What's your role in the festival?
I'm Tricia Tuttle.
I'm the Artistic Director of the BFI London Film Festival,
which is a role which leads the programme team.
So I get to do all the fun bits, which is watching films
and deciding with the team what we put in the festival.
It's got a lot of girl power in it this year.
It definitely does.
There's a real problem in the film industry,
with very few female directors getting the opportunities
to show what they can do.
And this year, I'm really proud of the fact
that we've got 38% of the films in the festival from female directors.
I'm also really excited because we screen
short films as well as features, and when you look at the short films,
50% of the films are from female directors.
I think what we're seeing is a new generation of female filmmakers
coming through, telling their stories,
and also the industry really nurturing and supporting them,
so I think it's really encouraging.
It's really empowering to see that female push
with directors coming through.
It makes me want to do something like that as well.
Exactly.
It's strong stories about women too,
so lots of men in the festival are really directing films
with great, great female protagonists
like Widows, which we're opening with.
Viola Davis is incredible,
but it's a film about four women whose husbands die in a heist
and they have to take on the heist,
and it's just such an empowering film.
- It's changing the narrative, it's bringing a female vibe to it.
Getting into the cinema can be expensive.
Are there any deals?
Absolutely.
For under-25s, we have £5 ticket offers
which is really a great, great price.
There are some films that are on sale for £5 now,
so films like Been So Long, The Hate U Give,
you can buy a ticket for £5 now.
Other films, you can turn up at the door
and if there are any tickets available 45 minutes before,
you can buy a ticket for £5.
It really is a great way to not break the bank
but get to see films at a festival.
That's so exciting, I'll definitely be coming down to see.
That's even true for the red carpet galas.
If you want to take a chance,
go down and see if there are any tickets available,
and try to pick up a £5 ticket to be on the red carpet.
I've got a little sister.
Is there anything happening for kids as young as eight?
There is.
We have a family section in the festival,
so lots of the titles in that section are really aimed
at kids between five and eleven, so younger audiences,
so she should definitely come down and check it out.
I'll bring her along.
The Elephant Queen is our family gala this year, which is really beautiful.
I want to see Been So Long. What can you tell me about it?
Michaela Coel, she's in every shot. She's incredible.
People know her from Chewing Gum, she's so great.
It's a London-set musical which you don't see very often.
It looks like the London we all live in, very exciting,
and it's female-directed and it's great.
You can get tickets for £5 from now, anyone under 25.
I'm excited about that.
I'm also really excited about The Hate U Give.
- With Amanda, yeah. - With Amanda Stenberg who's so good.
She's really leading that new female, women in power,
just going through film.
She's really heading a lot,
and the topic of discussion in the film is heavy
but it's going to be exciting to see that film, definitely.
The film is based on a best-selling teen novel,
Angie Thomas's The Hate U Give, and it's such a great story.
It's about a girl who is living a double life.
She goes to a predominantly white school,
lives in her neighbourhood which is a predominantly black neighbourhood,
and co-switches between the two.
I won't give it away
but when something really traumatic happens to her,
her two worlds collide and she becomes really politicised.
I think it's a really, really topical film right now
because I think your generation-, - It's really relevant.
It is, really.
We're hearing on the news about lots of gun violence going on,
so you want to know about what's happening.
You guys are really inspiring, I think,
because your generation is really politicised
and really aware and articulate,
and I think the film really speaks to that.
Also, The Favourite is a favourite.
That is amazing, I highly recommend that,
obviously based on Queen Anne's court.
Liberties taken, I won't say it's perfectly historically accurate,
but it's brilliant, witty comedy.
It made me laugh so much.
I saw a preview screening and the security guard behind me
giggled away the entire time, so I think it really works for everybody.
- It's got an amazing cast. - Amazing cast.
Olivia Colman, Emma Stone, Rachel Weisz, Nicholas Hoult.
And it's got that comedic vibe to it as well,
which in a lot of historic films, you don't normally see that,
so it's nice to have that push through.
Yeah, it's really different, really fun.
- I'm excited. - Highly recommend it.