The 69th BFI London Film Festival announces programme of Screen Talks

The 69th BFI London Film Festival (8 to 19 October), in partnership with American Express, is thrilled to reveal the filmmakers participating in this year’s programme of Screen Talks. This year’s line-up of Screen Talks includes interviews with Daniel Day-Lewis (Phantom Thread, There Will Be Blood), Yorgos Lanthimos (Poor Things, Kinds of Kindness), Richard Linklater (Boyhood, Dazed and Confused), Jafar Panahi (The White Balloon, No Bears), Lynne Ramsay, (Morvern Callar, We Need to Talk About Kevin), Tessa Thompson (Thor: Love and Thunder, Passing) and Chloé Zhao (The Rider, Nomadland).

The ultimate actor’s actor, Daniel Day-Lewis has worked with some of the world’s finest filmmakers to amass a body of work that is defined by a commitment to excellence. The only person to win three Best Actor Academy Awards, Day-Lewis has forged a series of era-defining roles in such diverse films as My Beautiful Laundrette, The Unbearable Lightness of Being, My Left Foot, The Age of Innocence, There Will Be Blood, Lincoln and Phantom Thread.

Since his 2009 breakthrough feature Dogtooth, Yorgos Lanthimos has cut one of the most distinctive paths in contemporary cinema. As at ease working on other writers’ screenplays as he is developing his own with regular collaborator Efthimis Filippou, Lanthimos has created worlds infused with biting satire tinged with surrealism. We are excited to welcome the internationally acclaimed filmmaker to discuss his singular body of work at the BFI.

Few filmmakers have been as prolific, prodigious and endlessly inventive as Richard Linklater, who joins us to discuss his incredibly diverse filmography. From the experimentation of Slacker, Waking Life, A Scanner Darkly and Boyhood, and the joyful period dramas Dazed and Confused, Me and Orson Welles and Everybody Wants Some!! to the comedies School of Rock, Bad News Bears and Hit Man and the beloved Before trilogy, Linklater has never failed to engage, move and entertain.

One of world cinema’s most important filmmakers, Jafar Panahi has produced a body of work that has critiqued Iranian society and which has had a real-world impact on his life. We welcome him to discuss his essential body of work, spanning early classics The White Balloon, The Circle and Offside to more recent award-winning films including Taxi, No Bears and Closed Curtain.

Since her extraordinary 1999 feature debut Ratcatcher, Lynne Ramsay has forged a singular career. Morvern Callar, We Need to Talk About Kevin and You Were Never Really Here followed, further revealing a director whose work skilfully balances narrative and visual verve with striking performances by actors at the top of their game. We are thrilled to welcome Lynne Ramsay to this Screen Talk, to discuss a career populated by innovative, groundbreaking and provocative films.

Equally at home in cutting-edge drama and comedy as she is in big-budget blockbusters, Tessa Thompson is often the trump card in the cast of any film. From her regular appearances in Veronica Mars and Westworld, and scene stealing roles in Thor: Ragnarok and Sorry to Bother You, to her stunning, BAFTA-nominated turn in Passing and playful collaborations with Janelle Monae. Thompson will discuss her wide-ranging career.

Chloé Zhao, the Oscar-winning director of Nomadland joins us to explore her singular approach to filmmaking. With Songs My Brother Taught Me, The Rider and Nomadland, Chloé Zhao combined the aesthetics of documentary and narrative filmmaking to thrilling effect. Her singular approach to filmmaking also produced one of the most fascinating outliers in the Marvel universe with Eternals.

Alongside in-person, audiences can catch up first exclusively on BFI Player, and on BFI YouTube.

The 69th edition of the BFI London Film Festival in partnership with American Express 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 

• The UK’s biggest screen BFI IMAX will once again host LFF screenings 

• LFF Expanded works will be presented at Marie Rambert Studio, Rambert, BFI IMAX and BFI Southbank

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

• Festival venues across the UK include Broadway Cinema in Nottingham, Chapter in Cardiff, Glasgow Film Theatre, HOME in Manchester, MAC in Birmingham, Queen’s Film Theatre in Belfast, Showroom Cinema in Sheffield, Tyneside Cinema in Newcastle, National Science and Media Museum in Bradford, Filmhouse in Edinburgh and Watershed in Bristol 

• Press and industry screenings take place at Picturehouse Central   

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

The 69th BFI London Film Festival in partnership with American Express takes place from Wednesday 8 October – Sunday 19 October, 2025. The full festival programme will be revealed on Wednesday 3 September 2025, with tickets on sale from 16 September (BFI Members book early).