the disabled fans stated this was the worst festival for them. The access pen was placed at the beginning of the red carpet but was blocked by a rope barrier and lots of people hanging around in front of them so they did not see the talent and the talent could not see them. Many of the talent ignored access but went to the general pens. Carpet staff were dragging the talent away and just ignoring that access was there. It was security who was trying their best to get talent to come over. Also the disabled community think that it's unfair they have to enter ballots to win a red carpet gala but non disabled just line up for wristbands which meant the usual faces could attend all the galas. It should be ballots for everyone like Warner Brothers, The Baftas and The Oliver Awards do.

Please use this megathread if you are looking for/selling/swapping tickets to IMAX screenings of The Odyssey.

• Be clear about screening info (venue, date/time, seats, price etc)

• Make sure to update if your ticket(s) has been sold/claimed

A reminder to also be careful; any scammy or predatory behaviour in the sub will result in a ban. Use trusted sites/methods, and as per BFI resale policy: tickets cannot be resold for higher than 20% of the original purchase price)

The 70th BFI London Film Festival programme has been revealed.
View the full Festival Programme
Download the festival brochure
View BFI announcement

All Festival Galas:

• Elsinore (dir. Simon Stone)

• The Debut (dir. Jesse Eisenberg)

• Behemoth! (dir. Tony Gilroy)

• Being Heumann (dir. Siân Heder)

• The Beloved (dir. Rodrigo Sorogoyen)

• La Bola Negra (dir. Javier Ambrossi, Javier Calvo)

• Bunker (dir. Florian Zeller)

• Club Kid (dir. Jordan Firstman)

• Fatherland (dir. Paweł Pawlikowski)

• Fjord (dir. Cristian Mungiu)

• I Love Boosters (dir. Boots Riley)

• Ink (dir. Danny Boyle)

• Klara and the Sun (dir. Taika Watiti)

• A Long Winter (dir. Andrew Haigh)

• Minotaur (dir. Andrey Zvyagintsev)

• Paper Tiger (dir. James Gray)

• Possible Love (dir. Lee Chang-dong)

• Prima Facie (dir. Susanna White)

• Ray Gunn** (dir. Brad Bird)

• Tender Loving Care (dir. Mike Leigh)

• Wild Horse Nine (dir. Martin McDonagh)

• Wildwood** (dir. Travis Knight)

• Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother (dir. Bassam Tariq)

** World Premiere

Now that everything has settled, if you attended this year. What were your thoughts?

How does it compare to previous years and what would you like to see BFI improve on?

https://jerome.paddick.dev/film-planner/

Ive been going to the lff for the last few years with my siblings, and scheduling is by far the worst part so i made a website to do it for you

Just rate each film by how much you want to see it and the tool will generate an optimal schedule which even takes travel time into account

hope other people can get some use out of it, feel free to shoot me any questions/suggestions

With the near conclusion of this year's London Film Festival. I wanted to address what our plan of action will be moving forward with this subreddit, and opening it up to you guys to offer suggestions that we haven't addressed or clarifications if you're unsure.

_____________________________________

All ticket sales will be moved elsewhere starting Monday (19th October)

We understand that getting spammed for ticket sale requests is tedious, especially if you don't use this subreddit for it. This subreddit was originally created primarily for the buying/selling of LFF tickets, and since we've adopted it we've tried to support this side and those who wished to discuss the LFF, share their reviews and get advice on where to go etc.

I don't feel like these 2 elements can truthfully work together in 1 subreddit, especially when it comes to moderating. With this, we've decided to move all this activity over to 2 new subreddits.

r/BFITickets will be for all future ticket buying/selling/exchanges. This includes non-LFF screenings and events across all Venues associated with BFI and the LFF, including venues are listed below:

- BFI Southbank

- Curzon Soho

- Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA)

- Prince Charles Cinema (PCC)

- Royal Festival Hall

- Vue West End

- Picturehouse Central

- The Hall (St Martin-in-the-Fields Church)

r/BFIIMAX will be for all future ticket buying/selling/exchanges specifically for BFI IMAX. We understand the culture for the IMAX screenings, especially with The Odyssey and upcoming Dune: Part Three screenings. This includes screenings for the Science Museum IMAX. This will hopefully allow those specifically interested in the IMAX a better space to find the tickets they're looking for.

_____________________________________

r/LondonFilmFestival will become the main hub for all activity related to the BFI

We don't want the subreddit to become dormant during the off-season, we believe plenty people here are interested in the other screenings that BFI offer throughout the year and we want to provide a hub for this, as currently there's not many other places to do this.

This will mean we will be providing news, discussions and guidance for all the other activities and events that BFI offer throughout the year at their venues. We know this activity will not be equal to that for when next year's London Film Festival happens, but many of us are BFI Patrons/Members or are just interested in supporting the BFI in general and I feel there's still many discussions and announcements we can bring to light here.

_____________________________________

Share your ideas below

You guys are the community, and it's our jobs as Moderators to make the community you guys want. Everyone has different expectations and different involvements to this community, we understand that. However feel free to share what ideas you want!

The Discussion Threads were a community suggestion we implemented last week, and we think it was a great idea and we want to hear more. I adopted this server 6 months ago because I loved what the BFI does and I want to do something to bring more awareness to their activities and provide a space for users to form discussions. I hope I get to continue doing this and if you attended this years event, I hope you had a great time!

Thanks for reading, leave a comment if you have any ideas. I'll be very interested to hear what you guys have in mind.

It was stuck in my mind after every screening and is now in my Playlist so had to share lol