London Film Festival

London Film Festival (LFF), Europe's largest noncompetitive motion-picture festival, held annually in November in London. Established in 1956, the LFF is famous for the balance and open-mindedness of its programming, offering small, low-budget films the same welcome it gives more celebrated movies from Hollywood and Europe. Since the LFF takes place later in the year than most other major international film festivals, rather than emphasizing world premieres, it provides an opportunity for London's cinema audience to catch up with some of the year's leading films. Originally held exclusively in London's National Film Theatre, the London festival has expanded to nine venues across the city and annually attracts about 90,000 viewers.

The LFF provides independent filmmakers an opportunity to contact European distributors and buyers for their films. Most independent motion pictures featured in the program eventually gain distribution in British theaters or are broadcast on British television. Another priority of the London festival is to promote to large audiences Britain's own film productions. Since 1989 the festival has given the audience's favorite British feature film a cash award to be spent promoting the film's release in the United Kingdom. In addition to other programs at the London festival, each year the British National Film Archive presents a newly restored print of a lost classic of British cinema. Recent films in this series include a screening in 1990 of The Edge of the World (1937), the first major motion picture by British director Michael Powell (see Powell and Pressburger).