London Film Festival

London Film Festival, one of the leading film festivals in Europe. The London Film Festival is non-competitive, and screens the best British and international films, some of which will have been selected from other international film festivals, but none of which will have been previously shown in Great Britain. The annual festival is administered by the British Film Institute, and is based at the Institute’s cinema, the National Film Theatre; however, over recent years the festival has made increasing use of other venues for screenings, such as commercial London cinemas. The festival was first held in 1958, when it was established by the film critics Derek Prouse and Dilys Powell. The first festival included premieres of Kumonosu Jo (Throne of Blood) directed by Akira Kurosawa and The Seventh Seal by Ingmar Bergman.