The 70th BFI London Film Festival Announces Programme of Screen Talks

BFI

The 70th BFI London Film Festival (7–18 October) is thrilled to reveal the filmmakers and actors participating in this year’s programme of Screen Talks.

This year’s line-up includes Andrew Scott (All of Us Strangers, Ripley, Pride); Ava DuVernay (Selma, 13th, Origin); Brad Bird (The Iron Giant, The Incredibles, Ratatouille); Cynthia Erivo (Harriet, Wicked, Widows); James Gray (We Own the Night, Ad Astra, Armageddon Time); Jesse Eisenberg (The Social Network, When You Finish Saving the World, A Real Pain); John Malkovich (Places in the Heart, In the Line of Fire, Being John Malkovich); Mahershala Ali (Moonlight, Green Book, True Detective); Naomi Ackie (I Wanna Dance with Somebody, Blink Twice, Mickey 17); Sofia Coppola (The Virgin Suicides, Marie Antoinette, Priscilla); and Danny Boyle (Trainspotting, Slumdog Millionaire, 28 Days Later).

Over the course of the last two decades, Andrew Scott has enjoyed remarkable success across cinema, theatre and television. He will join us to talk about a career that includes a BAFTA-winning performance as the nemesis of Sherlock Holmes; a generational-defining Hamlet and a bold reinvention of Uncle Vanya, and numerous superb performances including turns in Pride, Ripley, Blue Moon and All of Us Strangers. He joins us to discuss his extraordinary body of work, including his tour-de-force portrayal of Ian Charleson in the LFF Opening Night film Elsinore.

The Emmy, BAFTA, Sundance, Image and Peabody Award-winning director, writer and producer Ava DuVernay will join us to talk about her acclaimed career. Whether it’s beloved family adventures such as A Wrinkle in Time, essential dramas like Selma and Origin, or piercing documentaries such as the Oscar®-nominated 13th, DuVernay’s work articulately explores society through the prism of social injustice and civil rights.

Brad Bird will join us to discuss his Oscar® and BAFTA-winning career. From his inspired animated features, which include The Iron Giant, both The Incredibles entries and Ratatouille through to his live-action blockbusters Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol and Tomorrowland, Brad Bird has raised the bar for blockbuster entertainment.

We welcome the critically acclaimed actress, producer, singer and author Cynthia Erivo to talk about her powerful performances on stage and screen. She rose to international prominence with her Tony Award-winning performance in The Color Purple on Broadway and has since starred in films including Harriet, Bad Times at the El Royale, Wicked, and Wicked: For Good. Erivo has earned recognition from the Tony Awards, two Grammy Awards, an Emmy Awards, and three Academy Award® nominations for her work in Harriet and Wicked.

Few filmmakers have channelled the underbelly of New York life quite like James Gray, who joins us to discuss his critically acclaimed career. His startling feature debut, Little Odessa, set a high standard, which the writer-director would follow with The Yards, We Own the Night, Two Lovers, The Immigrant and Armageddon Time – films that span a variety of genres but are all grounded in a gritty, earthy reality. Though The Lost City of Z and Ad Astra unfolded in very different worlds, both continued to display the ambition and cinematic verve of this bold and assured filmmaker, who will join us to discuss his work.

Jesse Eisenberg joins us to talk about his work in front of and behind the camera as he unveils the Festival’s Gala Closing Night Film, The Debut. A Broadway stage actor since he was 12, Jesse Eisenberg first moved into television with the series Get Real in 1999, before winning plaudits for his performances in the films Roger Dodger and The Squid and the Whale. Adventureland and Zombieland brought his wider recognition, followed by his portrayal of Mark Zuckerberg in The Social Network. Alongside frequent screen appearances and contributions to The New Yorker, Jesse Eisenberg branched into filmmaking with When You Finish Saving the World and the Oscar® and BAFTA-winning A Real Pain. We are delighted to welcome him to this Screen Talk, to discuss the many facets of his career.

John Malkovich has spent his career forging indelible, charismatic, singular characters. Equally at home in Hollywood blockbusters as he is intense chamber dramas and off-beat character studies, not to mention a celebrated stage career that channels his combustible energy, he also ranks as one of the only actors to feature in a film in which his own persona has a starring role, in Being John Malkovich. The acclaimed screen and theatre actor will join us to discuss his extraordinary four-decade career.

The BAFTA and two-time Oscar® winner Mahershala Ali worked in film and television for almost two decades before his pivotal and award-winning breakthrough performance in Moonlight. Since then, he has brought warmth, wit and humanity to roles in productions that range from House of Cards and Free State of Jones to Green Book, True Detective and Leave the World Behind. We welcome him to discuss his varied screen roles.

Following her breakthrough performance in Lady Macbeth, for which she received a Most Promising Actress BIFA, Naomie Ackie has enjoyed success on the big and small screen. She was hilarious as Bonnie in The End of the F***ing World and made a powerful impression in Education, the fifth part of Steve McQueen’s Small Axe series. Recent performances include Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, Blink Twice, Mickey 17 and Sorry Baby, for which she received an Independent Spirit Award. We are delighted to welcome Naomi Ackie to this Screen Talk to discuss her career.

After early roles in her father Francis Ford Coppola’s films and a co-writing credit on his short Life without Zoe, Sofia Coppola achieved international acclaim and commercial success with her feature debut The Virgin Suicides. Her skill as a writer matched her directorial verve, which was recognised when she received a Best Original Screenplay Academy Award for her sophomore feature Lost in Translation. A perceptive study on celebrity, it’s a theme she continued to mine in Somewhere, The Bling Ring, On the Rocks and Priscilla.

After enjoying success in theatre and television, Danny Boyle exploded on to cinema screens with Shallow Grave and the era-defining Trainspotting. The Beach, 28 Days Later and Sunshine highlighted a gift for moving seamlessly between genres, before the enormous awards success of Slumdog Millionaire. After he directed the inspired Opening Ceremony of the 2012 London Olympics to huge acclaim, Danny Boyle returned to cinema with Steve Jobs, Yesterday and 28 Years Later, which balanced commercial nous with a kinetic directorial style. We are delighted to welcome him to HOME Manchester, in the Festival’s first Screen Talk outside London, to discuss his wide-ranging career that has placed him among the most successful British filmmakers.

Screen Talks give audiences the opportunity to hear some of the world’s leading actors and filmmakers discuss their creative processes, influences and careers in depth. The talks take place at BFI Southbank, with audiences also able to catch up exclusively on BFI Player and BFI YouTube.

The 70th edition of the BFI London Film Festival will take place in the following venues:

• The Southbank Centre’s Royal Festival Hall returns as the gala venue

• BFI Southbank is the home of the competition programme, Screen Talks and LFF for Free events

• BFI IMAX, the UK’s biggest screen, will host LFF screenings

• Four partner cinemas in London’s West End: Curzon Soho, Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA), Prince Charles Cinema and Vue West End

• Ten festival venues across the UK: Broadway Cinema, Nottingham; Chapter, Cardiff; Glasgow Film Theatre; HOME, Manchester; MAC, Birmingham; Queen’s Film Theatre, Belfast; Showroom Cinema, Sheffield; Tyneside Cinema, Newcastle; Filmhouse, Edinburgh; and Watershed, Bristol

• Press and industry screenings and the LFF Industry Forum take place at Picturehouse Central.

In addition to UK-wide screenings at Festival venues, audiences will also be able to explore LFF programmes past and present with a special collection of films on BFI Player.

The 70th BFI London Film Festival takes place from Wednesday 7 October – Sunday 18 October 2026. The full Festival programme will be revealed on Wednesday 2 September 2026, with tickets on general sale from 17 September and BFI Members booking early.