Victoria Luengo, Rodrigo Sorogoyen & Javier Bardem (The Beloved- 2026)
Initially the plan was to showcase up to 20 films that had already been acclaimed at other European Film Festivals. No surprise that Akira Kurosawa’s film with Toshiro Mifune ‘Throne of Blood’ (1957), opened the event, accompanied by works like Ingmar Bergman’s ‘The Seventh Seal’, Federico Fellini’s ‘Nights of Calabria’, Andrzej Wajda’s ‘Kanal, Satyajit Ray’s ‘Aparajito’’ and Elia Kazan’s ‘A Face in the Crowd’. What a line- up!
'The Throne of Blood' by A. Kurosawa with Toshiro Mifune at the first London Film Festival
Very suitable as well, as ‘Throne of Blood ‘is Kurosawa’s take on William Shakespeare’s play Macbeth (1606). However, no British films were screened there till Karel Reisz’s ‘Saturday Night & Sunday Morning’, in 1960. Gradually, the festival grew as it established an award system, with the Sutherland Trophy for Best First Feature, and later in 1972, introducing the Grierson Award for Best Feature Documentary.
Now, they have added the Best Film Award and the Short Film Award. The programme has continued to expand annually, in particular in the 1970s under Ken Wlaschin, as popular interest in independent cinema grew. Then, in the 1980s under Derek Malcolm and Sheila Whitaker as head programmer at the BFI’s National Film Theatre it gained even greater momentum. Whitaker was largely instrumental in including other venues, introducing the Festival on the Square, with screenings at West End cinemas.
Chilean actor Pedro Pascal as gifted cellist in Behemoth! by Tony Gilroy
This year the festival celebrated its 70th foray led by festival director Kristy Matheson. They screened 251 titles, including shorts, features, series and immersive works from no fewer than 88 countries from around the world. They celebrated 33 World Premières and 109 works by women, with a generous selection of quality Latino, Spanish Portugues and Brazilian films. 
'Prince' 2026 by Uruguayan director Federico Borgia
The variety and talent shown has been astonishing, from Uruguayan Federico Borgia’s superb black comedy “Prince”, to Spanish Rodrigo Sorogoyen’s ‘The Beloved’ psychological drama starring a toxic relationship with Javier Bardem and Victoria Luengo as father and daughter.
Javier Bardem in particular has featured strongly this year. Not only did he play the award-winning film director, Esteban Martínez, in ‘The Beloved’, but he also starred with his wife Penélope Cruz as one half of a married couple in crisis in ‘Bunker’ by Florian Zeller, and held an impressive ScreenTalk with María Delgado of the BFI.
Florian Zeller with Penélope Cruz at the festival
In the GALA strand, 6 out of the 23 films had a strong Latino connection. These include Pedro Pascal mesmerising audiences with his performance in ‘Behemoth!’ by Tony Gilroy, as gifted cello prodigy Alex Serian.
Los Javi- directors of La Bola Negra at the London Film Festival
Javier Ambrossi and Javier Calvo (Los Javi) challenged audiences with their genre- defying queer epic ‘La Bola Negra’ rooted in the legacy of poet Federico García Lorca and Jenna Ortega, of Porto Rican and Mexican ancestry starred in ‘Klara and the Sun’ in Taika Waititi’s take on Kazuo Ishiguro’s best-selling novel and of course, the charismatic Javier Bardem played the brooding architect in ‘Bunker’ to top it all.
Chile came to the fore with ‘La Perra’ by Dominga Sotomayor, a film about isolation and motherhood set in a remote Chilean island and, of course, Martin McDonagh’s ‘Wild Horse Nine’ (that also featured in the gala strand), which is set at a moment of huge political turmoil in Chile when, aided by the CIA, General Pinochet is poised to topple President Allende.
Maya O'Rourke in The Meltdown by Manuela Martelli
The southern connection continues with ‘The Meltdown’ (El Deshielo) by award- winning Chilean director Manuela Martelli, who also gained fame with her spine–chilling ‘1976’ (2022). On a more personal level, there is the documentary ‘Az Zeeb’ by Chilean filmmaker Rafael Guendelman. who sifts through his family archival documents to reveal unspoken truths and uncover how ancestral roots are linked to political history.
The best Uruguayan film I have seen since 'The Pope's Toilet' (2007- El Baño del Papa) is ‘Prince’ by Uruguayan director Federico Borgia about a dog who inherits a house. This dark, bordering-on-horror comedy is well worth watching.
'Glaxo' by Benjamin Naishtat
Given the horrendous situation for film makers in Argentina at the moment, ‘Glaxo’, the latest feature from Benjamin Naishtat (Rojo, Puán) is a wonderful achievement. Set in the period shortly after a Navy, backed by the air force and army, staged a coup that deposed the dictatorship of President Juan Domingo Perón in 1955, this period piece of betrayal is tone perfect. We discovered that it had to be filmed in Brazil due to the difficult situation for film in Argentina. One can only hope the situation for cultural activities in the country improves.
Álvaro (Guitarrica de la Fuente) from La Bola Negra on the red carpet at the BFI LFF
This would also apply to Argentine Mariano Llinás, with his five-hour epic exploring the life and fiction of Jorge Luis Borges. Llinás brings the famed and much-loved Argentine writer and poet to life through places, archives and objects, revealing contradictions, forking paths, paradoxes and ideas that built up the legend of the man. Working with delicate ability, he used the details in the minutiae to build a final picture, much like a detective might detects a crime.
Moscas (Flies) by Mexican Fernando Eimbcke
Last year, 2025, with giant Guillermo del Toro and his film ‘Frankenstein’ being the talk of the town, Mexico was very much to the fore, but this year there was just a modest, quiet and moving film in black & white called ‘Flies’ (Moscas) by Fernando Eimbcke and produced by Michel Franco ‘Flies’ is a gentle, heart -warming comedy about how a young boy changes the life of a lonely, unhappy woman forever. 
Ana, en passant by Brazilian writer/ director of animation Fernanda Salgado
Brazilian films this year seem to be particularity focussed on new ways of exploring visuals through animation, with Fernanda Salgado’s stunning feature ‘Ana, en passant’ about grief, exile and exploring one’s identity, and the animated ‘My Friend the Sun’ by Alejandra Pérez González that brings up rich historical pre-Colombian myths and Gods, when a young girl, finding herself in the home of the Gods, has to find her way home. Dorothy in Mexico, with no yellow brick road.
Tropical Fractals by Leonardo Pirondi
‘Tropical Fractals’ was almost exclusively made by Brazilian creative Leonardo Pirondi, who wrote, filmed, edited and directed it. It featured in the Experimenta Strand. Following a devastating apocalyptic catastrophe in the world, a group of scientists are sent in a spaceship Noah’s Ark with as much flora and fauna as they can manage, leaving behind one solitary scientist (Ivo Müller) who does not trust the AI controlling computer on board. Is he the last man on earth?
Pedro Pascal ( in Behemoth!) at the BFI London Film Festival
This fascinating array of films has contributed to the success of yet another London Film Festival. The final attendance figures have yet to be announced, but, if they continue to be within the average, they could be boasting no fewer than 235 thousand attendees.
Long may it continue!
Penélope Cruz at the BFI London Film Festival red carpet
Some films from the BFI London Film Festival continue to be available at the iMax and the National Film Theatre.
