London Film Festival and Good Days

The 70th edition of the London Film Festival officially kicked off yesterday. The festival will screen 251 titles (comprising features, shorts, series and immersive works) from 88 countries. Kristy Matheson, Artistic Director of BFI Film Festivals, has curated a mammoth programme which will welcome some of the world’s best directors and actors to London during the festival’s duration from the 7th-18th of October. 

I feel very privileged to be covering a festival close to my heart for The Geek Show on my good days. In 2017 my short film V was part of the Official Selection for LFF. Having spent the previous years taking advantage of the BFI’s important Under 25’s scheme to affordably discover a world of cinema, it was always a dream to have a film in there. I spent the festival running around London with my best friends, using our filmmakers’ passes to watch as much as possible, fantasising of making this our lives. Having a film in the festival gave us newfound belief. We were in our early twenties, surrounded by likeminded hopeful filmmakers and invested audiences, getting a taste of a proper festival experience. 

In 2021 a good day at London Film Festival was watching four films a day and getting an exciting email about the feature project I had in development. As the world began to open up again after the lockdowns, the same group of us made central London our home for two weeks as we lived and breathed films. We were watching from 8am to 10pm and debriefing most nights at the pub. I saw over forty movies in two weeks, experiencing the rush of sharing something magic with people you love, followed by giddy debriefs and deeper reflections. I thought that was going to be the rest of our lives — we’d eventually have a feature here, and every year we didn’t, we’d buy industry passes and do it all over again. 

In 2026 a good day is very different. I’ve been living with Long Covid for over four years. There aren’t enough words to do justice for what it’s done to my life. I was bed bound, housebound and now I’m thankfully able to do a little more. It is a brutal, poorly understood disease which is devastating to millions. I haven’t worked in over four years. I’m grateful that I’ve been able to continue to develop feature projects with incredible people, but the reality of being well enough to make a film is hard to grasp, and my connection to the industry continues to diminish with each passing year of chronic illness. I could no longer afford nor justify an industry pass and I felt the absence of the festival every October. 

Back in 2024 I started writing for The Geek Show, which allowed me some access to the festival again. They have a disability friendly and supportive environment where I often miss deadlines and such. I still see myself as a filmmaker. I’m here to find inspiration, experience something beautiful and share it with whoever will listen. I think it’s important to know this if you’re interested in reading my coverage of the festival — I’ll only write about the films I enjoyed, I only want to talk about the work that made me feel something. 

So back to 2026 and my good days. Now, if I rest and plan properly, I can make it into Central London to attend one or two screenings at the London Film Festival. I get to sit in Picturehouse and hopefully experience something special. I love this festival for the buzz in the air, being back in a room with people who love cinema and who are thinking about its endless possibilities. On those good days, I’m not trapped in my room, I’m wherever the film I’m watching is taking me. I’m escaping. I’m living. In 2017 and 2021 it was about seeing as much as possible. This year it’s just about being there. 

It means the world to me. I don’t take it for granted. There was a time I couldn’t even imagine being back in a cinema. This week, when the stars align and my body functions a little bit like how it should, I might be lucky enough to experience the next film that changes my life. I look forward to telling you about it. 

JIMMY’S ARCHIVE – LONDON FILM FESTIVAL