Almost Perfect: The Films of Billy Wilder, a major new season arriving at BFI Southbank in October

The BFI today announces programme details for a major two-month season celebrating the extraordinary career and legendary wit of one of the finest émigré directors to dominate the studio system, Billy Wilder. 

Curated by the BFI’s Ruby McGuigan, Almost Perfect: The Films of Billy Wilder will run at BFI Southbank from 19 October to 31 December, and will feature more than 30 films, from smash hits like Some Like it Hot (1959), Sunset Boulevard (1950) and The Apartment (1960) to collaborations with other greats of the era such as Bluebeard’s Eighth Wife (Ernst Lubitsch, 1938), Ball of Fire (Howard Hawks, 1941) and People on Sunday (Robert Siodmak, Edgar G. Ulmer, 1930). 

The season will be programmed across four key themes: Billy Liar, where fake identities, half-truths and bald deception enable Wilder’s characters to bamboozle the system into submission; Class Warfare, exploring the characters who are constantly manoeuvring across class divides; A Crisis of Masculinity, full of anti-heroes that offer us a variety of sympathetic lenses through which to examine modern patriarchy, none of them rose-tinted; and In Pursuit of Fame and Fortune, which delves into the murky waters of Hollywood, media manipulation and the pitfalls of ambition.

Growing up in Vienna, Billy Wilder (1906 – 2002) was obsessed with American culture. From Hollywood icons to obscure jazz records, he absorbed the brash language, brazen consumerism and unfailing belief that with a lot of hard work and a little luck, anyone might be someone. But as every great storyteller understands, there is always a cost. He arrived in Hollywood through the network of Jewish creatives fleeing Nazism. Despite writing in a second language, his trademark zingers and complex characters quickly propelled him through the studio system’s ranks. But the ghost of Europe lying in rubble lingered, emerging in stories of culture clash, satirical takes on American capitalism and dissections of masculinity in the wake of war. 

Wilder’s screenplays are crafted with audacity and care. His characters lie to their loved ones, itch with dissatisfaction and rail against the trappings of modernity. His words lend caustic humour to the bleakest of set-ups, diffuse tension with incisive bite and convey misery and ecstasy on a knife’s edge. Never one to shy away from a taboo or sugarcoat a feeling, he captured the American imagination by exposing its flaws, as only a true fan can. Wilder always denied the ‘cynic’ label; he pointed to the hope threaded throughout these tales of human fallibility. There is redemption in love, pride in the pursuit of justice, and forgiveness always just within reach. After all, Hollywood loves a happy ending.

There will be several contextual events taking place as part of the season, beginning with Billy Wilder: America’s Witness on 4 November. This event will act as an introduction to the season, with season curator Ruby McGuigan, film writer Christina Newland and author of Mr Wilder & Me, novelist Jonathan Coe delving into the writer-director’s affinity for Hollywood and the critical lens he cast upon it. For audiences aged 25 and under there will also be An Introduction to Billy Wilder on 9 November; the event, which is part of BFI Southbank’s ongoing £4 ticket offer to audiences aged 16 to 25, will map Billy Wilder’s silver-screen-worthy life from Vienna to Hollywood and back again, spotlighting his stylistic trademarks and celebrating his most beloved characters. 

Billy Wilder identified as a writer first and claimed 80% of a picture lay on the page. On 25 November, we invite both casual fans and aspiring screenwriters to flex their own writing muscles at a social event Thou Shalt Not Bore: How to Write Like Billy Wilder. Following Wilder’s writing tips, we’ll host playful exercises building character back stories, narrative arcs and comedic dialogue over cocktails and a jazzy soundtrack. On 27 October we’ll take a look at Billy in Berlin with a screening of The Man in Search of his Murderer (Robert Siodmak, 1931), a rarely seen Wilder-penned noir made by Robert Siodmak; following the screening will be a talk by Dr. Jon Hughes, Royal Holloway University, which will focus on a generation of émigrés who went on to transform Hollywood.

Ruby McGuigan, BFI Programme Development Manager and Almost Perfect: The Films of Billy Wilder season curator said: 

“In many ways, Billy Wilder is the definition of the American Dream. A refugee-turned-Hollywood titan; a plucky teenager who scammed, charmed and bulldozed his way to a life of wealth and critical acclaim. A legendary raconteur – both on the page and propping up a Beverly Hills bar – Wilder’s talent for exaggeration and imagination lit up the screen, with his work being immortalised by Hollywood icons such as Marilyn Monroe, Jack Lemmon, Audrey Hepburn, Gary Cooper, Barbara Stanwyck and many more. Wilder leaves behind an incredible cinematic legacy, and we’re thrilled that audiences will be able to experience these timeless films as they were meant to be seen, on the big screen and alongside fellow cinemagoers this autumn.”

• Almost Perfect: The Films of Billy Wilder runs 19 October to 31 December 2026.