Gone are the days when the BFI London Film Festival (9-20 October this year) was where you only saw “all the films you didn’t manage to catch at other festivals,” as a dear friend once told me. These days, the LFF as it is known to festival insiders, is a must-attend event, as well as a required stop for all films on the road to awards season. This race to the golden statuettes officially kicks off on 6 January with the Golden Globes, and continues through to the Academy Awards — the Oscars — in early March of 2025.
Since 2023, under the helm of newly appointed director Kristy Matheson, the LFF has become a packed fortnight of galas, special screenings and encounters with the public, which this year include a series of drop-in lunchtime talks called LFF For Free @ The Festival Café. These feature legendary filmmakers such as Mike Leigh, Andrea Arnold, Steve McQueen, Luca Guadagnino, and Pablo Larraín talking about their upcoming awards contenders screening at LFF.
Matheson’s strength as a festival director lies in her accessibility; during the festival, she seems to be everything everywhere all at once (pardon the cinematic pun!). Last year, I watched her go from the opening gala celebrations, where she also chatted on stage with Saltburn filmmaker Emerald Fennell, to an exclusive brunch held by Netflix, and afternoon talk sessions, all with her trademark elegance and approachability.
Anyway, without further ado, here are my top five must-watch films at the upcoming festival. An impossible choice in a year filled with beauty, but I narrowed my choice for each film and filmmaker’s ability to change my outlook and make me feel like the world is a better place. One even changed the way I look at the sky, so read on to find out which one!

Source: Orion. ‘Nickel Boys’
And don’t forget to check out those free events. There are still some tickets available, but probably not for long, so hurry! Click here.
THE WILD ROBOT There is nothing more satisfying to watch on the big screen than a great animated film. And as animated films go, DreamWorks Animation’s The Wild Robot, directed by Chris Sanders, is just beautiful. The story of a robot nicknamed Roz who accidentally lands in the wild and becomes a surrogate mother to a gosling, blends stunning, never-before-seen artwork with heart-pounding music and a phenomenal voice cast that includes Lupita Nyong’o as Roz and Pedro Pascal as Fink the fox. Remember to pack your tissues, as you’ll definitely need them for this one. The film’s message of adaptability and kindness as superpowers is key.
PIECE BY PIECE While on the subject of animation, the closing film at this year’s LFF is a biopic about musician and fashion/art entrepreneur Pharrell Williams, told through Lego animation. Yes, you read that right, the film is told in animation done with Lego pieces, hence the catchy title. The ‘Happy’ singer, who is also currently the creative director for Louis Vuitton menswear, is joined by the voices of Gwen Stefani, Jay-Z and Snoop Dogg among many, many more. It’s a fascinating watch to learn more about a man you may think you already know - but really don’t - for whom the word “impossible” is obsolete.
THE PIANO LESSON
Based on the 1987 play by August Wilson, which was recently revived on Broadway, The Piano Lesson is a real family affair. Executive produced by Denzel Washington, directed by his son Malcolm and starring his other son John David, the story centres on an antique piano - a family heirloom that poses a dilemma. One sibling seems to want to move forward, while another relishes her memories of the family gathered around the piano — or are their roles actually reversed? A haunting piece of filmmaking by a debut director who hails from Hollywood royalty, the film is a Netflix release, which means you’ll be able to watch it in UK cinemas before streaming it as soon as 22 November.
ONE TO ONE: JOHN & YOKO
Filmmaker Kevin MacDonald admitted to me in an email that making a documentary about John Lennon and Yoko Ono was “tricky”. He wrote, “my challenge was: how do you say something new — about John and Yoko — and do it in an original way.” Well, mission accomplished for the prolific filmmaker, who mixes narrative features with documentaries and always manages to create a masterpiece regardless of genre. This story centres on the time at the height of John’s Beatles fame when the couple escaped to New York to live in a two-room flat in the Village where they watched TV all day while preparing for a free concert in Central Park. From this premise, MacDonald creates a wondrous piece of filmmaking that will make you wish things turned out differently for Lennon, but also for America in general. And in the process he shows us, the audience, what love is.
NICKEL BOYS
This film, directed by RaMell Ross, and executive produced by Brad Pitt among others, is based on the 2019 book The Nickel Boys, written by American novelist Colson Whitehead. It features the story of a friendship between two Black teenagers at a reform school in the southern US during the 1960s and is a wonderfully acted cinematic masterpiece. It is also shot in such a particular way, from the protagonists POVs, that the film seemed to change my very essence upon watching it. I walked out of the screening looking up at the sky differently, and felt - don’t laugh - that the film changed my very DNA. Needless to say, this is one film that you simply cannot miss, and thankfully won’t have to, as Nickel Boys is an MGM Amazon release, so you’ll be able to stream it soon on a screen near you.
The BFI London Film Festival’s logo is “Everyone is invited” and with tickets starting at £10, they stand by their words.
By E. Nina Rothe. Check out all of her amazing platforms! https://www.eninarothe.com/
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