BFI London Film Festival Industry Forum 2026

The industry side of the 70th BFI London Film Festival: who is speaking, when, where, and what a pass costs.

By the London BGTC Society editorial desk · Updated 24 September 2026

Photo: Ewan Munro, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Every October the cameras follow the red carpet of the BFI London Film Festival, and a few streets away, in rooms without photographers, the people who make, finance and programme films sit down to talk about what comes next. That is the Industry Forum. For the festival’s 70th edition, which runs from 7 to 18 October 2026, the Forum runs from 8 to 15 October, and its talks, panels and networking between 8 and 13 October take place at Picturehouse Central, just off Piccadilly Circus.

The full programme was announced on 22 September. It is built for working professionals, and entry is by industry or press accreditation rather than a public ticket. For a reading of what the programme says about where British cinema is heading, see Maria Bregman’s analysis on Creativitys.UK.

At a glance

The headline conversations

Two of the three spotlight conversations belong to producers rather than directors, which is itself a statement about where the festival thinks the decisions are made.

• James Wilson, the producer behind Under the Skin, Lynne Ramsay’s You Were Never Really Here and the Oscar-winning The Zone of Interest, in conversation with the journalist Danny Leigh.
• Danny Boyle is interviewed by Matt Belloni of Puck for an episode of The Town podcast, on 9 October at 3pm, about the state of the UK industry and his new Murdoch drama Ink.
• PC Williams, the costume designer of We Are Lady Parts and My Father’s Shadow, talks to the British-Nigerian filmmaker Akinola Davies Jr, director of My Father’s Shadow, on 10 October at 11:30am.
• Pippa Harris, co-founder of Neal Street Productions and producer of 1917 and Hamnet, in conversation with Edith Bowman on 12 October. Neal Street is currently producing Sam Mendes’s four Beatles films.

The working sessions

The Forum opens on 8 October at 11:30am with Beyond the Box Office, a panel of cinema programmers: Ben Lyndon of Curzon, Carol McKay of Picturehouse and Madeleine Mullett of BFI IMAX, on what audiences actually went out to watch this year and why.

• A Shared Vision: Perspectives on Co-production. Producers who have worked on UK co-productions on what the model gives and what it costs.
• Frame by Frame. Documentary directors, including Theo Rollason, Nanette Burstein and Rafael Guendelman, with Simon McCallum of the BFI National Archive, on building stories from archive and found footage.
• Fade In. Six emerging UK screenwriters introduced to the industry.
• LFF Expanded Industry Day on 15 October, for the immersive, XR and games sectors: works in progress and funding conversations, with its own accreditation.

Alongside the talks, the BFI runs press and industry screenings and a networking programme with partners including Women in Film & Television, the Alliance for Women Film Composers, Spotlight and a group of UK documentary organisations.

Passes and prices

There is no public ticket for the Forum. Access is through accreditation, and the BFI checks that applicants work in the sector.

Passes give access to press and industry screenings, industry events and networking. Access needs can be discussed with the BFI’s Delegate Services team before you arrive.

Getting there

Picturehouse Central is at the corner of Shaftesbury Avenue and Great Windmill Street, a two-minute walk from Piccadilly Circus station on the Piccadilly and Bakerloo lines. Leicester Square (Northern and Piccadilly lines) is five minutes away. The festival’s public screenings take place at BFI Southbank, the Royal Festival Hall and cinemas across London, so plan time between venues if you are combining the Forum with festival films.

If you are not in the industry

Most of the festival is open to everyone. Tickets for public screenings are sold through the BFI’s festival box office, and LFF for Free offers free events across the city. The Forum is the one part of the festival that asks for accreditation.

The London BGTC Society’s view

For members building a career in British film, the Forum is worth more than its price if you treat it as a place to meet people rather than a series of talks. The panels are useful, but the corridors are where collaborations begin. Arrive with a clear sense of what you are working on and who you want to meet, and use the screenings to find common ground.

Frequently asked questions

Industry Forum passes and programme at the BFI

Sources

• bfi.org.uk — Industry Forum: accreditation, passes and prices
• bfi.org.uk — Industry Forum programme highlights 2026
• creativitys.uk — Maria Bregman on what the 2026 Forum says about British cinema
• screendaily.com — BFI London Film Festival unveils full 2026 industry line-up
• hollywoodreporter.com — the full Industry Forum line-up
• whatson.bfi.org.uk — the festival programme and public box office

This is an independent informational guide compiled by the London BGTC Society for its members; we are not affiliated with, nor the organiser of, this event. All booking and official information lives on the organiser's website, linked above. Dates and programmes are subject to change — always confirm on the official site before making plans.