London Film Festival 2026: everything you need to know
New blockbusters will be premiered for the first time ever in London later this month, when the London Film Festival returns to the capital.
Expect red carpets and some of the world’s most famous faces on the Southbank, as Gala screenings of some of the biggest film releases of 2026 attract international attention.
Hundreds of new films will be premiered at this year’s festival, and many of the screenings are publicly bookable, with tickets currently on sale. New tickets for ‘sold out’ events are constantly being added to the website, so if an event looks sold out, check back again later in the week.
Screenings, many attended by the cast and crew of the films, as well as talks, events, art installations and immersive experiences all form parts of this year’s festival, which takes place in the capital between Wednesday 7 October to Sunday 18 October 2026.
Here are some of the best events to book this London Film Festival.
London Film Festival 2026: the big tickets
While some movies may show as sold out, new tickets are added regularly (daily and weekly) for some of the festival’s biggest releases.
Due to no-shows, standby tickets are also available on the day at the London Film Festival venues, so it can be worth showing up spontaneously to see what’s available (in fact, this is an approach the festival is publicising).
This year’s Opening Night Gala is Elsinore, a biographical drama starring Andrew Scott as Scottish actor Ian Charleson, who played Hamlet at the National Theatre in 1989 months before he passed away from AIDS.
The Closing Gala is The Debut, a musical comedy written and directed by Jesse Eisenberg. It follows an American housewife, played by Julianne Moore, who loses her sense of reality when she adopts the personality of another woman while playing a role in a local theatre production.
Artificial follows the story of Sam Altman
Other big-hitters at this year’s festival to book include Artificial, from Call Me By Your Name director Luca Guadagnino. The film follows the life of Sam Altman, the founder of one of the biggest artificial intelligence platforms, Open AI.
And hedonism is put under the microscope in Club Kid, a celebration of New York nightlife culture with a through line about one promoter whose partying is put on hold over the discovery that he has a son.
Fatherland is a stirring exploration of a father and daughter’s journey through postwar Germany.
The Mayor of London’s Gala is Ink, the new film from Danny Boyle following Rupert Murdoch’s newspaper career and the culture of Fleet Street during the era of the long, boozy lunch.
It’s one of plenty taking the corporate world as its backdrop. Another is Prima Facie, the screen adaptation of Suzie Miller’s Olivier Award-winning West End play which originally starred Killing Eve actor Jodie Comer.
All About the Money follows a wealthy heir of a global enterprise conglomerate who sets up a communist camp in a rural part of America to campaign against the capitalist system he made his money within; Bunker is the story of an architect tasked with building a bunker for a tech billionaire.
London Film Festival talks to book
Many of the screen talks have already sold out, although there are still tickets left for Slumdog Millionaire director Danny Boyle’s on 16 October.
A range of less high profile talks are free to attend, including one on how stories in film create change, a conversation with disability advocate Adam Pearson and a discussion about editing the auteur.
A range of free-to-attend DJ nights are also scheduled for the weekends during the festival at the BfI bar on the Southbank.
Go to whatson.bfi.org.uk