'Mark Kermode Live in 3D' Celebrates 10 Years with a Star Studded Lineup at the BFI IMAX
Mark Kermode hosted filmmakers, artists and cultural icons for a wide-ranging conversation about their latest work and influences.
The evening opened with director Edgar Wright, who discussed his adaptation of The Running Man. Wright spoke about how the dystopian novel, originally written by Stephen King in the late 1970s, depicts a media-controlled society ruled by propaganda and authoritarian power, themes that feel strikingly relevant today.
Reflecting on the filmmaking process, Wright described the production as physically demanding, particularly because the story unfolds largely as a road movie with constant movement between locations. Although the finished film appears energetic and fun, he joked that the commentary track he recorded with actor Glen Powell and writer Michael Bacall frequently includes them remarking on how exhausted they were during the shoot.
Wright also talked about seeing the film for the first time with audiences, noting how nerve-wracking it can be for a director to watch viewers react in real time. Even something as small as someone leaving their seat can spark anxiety about whether the film is working.
During the conversation, Wright highlighted some of the films that influenced his approach to the project. A clip from Escape from New York, directed by John Carpenter, played on the IMAX screen as Wright explained how dystopian cinema can balance bleak themes with playful world-building. He also shared fascinating production trivia, describing how the film’s infrared-style visuals were created using miniature sets and reflective tape illuminated by black light, rather than digital effects. Wright noted that the miniature work on that film involved a young James Cameron, whose later work would carry that practical-effects sensibility forward.
Next to join the stage was filmmaker Amma Asante, who discussed her latest projects and the themes that drive her work. Asante spoke about directing the television adaptation Smilla's Sense of Snow, describing the six-part series as a story that blends mystery, science fiction and political drama. At its heart, she explained, the narrative follows a woman navigating the tension between colonised and colonising identities while investigating a child’s mysterious death.
Asante described the project as a meditation on grief, isolation and belonging, and spoke about deliberately embracing the unusual tone of the story, which shifts between genres and increasingly surreal storytelling. She acknowledged that persuading networks to embrace such an unconventional structure required persistence and trust.
The director also reflected on her upcoming film Billion Dollar Spy, starring Russell Crowe, praising Crowe as an extraordinary performer and recalling how his presence on set created a strong sense of camaraderie among the cast and crew.
For her inspirational choice, Asante selected Yentl, directed by and starring Barbra Streisand. She explained how the film’s story of a woman disguising herself as a man in order to study deeply resonated with her when she first saw it as a teenager. The film’s exploration of gender, identity and ambition left a lasting impression, particularly seeing Streisand take creative control both in front of and behind the camera.
The evening then took a turn toward experimental filmmaking with artist and director Andrew Kötting, whose work often blends documentary, performance art and autobiography. Kötting introduced a new virtual reality project created with his daughter Eden, describing it as an immersive experience set inside a house connected to his family’s past in the Pyrenees.
Visitors enter the digital recreation of the house and move through different rooms filled with memories, objects and surreal imagery, including drawings by Eden that appear as floating three-dimensional figures. Kötting explained that the piece explores ideas of memory, truth and perception, reflecting on how personal history becomes fragmented and reassembled over time.
He also spoke movingly about his long creative collaboration with his daughter, noting that her presence has shaped much of his work over the past decade. The filmmaker described his process as searching for moments of real life that feel almost accidental or serendipitous, moments that cannot be scripted but can be captured through sound and image.
For his inspirational film, Kötting chose The Color of Pomegranates, the visually striking Armenian masterpiece by Sergei Parajanov. He praised the film’s poetic imagery and unconventional structure, explaining that its refusal to follow traditional narrative logic demonstrates the power of purely visual storytelling.
The final guest of the evening was British cultural icon Twiggy, who joined Kermode for a warm and humorous conversation about her extraordinary career. Twiggy discussed the recent documentary about her life directed by Sadie Frost, reflecting on how emotional it was to see footage of her younger self and her parents on the big screen.
She recalled how the documentary came about after Frost appeared on her podcast, Tea with Twiggy, which she launched during the COVID-19 lockdown. The podcast was created as a relaxed conversation series where she chats with guests as if meeting for tea, an approach she said encourages people to open up in unexpected ways.
Twiggy also shared stories from her early career, including hearing her name referenced in a song by David Bowie, a moment she remembered vividly while
listening to the track on the radio at home.
One of the most significant figures in her life, she explained, was filmmaker Ken Russell. Twiggy described how Russell befriended her in the late 1960s and introduced her to a world of cinema she had never encountered before, screening films by European directors and classic Hollywood musicals at his home.
Russell later cast her in The Boy Friend, a lavish musical adaptation that marked her transition from modelling into acting. Twiggy recalled spending a year training in singing, dancing and acting for the role, joking that ballet classes proved especially challenging. The film also led to one of her most memorable experiences, meeting her idol Fred Astaire in Los Angeles while promoting the film.
Throughout the evening, clips from the films discussed played across the towering IMAX screen, underscoring the event’s core idea: that cinema should be experienced collectively and celebrated through conversation.
A decade after its debut, Mark Kermode Live in 3D remains a unique fixture in London’s film culture. By bringing together filmmakers, artists and cultural figures from across the creative spectrum, the series continues to offer audiences a rare chance to explore the stories and inspirations behind the films that shape our cultural landscape, hosted at the prestigious BFI Southbank and IMAX.