I would’ve written this earlier but I got so occupied with my recent flat move. 😮💨 Though, despite real life’s busy-ness and chaos, my mind remains rent-free from reminiscing my experience of attending the BFI London Film Festival! It was a 10-day event that features a series of highly-anticipated films, movie shorts and screen talks. I managed to attend 2 Gala premieres for “No Other Choice” by Park Chan Wook and “Christy” by David Michôd. Not only was I able to watch it firsthand, I was able to meet and greet the celebs during the red carpet—especially Sydney Sweeney which is my highlight of this event.♡ Up to this point, I still can't believe that I finally met her as one of my idols.🥹
In this blog, I will be sharing how I managed to attend the event, my red carpet memories, a short review about the films I’ve watched and my personal stance on “America’s Great JEANS” 😌
How did I get tickets for the London Film Festival?
Firstly, I had no idea about film festivals here nor I’m normally just a passerby whenever I see red carpet events in London. However, it’s a different ball game if my favorite celebrities will be part of it. 😝 It was back in September (a day after my citizenship ceremony) when I found out that “Christy” and “No Other Choice” will be part of the Gala lineup this year. My heart literally skipped a beat when I heard the news especially about “Christy” as this turned out to be a hint that Sydney Sweeney will be in London again—and from there, I swore that I will not miss it this time! On that same day, I kept tabs on how to buy tickets and gathered further information about the event. I registered to be a BFI member so it entitled me to buy early bird tickets. It has other benefits besides member discounts which you can check it out here.
The early bird tickets for members happened on 9th Sept and my eyes peeled in at the online queue for almost 2 hours (I was around 15,000+ at the start of the queue). There was a time limit once you got through the queue and I never thought that it was more of a race to buy tickets for “No Other Choice” that got sold out so soon but luckily, I managed to get a ticket. Whilst, I got stall row tickets to “Christy”.🥰 Moving forward, I had several weeks of constant sourcing of which celebs were confirmed to attend, fan pen information and any bits of things that can help me to secure a meet (especially for Syd). Apparently, some sources were able to announce the list of attendees a week before the event but it didn’t include “Christy” besides indicating the time of the red carpet gala. For NOC, it was noted that only Lee Byunghun and director Park Chan Wook will attend; Of course I was expecting Son Yejin to be included but I guess there were filming conflicts ☹️ On the other hand, the days left me with worry and panic as there was no legit confirmation if Syd will attend. To my mind I was thinking that the film won’t be a gala without a red carpet and its main cast nor I kept reminding myself that it will be fine if ever that I’m unable to meet Syd as long as I see her or at least I’ve watched the film. It could sound strange but I did a lot of positive affirmations to calm myself up. Let alone, I was on my birthday trip in Italy a week before the event.
15th October—“No Other Choice” Gala
I came from work and happily, I finished early plus the event was a bit delayed so everyone was still queuing outside by the time I arrived at the Royal Festival Hall. As a first-time goer, I literally didn’t know what to do so me and one of my friends from the BinJin fandom ended up being 2 rows from the barricade. We were still in a good spot and we managed to take a picture of Lee Byunghun but we were slightly far from asking them to sign our posters 🙂↕️
Basically, there were different sections for fan pen, the press and ticketholders with this angle coming from the latter. Being at the ticketholder’s section is a fair spot to see the stars but keep in mind that they get very little time to interact once they come to this area. I bet the press interviews on NOC took longer because of the translations.
Gala ticketholders has a portion to walk the red carpet so me and my friend took some time to take pictures before going inside the cinema hall. It was great meeting @binxjin and for giving me an NOC poster 🥰
Being at the balcony seat wasn’t really the best seat at all; It was similar to watching a seated concert or a musical where the seats are elevated and you need to look down to see the stage. Additionally, I kind of felt farsighted watching through a large bright screen. So with that, I learned my lesson when watching here at the RFH! Nevertheless, I still enjoyed the movie so much. This is my first Yejin movie that I watched in a cinema and I’m absolutely impressed with her acting that I wished she had more scenes. I loved how she made an impact despite a supporting role. In fact, all the veteran actors in the film really did a great job! I read the synopsis of its book beforehand and knowing Korean filmography, there is always a climatic twist. The orchestrated music adds up to its dark comedy vibe. Lee Byunghun here reminds me of his Squid Game era as a Frontman but I won’t spoil any further! It certainly deserves an Oscar nomination. Will I watch it again? 100% yes.
17th October—“CHRISTY” gala
That day was also a very productive day indeed as I finished my personal errands before the event. Truth be told, I prepared so much for this like I dressed up and went extra early at the venue. I brought Sydney's STYLE magazine cover and some letter materials in case I get an opportunity to meet her. I went to the venue 4 hours before the gala and I was 3rd on queue. I had my early dinner then I started to craft a letter for her even if honestly, I felt uncertain that I could meet and give it to her.
There were separate queues for people at the fan pen, the press and the gala ticketholders. It’s so cool to see people bringing Sydney posters, DVD, “The Housemaid” book and photos for autograph. These were just moments that I only see on tv before! Besides that, it was factual that Syd has a larger male fanbase. Admittedly, I was the first girl on queue and I really don’t care—The reason why I idolize Syd was because she empowered women with her style, personality and confidence on her body image. I love how her acting is natural and she develops it with her wide array of projects. ♡
Moving on, we got allowed to enter by 8PM. One of the securities told me not to run but I literally walked quickly to secure my spot in the barricade which I did. Like yes, this is really happening. The view from the ticketholder’s area still gives a 50:50 chance for celebrities to stop by and interact compared to the fan pen which was situated across the press-con area and near the celebrity red carpet stage. Moreso, our area was a hit or miss especially if the celebrity arrives late and the press takes longer.
The director,David Michôd, was one of the firsts to arrive.
Then, Ben Foster was so kind to take a quick round on our side so I managed to take a selfie. They are most likely to come if anyone from the crowd starts chanting their name.
By around 8:30PM, the lady of the night arrived and as she came, there were loud applauses and chants with continued photographer flicks.
Credits to the photographers from Getty. These were press shots that were far from our area. She and Ben here looked so good together but y'all gotta hate his character at the film 🤐 I cannot believe that I’m witnessing those “to your left, to your shoulder” shouts for real! Oh my goodness, Sydney Sweeney is really here!!📣😭
And as expected, the press interviews took longer as usual. Some people on my back had already given up saying that she might rush inside the venue after that. Whereas for me, I just kept whispering to myself that whatever happens, at least I finally saw her in person and it’s only a plus factor if ever that I’m going to meet her. When she reached our area, her PR agent was already pushing her to go in however, our side started to chant her name and I kept screaming as well. At first, Syd decided to do a group photo instead to accommodate everyone.
I'm forever grateful to be part of this group photo of the century. 🥹 Her glam team took a picture as well using her camera and phone that’s why I’m certain that she has her own copy of it.☺️
Then happily, her PR allowed her to take individual pics with us for a short period so here’s how it went. For most meet and greet events, this happens really quick—you either take a selfie or ask for an autograph then the celebrity moves to the next person. Sydney was different; she took her time to each one of us.
For all I can remember, I was speechless when she was already beside me. I was more than cautious to take a good selfie ‘cause sometimes I can be very horrible at it so I took 2 shots then after that, I thanked her then just as she was about to move, I called her name again to give the letter. I thought she wasn’t going to accept it but she did! 🥹 She clasped my hands and she said that I was so sweet! Then after a few fan interactions, she went inside the theatre and so were we as they announced that the movie will be starting in 3 minutes. For the record, I felt like I did an ice bucket challenge as everything felt surreal. Like Omg I can’t believe this happened!!😭
This was absolutely one for the books—to dress up and walk the LFF Gala red carpet ♡ I wasn’t able to have my magazine signed but that’s certainly fine. Having a picture with the celebrity is actually more important for me.🥰
I was seated at the stalls area this time which was 2 rows in front of the stage and it’s absolutely better than where I was during the NOC Gala. There were a few discussions before the film commenced which I recorded and uploaded in my Instagram.
“CHRISTY” review: 8/10
Firstly, I never really expected this project to be part of several film festivals but it’s astonishing how it became. Secondly, I’m never a fan of biopics, indie films and neither do I know Christy Martin nor have interest in boxing so I’ll be honest to say that I watched this because of Sydney; Yet on another point, I was glad to watch a genuine kind of genre with a plot that has a good societal cause. Among all Syd films that I’ve seen so far, this is the one where she stepped up the most. Her chemistry with Ben Foster is incredible but like what I've mentioned earlier, fans will definitely hate his character for being violent. I found the movie interesting as I was moved by it until the plot started to lack towards the ending. It gave me a feeling of “huh, that’s it?” by the moment that they just narrated the succeeding events. Though overall, it is unique and everyone’s effort of this movie was visibly seen.
I’ve watched the movie again when it was publicly released here in November. It may not be my favorite genre but this will remain special to me because this is the era that I met Syd. ♡
And as an addition for this blog entry, here are my personal bonus views on some topics/questions I’ve encountered since I started to fully support Sydney.
Do I like Sydney more than Son Yejin now?
I equally support my favorites and I’m not the type to compare one from the other as they’re not on the same league. Pretty much, I just end up sharing a lot on who has the most recent updates nowadays. But yeah, I never left the Binjin fandom.
Sydney & American Eagle
I was proud and happy when the ad was published like it was her biggest one yet! And just like Syd, I wouldn’t expect that other people took it the wrong way to the point that they dug her electoral registration 😟 I don’t care if she voted as a Republican or whatever; she didn’t do the ad for that reason. It’s simply just a jeans ad.
Sydney & Scooter Braun
This is the only notion that I’m highly against for Syd (so far) and I know this doesn’t make me less of a fan. I don’t actually care about this man’s issue with Taylor Swift but learning about his past managements and current projects is a screaming red flag. Moreover, it’s as clear as day that their sightings were very PR-stunted which pisses me off. Who would look straight through a paparazzi lens after making out in Central Park?! Do I think that they will last long? Hopefully not. But at the end, it’ll always be up to Syd. She’s still young and anything can still happen. However, I will never really ‘ship them.
I will definitely share more POV’s soon but for now, hoped y’all enjoy reading this very long entry! I’m looking forward to sharing my thoughts about “The Housemaid” once I get to watch it at the big screen ☺️ But to sum this up, that LFF week has been incredible and I was glad to be part of it that I hope every Syd or any loyal celebrity fan person shall experience this someday ♡
‘til then!
