Director Francis Lee has said he hopes people will return to cinemas "if they feel safe and able to do so" as he spoke of the "surreal" honour of closing the BFI London Film Festival. The British filmmaker, who was critically acclaimed for his debut feature God's Own Country starring Josh O'Connor, added he is a "hopeful optimist" about the future of the theatrical experience, despite the temporary closure of all UK Cineworlds. His film Ammonite, about Victorian paleontologist Mary Anning, whose life is changed by the arrival of a younger woman, played by Saoirse Ronan, will close the festival on Saturday with screenings in cinemas around the country.