Tucked behind Leicester Square, The Prince Charles Cinema has been a BFI London Film Festival (LFF) venue for the past 10 years. We spoke to Head of Programming Paul Vickery about shifts in audiences, being part of the festival, and what to watch…

“From the get-go, the festival was a nice fit,” explains Paul, “We always considered ourselves as part of London's film culture, but when you operate as a single independent site surrounded by chains, you can feel like you exist on the edges.”

Recent years have marked a year-round shift in films and audiences at the Prince Charles Cinema. Historically, old movies have attracted older people, but now they’re bringing a younger crowd and a bigger box office. In turn, the cinema is showing more old films and less cult and horror, and is getting busier every year.

At the start of their partnership, the LFF helped put the venue back on the map. “It was a nice introduction to people who had moved on or felt we weren't part of their ecosystem of cinema-going,” explains Paul. Today at the Prince Charles, the festival is more about connecting new films with younger audiences, “That's really important because we want to be seen as contributing to the future, as well as the history of cinema,” he says.

With many LFF venues now over on the South Bank, the Prince Charles has become a greater part of the festival’s central presence, “We are very front-loaded with it, we've got posters outside, we treat it like it's our own thing,” says Paul, and with every LFF screening selling out, he couldn’t be happier.

“We're a really good representation of the festival as a whole. We've got the Closing Night film – we're showing it at the same time – and we've got the new Martin McDonagh film. But we've also got the curios, the documentaries, the world cinema. Everything they pick works with what we're doing.”

So, what should we look out for? “The Cameron Winter film, which I saw earlier this week. I'm not the biggest Cameron Winter fan but that was the most perfect way to introduce yourself to an artist through the love of a filmmaker that I've ever experienced. History of Concrete seems to be quite a hot ticket. And there's The Face of Horror – the new Anna Biller film, Wildwood, Paper Tiger...”

The BFI London Film Festival was part of the Prince Charles Cinema