By Bianca Garner 
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For the last few years, I have been attending the BFI London Film Festival, an annual film festival which has been taking place since 1957 and takes place over a two week period in October. It’s always something that I look forward to as it’s my opportunity to meet up with fellow film critics, watch some incredible films (often months in advance) and attend some fascinating and insightful talks and discussion panels. However, for this year’s festival, things are a little different. Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom, the festival will now feature up to 50 online films with only 12 films being shown in London and around the United Kingdom. Discussing the reason for the radical changes, LFF director, Tricia Tuttle, stated that it was completely necessary and that “There will be no return to business as usual. I’m keen to get back to cinemas as soon as we can but I also love the innovations we have been experimenting with this year.”

By Bianca Garner 
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“Why’d ya spill yer beans?” If anyone is aware of Robert Eggers’ surreal black comedy/horror film “The Lighthouse” then they’ll most certainly get this reference. As I found myself standing in line at 7:30 am for the press screening of “The Lighthouse” I was wondering just what had I gotten myself into. Is this film really as bizarre as everyone claims it is? Would I find it a challenge to watch and a film that would leave me frustrated, and dissatisfied as a result? Well, “The Lighthouse" is most certainly bizarre and at times, it’s a real challenge to watch, but it was the most fun I have had in the cinema this year so far. Perhaps, fun isn’t the right word because this isn’t exactly a laugh-out-loud comedy, but the surrealness of the events taking place manage to evoke laughter. I wonder whether this was just an involuntary reaction that I had little control over. Even so, I found the film frightfully funny to watch, I also found it frightening and disturbing to watch, and the imagery that Eggers has created has burned its way into my skull.

By Bianca Garner 

I know they say don't believe the festival hype, but there are some films that are worth the hype. “Bacurau” is one of those films. It’s hard to explain what the film is about without revealing too much. It’s a film that needs to be experienced and absorbed. Whereas, “Monos” had a narrative that left me puzzled and frustrated, “Bacurau's” narrative is such an intriguing puzzle that the viewer can’t second guess what will happen next. Writers and directors, Kleber Mendonça Filho, and Juliano Dornelles manage to weave together a complex plot that slowly unfolds in a bloody showdown that the likes of Quentin Tarantino and Sam Peckinpah would be jealous of. Google classes “Bacurau's” genre as a ‘weird Western’ which it is, but it is also so much more. ​

By Bianca Garner 
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Even before I had started to watch “Monos” I had already been experiencing a surreal nightmare of my own. Being a traveling film critic is not all fun and games, I’ll have you know! I won’t go into details but long story short- never judge a hostel by their photos. It’s officially my first day at LFF and the films I have caught today have made me laugh, grimace, gasp and cry. Each film has been unique in their own sense, and have been an interesting watch although I’m still not sure if I like “Monos."