Plans are underway for a series of events celebrating The Times 50th bfi London Film Festival which will run from 18th October to 2nd November.  These will include a special screening under Nelson's Column in Trafalgar Square as well asthe largest surprise film screening, showing simultaneously in 50 venues across the city. There are also expected to be a number of short films from leading directors celebrating London that will be specially commissioned for the festival.

London in October 2006 plays host to the country's foremost cinema event when The Times bfi London Film Festival celebrates its 50th anniversary. Plans are afoot to ensure that this year audiences will be treated to the best that cinema has to offer from British and international film makers together with the opportunity to participate in all number of special events.
       
With galas and premieres presented both at the bfi's historic National Film Theatre (NFT) and in Odeon Cinemas in Leicester Square, as well as in a host of venues citywide, the Festival attracts the leading lights of cinema with directors, actors, writers and other creative talents heading to the world's most exciting capital city. It is truly a Festival that is looked forward to by industry and audiences alike.
       
Fifty years ago, in October 1957, the first London Film Festival opened with a screening of Kurasawa's masterly Throne of Blood, setting the tone for a festival that proposed to present the best of contemporary world cinema to British audiences. For ten days the NFT was packed with audiences enjoying works from directors including Bergman, Fellini, Visconti and Wajda.
       
Since then the Festival has grown in scale and stature and whilst retaining an element of the initial 'festival of festivals' idea, this has been matched by a desire to show genuinely new discoveries, bringing to the UK premieres of previously unseen new films. And while the Festival continues to be an event that attracts sizeable public audiences (115,000 in 2005) it has also developed a strong presence of national and international press and industry delegates.

"Our 50th anniversary is without doubt a significant year for us," comments Artistic Director, Sandra Hebron, "we will be marking the occasion with commissions, publications and activities across London. We'll be supplementing our regular programme with a series of one-off events, including a spectacular screening in Trafalgar Square and the largest ever surprise film screening, showing simultaneously in 50 venues across the city. Through bfi Publishing we'll be producing a series of monographs celebrating the Festival's history, and the NFT will host two programmes of Festival related films in the months leading up to the autumn event, beginning with a reprise of the first Festival starting on the 2nd July.
       
"We will also be taking advantage of our birthday to take stock and plan for our future. We are fortunate that our festival takes place in such a culturally dynamic city, and one that lies at the heart of international filmmaking. With this in mind our intention is to ensure that the festival continues to consolidate its position as a vibrant world-class event. To this end we will be strengthening still further the initiatives for our industry delegates, including our buyers and sellers screenings and our training and professional development activities.
       
"Our autumn dates mean we are ideally placed to provide a valuable European platform to launch new films, including high profile award contenders. Alongside these we will continue to champion a diversity of work of real quality from unknown and emerging talents as well as from the leading names in world cinema. Fiction features and documentaries, artists' film and video, short films, animation, archive restorations and live events all find a receptive home and enthusiastic audiences in London. And whilst our festival is not competitive, our awards for short films and for first and second features support the film makers of the future.

"We are looking forward once again to working with our title sponsor, The Times, and with all our other sponsors, funders and cultural partners, whose contributions are crucial to our sustained development. With their help, we will meet the needs of our public audiences whilst strengthening our relationships with the creative film community at home and abroad. London in October will provide a focus and a meeting point for all those who are interested in the most imaginative and original that world cinema has to offer."