London Film Festival’s Final Weekend

The 70th BFI London Film Festival wraps on Sunday 18 October after 12 days, and the closing programme packs the two things festival-goers most want to know about into one evening: the last gala and the top prize.

The closer

The festival ends with the UK premiere of The Debut, Jesse Eisenberg’s new film as writer and director, at the Southbank Centre’s Royal Festival Hall, according to the BFI. Eisenberg, who brought A Real Pain to LFF in 2024, is expected to attend with the cast.

The BFI describes the film as the story of a shy woman cast in a community theatre production of an original musical, who becomes absorbed in her role under a strong-willed and enigmatic director. Eisenberg stars alongside Julianne Moore, Paul Giamatti, Halle Bailey, Havana Rose Liu, Bernadette Peters, Colton Ryan, Lilli Cooper, Maulik Pancholy and Bonnie Milligan.

LFF artistic director Kristy Matheson called the film “deliriously funny and heartfelt” in the BFI’s announcement. Eisenberg, for his part, said he was “both honored and honoured” to bring it to the 70th edition.

For anyone outside the hall, the wait is short by festival standards: Lionsgate releases The Debut in UK cinemas on 15 January 2027, per the BFI.

The prize

Sunday also brings the Best Film Award, decided from a 10-title Official Competition, with the winner announced on 18 October, according to the BFI. The competition rewards what the festival calls “inspiring, inventive and distinctive filmmaking.” The 2026 line-up:

• 7 Miles Out, Carol Morley (UK)
• Act 3, Christine Molloy and Joe Lawlor (Ireland and UK)
• Glaxo, Benjamín Naishtat (Brazil and Argentina)
• Imperium, Sergei Loznitsa (Germany, France, Italy, Lithuania)
• Ketticè, Giovanni Tortorici (Italy)
• Look Back, Hirokazu Koreeda (Japan)
• My Notes on Mars, Lili Horvát (Hungary and Austria)
• The Difficult Bride, Rubaiyat Hossain (France, Bangladesh, Portugal, Norway, Germany)
• The Idiot(s), Małgorzata Szumowska and Michal Englert (Germany and Poland)
• Woman Unknown, May el-Toukhy (Denmark, Latvia, Sweden)

Three further juried prizes run alongside, per the BFI’s awards page: the Sutherland Award for best first feature, the Grierson Award for best documentary, and the Short Film Award. Audience Awards are decided by festival-goers’ votes, which opened on 7 October.

The festival by the numbers

The 70th edition ran from Wednesday 7 to Sunday 18 October, per the BFI. The full programme was announced on 2 September, with tickets on general sale from 17 September. The Official Competition was revealed on 17 August.

How to see the films

• The Debut: Closing Night Gala, Royal Festival Hall, London, Sunday 18 October (BFI); UK cinemas from 15 January 2027 (Lionsgate)
• LFF Awards: Best Film winner announced Sunday 18 October (BFI)
• Remaining screenings: the festival’s online box office at whatson.bfi.org.uk lists returns and standby for the final weekend
• Competition titles: UK release dates have not been published by the BFI; our movies directory will carry them as distributors confirm
• Catching up at home: for this week’s UK streaming picks, see the UK edition of New on streaming

Sources

• bfi.org.uk
• bfi.org.uk
• whatson.bfi.org.uk