Discover the world of cinema with the BFI

What’s on at BFI Southbank

Four screens open seven days a week for the widest choice of great films.

Find out more

The Odyssey at BFI IMAX

Experience IMAX 70mm screenings of The Odyssey on the UK’s biggest screen, from 17 July 2026.

Find out more
BFI Player logo

Annual subscription offer

Subscribe using voucher code SUMMER26 to save £15 on your first 12 months.

Start with 14 days free
Sight and Sound logo

The Greatest Films of All Time issue

Once a decade the magazine asks critics to select the best films ever made. Explore the results in a special edition.

Subscribe now

Features and reviews

10 great

10 great East German films

Between the end of World War II and the fall of the Berlin Wall, the weird and wonderful film production line in communist East Germany included sci-fi, westerns, film noir and some uniquely disturbing fairytales. Eighty years after the formation of the DEFA film company, and with many of the films emerging on Blu-ray, we select 10 of the best.

By Craig Ian Mann

10 great East German films
See more articles

Events

Oscar-winning cinematographer Roger Deakins and his long-time creative partner James Ellis Deakins discuss their collaboration at BFI Southbank, ahead of a screening of the Coen brothers’ Fargo.

More on YouTube

Watch archive collections

The BFI National Archive has one of the most important film and TV collections in the world. Choose from a selection of 11,000 titles that cover 120 years of British life, and the history and art of film.

Explore

Screen Culture 2033

Our Screen Culture 2033 strategy for the BFI and ten-year National Lottery funding strategy from 2023 to 2033.

Find out more