7 great things you can see at the London Film Festival (that aren’t movies)

Roll up ageing ravers, curious young clubbers and anyone who just fancies hitting a dance floor and still being home in time for ‘Bake Off’, because this virtual reality experience at the National Theatre looks like a sure-fire winner. It’s the handiwork of filmmaker Darren Emerson and is soundtracked by acid house bangers. Sadly, there’s no discount for anyone old enough to remember Shoom. 

Oct 5-16. £15. 

Are indie pop darlings Tegan and Sara about to become TV heroes, too? The pair have teamed up with director Clea DuVall for a semi-autobiographical series set during the pair’s early ‘90s school days that’s full of the struggles and joys of coming out, teenage life and musical discovery. The first three episodes are screening at the Prince Charles on Sunday. Expect a night of grunge-era bangers, relatable growing pains and good vibes. 

8.40pm, Sun Oct 9 and 3.30pm Tue Oct 11. £10-£16.

London right down to his Crystal Palace FC socks, Bill Nighy has surpassed even his own high standards with his new movie, the heart-ransacking ‘Living’. The great man will be sharing tales from his career at Curzon Soho next Tuesday in an in-depth interview that could take in anything from his screen debut back in 1979 to those snakeskin trousers in ‘Love Actually’. 

1pm, Tue Oct 11. £18

Encompassing virtual and augmented reality projects, the festival’s LFF Expanded strand is where cinema and art installations collide – and much of it is happening at 26 Leake Street. A funky event space near the old Waterloo Eurostar terminal, it’s home to an array of immersive art and film, including this soothingly pastoral journey into the heart of the English countryside. Watch spring break, pumpkins grow, cows being milked… 519 pints being necked (soothingly), as you’re enveloped by 3D time-lapse images and surrounded by the sounds of the planet in flux. It should be properly mind expanding.

Wed Oct 5-16. £20.

Sod the metaverse and check into Guy Maddin’s mind bending augmented reality world instead. Specially commissioned for the LFF, it’s a 20-minute-long collage  crafted from the Canadian director’s own archive that explores rooms ‘filled with longing, hysteria and madness’. Imagine David Lynch refurbished your local Travelodge and you’re on the right lines. It’s on at BFI Southbank until the end of the month and entirely free. 

Wed Oct 5-30. Free

Danish maverick Lars Von Trier loves nothing more than turning up at a film festival and lobbing a metaphorical grenade or two. But he has a mellower presence at this year’s LFF, with his long-in-the-making follow-up to 1994 TV series ‘The Kingdom’ screening as part of the Cult strand. The Copenhagen-set series, which is set in the kind of hospital you hope never to be admitted into, sees the Danish director going full David Lynch with original cast members back, a character obsessed with the original show and an appearance or two from von Trier himself. Two episodes of the five-part series are on the fest’s big screen.  

8.50pm, Thu Oct 13. £10-£16.

Young wannabe filmmakers should head to BFI Southbank on Sunday week for a full day of insights into the art and craft of filmmaking. There’s a workshop from the producer of Stormzy-endorsed doc ‘If the Streets Were on Fire’, pearls of wisdom from the team behind new London drama ‘Pretty Red Dress’ and the chance to hobnob with fellow creatives over drinks. 

Sun Oct 16. £6.