Missing out on the 2026 London Film Festival
For anyone that is unaware, the London Film Festival is currently going on in, you guessed it, London, where a whole series of incredible and highly anticipated movies are making their debuts, or UK debuts. And as a cinephile based in London, I obviously had to try my luck to get tickets to one of the most prestigous film events in the UK. After waiting for hours on digital queues and seeing several people on social media breakdown their festival schedule, I predictably wasnt able to land a single ticket.
You guessed it, I wasnt able to get a single ticket for any of the films that I wanted to see. Godzilla Minus Zero, Possible Love, Look Back, Fatherland and many more were/are showing at this year's version of the festival and I once again will not be able to witness "peak" in person.
Atleast for Godzilla Minus Zero I was able to buy a ticket for the preview screening at the BFI IMAX in waterloo but otherwise I once again missed out on a great opperrtunity to watch some of my favorite filmakers debut their new projects for the first time in years.
There is a massive feeling of FOMO that you get when you see all the lucky and super talented people covering these films for various outlets and publications and making the journey from wherever they are based to the various screenings of the London Film Festival. Its such a tiring yet rewarding and humbling thing to be able to watch multiple movies in a day and be able to articulate your thoughts and feelings for someone to read and digest.
Now, Why am I even writing this, well...in many ways I am using this to vent my frustrations over my failure to secure tickets. Look, there are standby queues available on the day of the screenings which provide some extra tickets for those that desperatly want to wait in line and see the movies, but I have a ton of responsibilities that just dont allow me to head into central London in the middle of the working week to MAYBE get a ticket to a film that will have a general release.
Additionally, my platform just isnt big enough or financially rewarding enough for me to justify all the hassle that comes with it, but the cinephile in me is still mourning the loss of the oppertunity that attending the festival would have represented. The love for the game is what hurts me the most if that makes sense. Honestly, If Kore-eda was attending the festival then I would have been completely broken by the fact that I wasnt able to see him in person present Look Back to an audience.
Then again, I am extremely gratefull for all the journalists and creators that are able to cover the festival for all of us that were not able to attend this year. Its incredible to see so many different people and their opinions on art. Its one of the reasons why I love cinema and the art form that it is, it can bring so many different people together and share their love and passion.
Especially nowadays where anyone can become a content creator/influencer on essentially any subject, its incredible to see people carve open their own oppertunities in the film industry which is notoriously difficult to break in to. I have been trying to grow my instagram page for a while but its just not happening for me at the moment. But hopefully one day, god willing, my big break will arrive.
Apologies for boring you all with this mini rant/venting session about not being able to attend the London Film Festivel, but it is what it is. This is the true me and I will always share my true feelings about movies, tv shows, the state of cinema and everything in between with whoever is reading or listening or watching me.
Nevertheless, I will be attending a preview screening of one of my most anticipated movies of the year which is Godzilla Minus Zero and hopefully I will be able to see Kore-eda's live action adaptation of Look Back sometime this year, hopefully atleast, because you just never know with these distributors. We still havent gotten a wider release of Sheep in the box which is just insane at this point.
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