BFI London Film Festival returns in person after going virtual last year
Organisers are expecting an "emotional" return to the big screen
The BFI London Film Festival starts today (6th October) after being forced to go virtual last year because of the pandemic.
It returns to the capital and cinemas around the UK, in what organisers are expecting to be an "emotional" return to the big screen.
The festival will open with the world premiere of western The Harder They Fall, starring Idris Elba and Regina King.
It is one of 16 movies on the festival line-up that will screen around the country to make the event more accessible to more people.
The closing night film, The Tragedy Of Macbeth, starring Denzel Washington and Frances McDormand, is also included in the line-up.
Festival director Tricia Tuttle said: "It's been an ambition of the festival since 2013/14 that we take some elements of the festival out to audiences outside of London.
"But we were never as ambitious as we were last year when we had to completely remodel the festival for the pandemic.
"We worked in partnership with eight venues last year and this year we've brought that back into the model, and we're going to 10 venues instead of eight."
There will be 27 feature films screening on the BFI Player for people who can't attend the festival or for those who don't feel ready to return to the cinema.
Tuttle also said the festival has 65 short films screening for free on the BFI Player for the whole of the festival.
Some highlights of the festival include the premiere of the third season of Succession, the unveiling of Kristen Stewart as Princess Diana in Spencer, and Wes Anderson's new film The French Dispatch, starring Frances McDormand, Timothee Chalamet, Lea Seydoux and Benicio Del Toro.
Screenings will be held at capacity and Tuttle said she expects it to be a heightened experience for many attendees.
She said: "People who've been to theatre will have experienced this, if you've seen Bond on a big screen you'll have experienced this, but that first moment you walk into a packed auditorium, it is a little bit freaky - we haven't been there in two years, really.
"But then there is also something really electrifying and magical, the thing that happens when you sit in a dark and watch a film with other people is irreplaceable."
The BFI London Film Festival runs until Sunday, 17th October.