Full programme announced for 70th BFI London Film Festival

The 70th BFI London Film Festival (LFF) today announces the full programme line-up, presented in cinemas, online and across the UK. Over 12 days from 7 to 18 October, the LFF invites audiences to return to its fantastic flagship venues in the heart of London, BFI Southbank and the Southbank Centre’s Royal Festival Hall. The LFF Gala programme will screen at the Southbank Centre’s Royal Festival Hall, while BFI Southbank alongside many of Central London’s iconic cinemas will host Special Presentations, Official Competition titles and films and series from all Strands of the Festival, with global film talent from behind and in front of the camera in attendance. For UK wide audiences a curated selection of features and a special Screen Talk, will also be showcased at 10 partner venues in major cities across our nations and regions. 

The LFF will present a captivating and diverse programme of 251 features, shorts, series and immersive works from 88 countries playing across the 12 days of the festival. This includes 109 works made by female filmmakers (43% of the programme) and 33 world premieres. 

“When this festival first sprung to life 70 years ago, little more than a decade after the end of the Second World War, British society was in a period of rapid social change,” said Kristy Matheson, Artistic Director, BFI Festivals, “like now, we turn to artists to synthesise our times. And what a vision they have for us in 2026; tumults of the era live inside our programme, but so too do cinematic thrills, moral conundrums and a reoccurring exploration of care and community. If you find yourself in London, or across the UK, this October, the opportunity to experience worlds outside ourselves will be on offer. We hope you can join us.” 

“This year, the blockbusters, the indie breakouts and the debuts have drawn audiences to cinemas in record numbers,” said Ben Roberts, Chief Executive, BFI. “A reminder that discovering a new film in a room of fellow fans is a thrill like nothing else. As our anticipation builds for LFF, we’re grateful to everyone who helps us fill screens across the UK: to our brilliant audiences, Members and Patrons; the visionary filmmakers and film teams who bring their work; our generous funders, sponsors and industry partners; and, of course, the excellent teams at the BFI.” 

An impressive number of major alumni filmmakers return to LFF including: Simon Stone, Jesse Eisenberg, Pawel Pawlikowski, Martin McDonagh, Taika Waititi, Boots Riley, Andrey Zvyagintsev, Cristian Mungiu, Lee Chang-dong, James Gray, Danny Boyle, Bassam Tariq, Andrew Haigh, Mike Leigh, Florian Zeller, Ava DuVernay, Michael Winterbottom, Hirokazu Koreeda, Benjamín Naishtat, Carol Morley, Giovanni Tortorici, Michał Englert, Małgorzata Szumowska, Rubaiyat Hossain, Sergei Loznitsa, Joe Lawlor, Christine Molloy, Olive Nwosu, Bertil Nilsson, Leyla Bouzid, Fernando Eimbcke, Alain Gomis, Ryusuke Hamaguchi, Lukas Dhont, Nanni Moretti, Abdallah Al-Khatib, Angela Schanelec, Gessica Généus, Beatrice Gibson, Mariano Llinás, Sinéad O’Shea, Marie Kreutzer, Clio Barnard, Alex Gibney, Stéphane Brizé, Ken Fero, Tariq Mehmood, Julia Loktev, Hanna Bergholm, Agnieszka Smoczyńska, Manuela Martelli, Valeska Grisebach, Isabel Sandoval, Rhys Marc Jones, Edward Lovelace, Ira Sachs, Mark Cousins, Gabe Klinger, Sam Pollard, Dominga Sotomayor, Arie Esiri, Chuko Esiri, Billy Lumby, Ali Asgari, Cédric Kahn, Daniel Oriahi and Bernd Sahling. 

The festival is also delighted to introduce audiences to an incredible new generation of filmmakers from the UK and across the globe with debut feature directors in LFF 2025 including: Jordan Firstman, Harvey Zielinski, Manon Coubia, Sompot Chidgasornpongse, Ashley Walters, Marie-Clémentine Dusabejambo, Aung Phyoe, Anna Foglietta, Shalini Adnani, Rachel Rose, Grace Harper Brighouse, David Greaves, Erik Shirai, Theo Rollason, Ankur Hooda, Asmahan Bkerat, Ian de la Rosa, Bernard Auguste Kouemo Yanghu, Kim Bartley, John Wilson, Dario Russo, Sarah Arnold, Ramzi Bashour, Rafael Manuel, Nolitha Refilwe Mkulisi, Jack Auen, Kevin Walker, Hyun Lee, Zhong Kaifeng, Hoda Taheri, Boris Hadžija, Abinash Bikram Shah, Rami Kodeih, Maryam Ataei, Andrea Pallaoro, Mokya Shin, Marine Atlan, Zou Jing, Fernanda Salgado, Paula Delsol, Adam Bonke and Louise Bagnall. 

Every feature and series will screen to audiences in the UK for the very first time, with many shown publicly for the first time anywhere in the world. As in previous years, the feature film programme is organised by strand to encourage discovery and to open up the festival to new audiences. These strands are: Love, Debate, Laugh, Dare, Thrill, Cult, Journey, Create, Experimenta, Family, and Shorts. Audiences can also find new and exciting Series programming and immersive LFF Expanded works in many of the strands. This year’s programme includes 33 world premieres (9 features, 2 series, 2 mid-length, 19 shorts, 1 immersive), 16 international premieres (9 features, 7 shorts) and 20 European premieres (13 features, 7 shorts).

World premieres from filmmakers and artists include: Anthony Wonke’s British boxing biopic In the Shadows, Laika’s latest animation Wildwood from Travis Knight, Brad Bird’s smart animated caper Ray Gunn, Carol Morley’s moving semi-autobiographical adaptation 7 Miles Out, adaptation of the West End hit Frank and Percy from Sean Mathias, Federico Borgia’s dark and original take on domestic life Prince, hilarious cinematic autofiction The Banning Curse from Mohsen Amiryousefi, The Whisper of Sunlight from acclaimed documentarian Siu-pong Wong, Ken Fero and Tariq Mehmood’s electrifying documentary about the Bradford 12 Rebellion, Michael Winterbottom’s latest The Trip to the Northern Lights with Rob Brydon and Steve Coogan, comedian Leo Reich’s new series It Gets Worse and new immersive experience from CROSSLUCID and Orion Facey Red the Ocean Around U.

International premieres include: Boots Riley’s anti-capitalist vision I Love Boosters, this year’s Patron’s Gala the stylishly crafted portrait of a classical musician Behemoth! from Tony Gilroy, Giovanni Tortorici’s vibrant coming-of-age story Ketticè, Hyun Lee’s fashionably hip and charming debut French Girls, the awe-inspiring documentary Carl Sagan: We Are Made of Star Stuff from Nanette Burstein, Alejandra Pérez González’ glorious Mexican animation My Friend the Sun, heartfelt hybrid documentary about filmmaker Ashley Duong’s father Ba’s Book, Jessica Johnson and Ryan Ermacora’s richly cinematic 35mm documentary Concrete Turned to Sand and allegorical sci-fi fable Tropical Fractals from Leonardo Pirondi.

Galas playing at the Southbank Centre’s Royal Festival Hall include: Siân Heder’s enthralling film about disability rights activist Judith Heumann Being Heumann, Rodrigo Sorogoyen’s intense psychological study The Beloved, Javier Ambrossi and Javier Calvo’s genre-defying queer epic La Bola Negra, Florian Zeller’s elegantly crafted psychological thriller Bunker, Jordan Firstman’s hilarious feature directorial debut Club Kid, Paweł Pawlikowski’s exploration of the fragmented soul of postwar Germany Fatherland, Cristian Mungiu’s masterful moral dilemma Fjord, this year’s Mayor’s Gala Danny Boyle’s kinetic story of Rupert Murdoch’s Fleet Street career Ink, Taika Waititi’s luminous adaptation of Kazuo Ishiguro’s bestselling novel Klara and the Sun, Andrew Haigh’s sensitive adaptation of Colm Tóibín’s short story A Long Winter, Andrey Zvyagintsev’s transposition of Claude Chabrol’s La Femme infidèle to contemporary Russia Minotaur, James Gray’s tense and atmospheric thriller Paper Tiger, Lee Chang-dong’s masterfully directed follow-up to Burning (LFF 2018) Possible Love, Susanna White’s much-anticipated screen adaptation of Suzie Miller’s globally acclaimed play Prima Facie, Mike Leigh’s thought-provoking and compassionate view of urban life Tender Loving Care, Martin McDonagh continues to mine the absurdities and complexities of male relationships in Wild Horse Nine, and Bassam Tariq’s follow up to Mogul Mowgli (LFF 2020) with gripping, inventive thriller Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother.

As previously announced, this year’s Opening Night Gala is the European premiere of Simon Stone’s powerful and inspiring true story of actor Ian Charleson Elsinore, and the Closing Night Gala is the UK premiere of Jesse Eisenberg’s raucously funny love letter to community theatre The Debut.

Special Presentations include: Documentary Special Presentation 14th, Ava DuVernay’s return to the US constitution 10 years after her Emmy Award-winning 13th; Archive Special Presentation Gone to Earth, the major new restoration of one of Powell and Pressburger’s most misunderstood and overshadowed films; the Experimenta Special Presentation Shab-Nameh: Women of Iran’s Forgotten Left, will feature a screening of Jarman Award-winning artist Maryam Tafakory’s short film Ghazal-e Sork followed by a live film performance by the artist; BFI Flare Special Presentation Sweet Milk Lake, writer-director Harvey Zielinski’s coming-of-age drama following a trans man who is mistaken for his cisgender brother; Series Special Presentation The Trip to the Northern Lights, which sees Rob Brydon and Steve Coogan reunited with director Michael Winterbottom for more hilarious banter as they journey through Northern Europe; and Immersive Special Presentation Water Body, a journey through the hidden flows of our planet with a site-specific installation by acclaimed UK studio Marshmallow Laser Feast.

Further to the announcement of the films screening in Official Competition for the Best Film Award (full press release here), the LFF Competition sections celebrate the most innovative new films and showcase an incredible range of filmmaking talent from across the world. Films screening in the First Feature Competition: Sutherland Award are: Sompot Chidgasornpongse’s 9 Temples to Heaven, Ashley Walters’ Animol, Marie-Clémentine Dusabejambo’s Ben’Imana, Anna Foglietta’s A Common Story, Manon Coubia’s Forest High, Aung Phyoe’s Fruit Gathering, Olive Nwosu’s Lady, Rachel Rose’s The Last Day, Bertil Nilsson’s Masc and Shalini Adnani’s Our Share of Sand.

Films screening in the Documentary Competition: Grierson Award are: Ashley Duong’s Ba’s Book, Ankur Hooda’s The Calf Doll, Asmahan Bkerat’s Concrete Land, Jessica Johnson and Ryan Ermacora’s Concrete Turned to Sand, Grace Harper Brighouse’s Dependence, William Greaves and David Greaves’ Once Upon a Time in Harlem, Theo Rollason’s Queer Edward II and Erik Shirai’s Sumo: Spirit Weighs Nothing.

Films screening in the Short Film Competition: Best Short Film are: Rahul Roye’s Aman, Elizabeth Hobbs’ Daughters of the Late Colonel, Hayden Mclean’s Fareye, Ramla Ali and Richard A. Moore’s How to Hide It, Antonin Niclass’ Into the Forest, Theo Shivdasani’s A Kind of Purity, Patrick Hough’s Landscapes of Shame, Meriem Sakrouhi’s Mon Taxi, Miryam Charles’ Treasure Island and Fatima Wardy’s White Musk.

The ever-popular Audience Awards will also return for 2026, inviting audiences to vote for the favourite work they saw at this year’s festival. The three Audience Awards are: Audience Award: Best Feature Film, Audience Award: Best Short and Audience Award: Best British Discovery.

Now in its sixth year, LFF Expanded, the festival’s programme of Immersive Art, Extended Reality and Video Gaming works, continues to invite audiences to explore powerful new ways of telling stories on screen. These works can be found within the main strands of the festival programme.

This year nine projects spanning immersive art, virtual reality, AI and video gaming are presented, unveiled alongside a major new venue for the Expanded strand: St Martin-in-the-Fields. Leading the programme from this striking new home in the heart of London is the Immersive Special Presentation, Water Body. Journey through the hidden flows of our planet with this immersive installation by acclaimed UK studio Marshmallow Laser Feast, which traces unseen connections between landscapes, ecosystems and ourselves.

Making its installation premiere in the BFI IMAX, Red the Ocean Around U is a dreamlike, AI-guided digital environment from studio CROSSLUCID and writer Orion Facey. Evolving through the presence and decisions of every visitor who moves through it, the result prompts viewers to ask what happens when AI starts asking the questions.

The VR Lounge at the BFI Southbank Atrium presents two works reckoning with rising waters: Solwata, is an urgent mixed-reality documentary narrated by Mark Ruffalo that immerses audiences in the saltwater communities of the Solomon Islands, exposing a vanishing way of life these communities did nothing to imperil, and The World Came Flooding In, an XR journey created with flood-affected communities in Australia that rebuilds homes lost to flooding through memory and sound. Completing the Expanded line-up, the ever-popular Games Lounge returns to BFI IMAX with five standout international titles: …And Roger, The Day I Became a Bird, Lofsöng, Love Eternal and Mixtape, spanning mind-bending puzzles, interactive visual novels and handcrafted narrative adventures.

The LFF is excited to continue showcasing compelling series and episodic programming throughout the strands, with new work from some of the world’s most exciting film and TV creatives. Michael Winterbottom reunites Rob Brydon and Steve Coogan for The Trip to the Northern Lights, the fifth instalment of their much-loved, award-winning series, as the pair take their trademark banter, impressions and culinary adventures across northern Europe. In association with Empire, Marvel Studios’ highly anticipated miniseries VisionQuest introduces audiences to a range of new and intriguing characters, including Paul Bettany returning as Vision following the events of the acclaimed WandaVision with James Spader reprising his role as Ultron. And comedian Leo Reich’s new series brings the struggles of young Londoners’ life to the screen in It Gets Worse, a razor-sharp new comedy about friendship, housing, work and relationships; anchored by standout performances by the three leads, Leo Reich, Emily Fairn and Olive Gray, it also features cameo appearances from the likes of Lena Dunham and Andrew Scott.

This year’s exciting shorts line-up, which is curated into thematic programmes, features new work from Saoirse Ronan, who directs Paper Plane, Calvin Demba with The Animals, Sophia Di Martino with All Yours and Tanya Reynolds with Date Night. Across the programme, Altered States explores fractured memories, uncertain fates and our determination to endure, while As the Years Roll By reflects on ageing, the passage of time and the connections we forge with other people and the world around us. From disastrous haircuts and lottery wins to dating mishaps and the absurdities of the working day, Call Your Bluff brings together a selection of UK shorts covering all your comedy needs. In I See Myself, silent protests, private reflections, vocal uprisings and drastic acts follow people fighting to carve out space for themselves in a world determined to box them in. Land of Hope and Gory ventures into stranger territory, where body horror, extreme pursuits and grisly appetites turn everyday preoccupations into something altogether more unsettling. Finally, Life / Drawing brings together animated shorts exploring what connects us to other people, the world around us and, most importantly, ourselves.

The 70th BFI London Film Festival takes place from Wednesday 7 October to Sunday 18 October 2026. Tickets on general sale from 17 September (BFI Members book early).