events

From a conversation among friends was born the London Film Festival, which launched on the Southbank in 1957 at the BFI’s National Film Theatre (now BFI Southbank). While the Festival may have grown considerably over the years, since that very first edition it has brought the best in world cinema to a demanding, culture-hungry audience at Southbank and beyond. Sixty one years on, and the LFF is now as devoted to home-grown filmmakers and new discoveries as it is to established masters, and has developed into one of the most essential, diverse and highly regarded festivals in the global calendar. We plot a course through its vivid history.