User comments on this story

• tony said...

  If it ain't broke don't fix it. That's what sprang to mind when I heard about Greg Dyke's comments though I gather he may heve been misreported. The LFF is not perfect — name me an event on such a scale that is — but it's a superb experience and my favourite fortnight of the year as a film fan. I love the fact that it comes towards the end of the year which means we get the best of what's been seen during the year at all the other Festivals. Some praise should be given to Sandra Hebron and her team as there can't be a major film of the last few years that was available and that has been missed. I can honestly say I'm spoilt for choice each year and I've never been disappointed — but maybe that's because I know what I like. I would like to see more directors interviewed or the subject of Q and A's and it was a shame for instance that Brian de Palma was unable to make it for the screening of Redacted this time around due to illness. But there is stil plenty of choice for those who want to listen to stars and film-makers chew the fat and there's a wonderful selection of old movies. The other year, by the way, they showed Lola Montes and that's not been screened in London since, much to my annoyance as I couldn't make it the day it was shown. The experimental section is another added bonus which does not get the publicity it deserves. Someone also posted saying where are the debates? There are perhaps not too many but they are definitely there in the programme if you look for them.
  I think if the LFF was to attempt to ape other Festivals it would be a mistake so I don't get too het up about the lack of 'prizes' etc. What would they count for anyway after all the prize giving at earlier Festivals in the year. The world does not need another awards ceremony! I don't have too many concerns, mind you, with the event being a bit more glitzy as long as it doesn't detract from the enjoyment and accessibility for the ordinary punter. I am a BFI member and a committed filmgoer so maybe I don't realise how the LFF can be off-putting for the general public as has been mentioned in a couple of posts here. I also do think there's some valid points made about Odeon West End and the lack of a central place where film buffs, participants, LFF personnel etc can get together. It does lack something in the social sphere for the general public and that's a criticism made in a numebr of posts here that might be taken on board. Posted on Apr 30 2008 15:54

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• Szu said...

  At the Moment the LFF keeps back films as the want a UK premiere - so ther festivals have to wait until they've been screened (once at 3pm no a weekday) in order to then be able to screen them, smaller independent world cinema gets lost in the mill and barely gets ament ion in the press during the festival - the launch and the promotion centre on US studio films that really don't need more hype from what is th UK most presitgious film festival - what is the point of having George Clooney et al wined and dined when the studio distributors do that already - I would say the opposite of making it Glitzier (on any case this isn't for the public is it - they just have to pay more for tickets to subsidise the wining and dining. As the Uk film industry dribbles to a standstill - with the same old few making the same old stuff we need to re-inject UK audiences with a wide choice of films and not continue to kow tow to the US which already has our market, every year I go to the festival and feel no festive spirit - no chance to chat with the directors, actors as is possible in nearly every other festival in the world bar Cannes 9and even then they can be spotted walking about, London in November is grey wet and bleak - we shuffle into the LFF screenings to be blown away by the most fabulous films (I gripe that they hog them for a year but then they do have ALL the world cinema films that haven't done Edinburgh first. Secret Sunsine has to be one of the most brilliant films of 2007 - Cannes recognised its star and not one UK distributor has picked it up since the demise of the Artificial Eye team and the closure of a handful of arthouse cinemas. OWE has confortable chairs but is built to house popcorn eaters - keep the US films there and give us the pleasure of discovering great films in congenial space, and somewhere festival goers can mingle to talk about the films - OWE spits people out into Leicester Square, the least the LFF could do is create a space there to accomodate the punters - of shift the whole center back to the NFT where the revamped bar and the riverside cafe is perfect for bumping into other film festival goers. Posted on Apr 30 2008 10:48

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• Boysie said...

  Thanks to Sandra Hebron for her response and comments. One point I would like to make about the reviews in the LFF programme. I do wish that there were at least four or five different reviewers. You could also number them and perhaps offer film related prizes. They do this at football matches. It activates the audience. How about getting the odd celebrity to introduce some of the films if you cant get a director or actor. Ushers need to be effective in getting people into their seats before the film starts. Get them into the foyer and remind people. Zero tolerence for mobile phones. Cheers. Posted on Apr 25 2008 22:02

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• PP said...

  The LFF stopped resembling a proper film festival some time ago As other have already noted, far too many films are now screened in the West End rather than at the NFT, and the Odeon West End in particular is wholly unsuitable, with no proper foyer (which causes bottlenecks and general chaos when films are beginning and ending), ushers who direct you to the wrong seats (this happened to me several times last year), and people behaving as they do on a a Friday night out when the choice of film is more or less immaterial. surely people who attend film festivals are genuinely interested in cinema and don't really want to be sitting among people noisily making their way through jumbo tubs of popcorn?
  
  There is absolutely no sense of occasion at these West End screenings, and why would anyone who was actually interested in film want to pay over the odds to sit in the OWE cinema rather than the NFT? PLEASE keep such venues for the gala evenings only.
  Furthermore, unlike the much better organised LLGFF, no programme notes are provided for any LFF screenings, which is a disgrace. Few directors or actors seem to attend screenings, particularly at OWE. Frankly, I don't blame them.
  I will still of course book tickets for the 2008 LFF, but I seem to book fewer and fewer each year. This is not because the programmes are disappointing (though we could do with fewer mainstream films that already have imminent UK release dates) but because it no longer works as a film festival should do. Posted on Apr 24 2008 14:21

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• Sarah said...

  I have been attending the LFF for ten years and use it as an opportunity to see films from around the world that will probably not go on general release in the UK. I think there are already fewer of these than there were a few years ago and I suspect that 'bigger and glitzier' just means more big Hollywood films. If that happened I would just give up on the festival and on my bfi membership. I agree with the comments about taking the festival out of OWE. It is horrible. Posted on Apr 23 2008 18:41

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• Jackie said...

  I have been going to LFF for the past 5 years - although i enjoyed it last year, there was a distinct lack of post film chat and discussion and I felt I could of been just going to the cinema as usual and not to a Film Festival.
  Having concession on a weekend and not just weekday would be a good idea. I stopped going to OWE as I didn't want to pay £11 which I think is alot of money, especially like me who likes to see two or three films a day at the festival. Posted on Apr 21 2008 13:14

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• Sandra Hebron, LFF said...

  Just to reassure Boysie, we are reading the postings regularly, and will be responding - we're just talking to Time Out's Film Editor about the best time and way to do this -online or in the magazine, or both. For now, the intention is very much to let readers have your say, rather than chip in with ours - but please don't read that as a lack of interest or concern on our part. Thanks to everyone who has posted so far. Posted on Apr 17 2008 19:27

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• Felicity said...

  I agree with a lot of the comments made already, I really liked one idea about non-traditional cinema venues. I also agree that the ticketing system for the public needs to be looked at as it is very difficult to get tickets even when you are a BFI member.
  I think the LFF needs a unique selling point of some kind I am not sure that fans or filmmakers are particularly attracted to it. Someone that I spoke to said 'maybe' about trying to screen his latest at LFF but when asked about Edinburgh there was much more enthusiasm and the answer was something a long the lines of 'I would love to if that is possible, it is such a fun festival'. Posted on Apr 17 2008 12:43

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• Chris said...

  The LFF is a good event. It should not become more commercial. One of the benefits of its current lack of a role that some have identified is that it is able to fulfill a different role for different people. Not too commerical but still commercial. Not too arty or inward looking but still providing a wide range of good undistrubted films. Greg Dyke needs to see this as a benefit and not a problem. Some LFF viewers will prefer big films with distribution already fixed, others will prefer to skip films that they know will in be cinemas by Christmas and look for something different. Concentrating on only some of its current aspects will reduce rather than enlarge the audience. Posted on Apr 10 2008 18:36

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• charlie said...

  The pricing and the priority given to BFI members are both big problems, as are the venues - for a start, get rid of the OWE, and get the independents exclusively involved cross-London - Rio, Everyman, Riverside, and the City Screen venues - plus non-traditional spaces to show films. The big question is what is unique about London's film festival compared to every other festival? At the moment, nothing at all - a festival is about a lot more than just whacking on new films and then leaving the building. Where are the forums, the debates, the discussions, the immersions in film culture? There should be more along the lines of last year's "Power To the Pixel" conference and less glitz. Make cutting-edge, make it relevant, make it an exciting place to be beyond the 2 hours you spend watching a screen (and again, make that screen a nice place to be - the BFI Southbank isn't the only nice place) Posted on Apr 10 2008 16:00

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• christine said...

  I recommend you come to Prague to see how it's done. Catch the website now at www.febiofest.cz I am having the time of my life this week. Utterly wonderful. Tickets easy to get and less than £3 a time. Respectful, enthralled audiences. This is my third year and it just gets better Posted on Apr 02 2008 22:30

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• Martin Maxted said...

  Three gripes: [1]I'd like to see an outright ban on food and drink during LFF screenings. I have attended LFF for many years but see fewer films with each passing year. This is because I have grown intolerant of the sound of people eating. [2]There is a major problem with people continuing to be admitted during the first 30-40 minutes of each film. The main offender is, of course, NFT where this problem occurs 52 weeks per annum. [3]The film 'reviewers' who write for the LFF programme see films through rose-tinted spectacles. I would like to see more realistic reviews that enable me to make appropriate choices when selecting which films to see. I have filled in feedback forms year after year making these same comments. No repsonse has ever been forthcoming.
  Although I agree with all contributors who have complained about the general "dumbing down" of the ferstival, I don't consider this to be a problem; films that already have a distributor or that are very commercial in content ('surprise film' is almost always a piece of Hollywood tripe) should in my opinion continue to be shown. Posted on Apr 01 2008 13:43

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• Aiman said...

  I'm quite horrified to learn that Greg Dyke thinks the festival needs to get even more commercial, as though it hadn't gone too far already. What London needs is a separate film festival for people who don't care about cinema as an art form and merely consider it as entertainment. Let's call it the Blockbuster Film Festival. They can hand out lots of popcorn and toys. The films that win the top awards can be the films that sell the most tickets! Surely, they argue, that is a sign of quality. And you can't get any more commercial than that. Posted on Apr 01 2008 07:32

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• James said...

  Despite its many qualities, the LFF should give all Londoners a fair chance to access all screenings, not just those that BFI members haven’t already gobbled all the tickets for. Following the brilliant lead of the Proms and National Theatre, a (modest) number of good tickets for all films should be available on the day.
  Presently, the festival doesn’t really feel like the city’s event. Someone should explore how to develop a Fringe for the festival in which all London cinemas and community centres can play their own freestyle role. Whatever this may be, it would give more boroughs and sectors of London the chance to feel part of the city’s film festival instead of being a select and bourgeiose experience in Leicester Square and the Soutbbank. Let's also experiment with liberating films from cinemas some more; let's see more projections in unlikey places, giving a sense that film truly belongs to London and can have a genuine and disarming dialogue with the city.
  The festival should have the fundamental aspiration of getting all 7 million Londoners watching film at some stage by some means throughout its duration. More activities that amplify and deliver this aim will make this feel like London’s Film Festival, not just a film festival that happens to occur here. Posted on Mar 30 2008 13:06

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• Boysie said...

  I am surprised that nobody from the LFF or the BFI have yet made a comment on this Website. Posted on Mar 28 2008 11:47

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