Here’s what we’ve got coming up in 2026...

From highly anticipated premieres and new releases, archive restorations, curated seasons and film festivals on the big screen, to the most exciting names in film and television live on stage, plus free archive film material in libraries and at home as well distinctive online collections, our 2026 cultural programme will help connect audiences everywhere to stories on screen, old and new, from the UK and around the world.

• David Lynch: The Dreamer – A year since Lynch’s passing a chance to reflect and pay tribute to a unique visionary and his legacy (BFI Southbank and BFI IMAX – Jan)
• Ensemble: The Filmmakers of Richard Linklater’s Nouvelle Vague exploring the work of the figures that populate Richard Linklater’s joyful homage to the birth of the French New Wave (BFI Southbank – Jan)
• Woman With a Movie Camera Summit (BFI Southbank – Jan, plus a BFI Player collection)
• Beyond the Frame: Women Filmmakers and Their Archives exploring the legacy of Gurinder Chadha and Tina Gharavi’s work through the context of their archives (BFI Southbank – Jan)
• Menus Plaisirs – Les Troisgros (Frederick Wiseman, 2023) (BFI Distribution UK/Ireland release in selected cinemas – 2 Jan)
• Cinema Expanded: The Films of Frederick Wiseman (BFI Blu-ray 3-disc collection including Titicut Follies, High School, Hospital, Juvenile Court and Welfare released 26 Jan plus 9-film BFI Player Subscription collection from Jan)
• Strongroom (Vernon Sewell, 1962) BFI remaster (BFI Distribution UK/Ireland release in selected cinemas – 30 Jan, on BFI Blu-ray 23 Feb and BFI Player 23 Mar)
• The Chronology of Water (Kristen Stewart) (BFI Distribution UK/Ireland cinema release – 6 Feb)
• Andrzej Wajda: Portraits of History and Humanity to mark the century of Wajda’s birth and 10 years since his passing, we celebrate a singular voice in Polish and world cinema (BFI Southbank – Feb-Mar) presented in partnership with Kinoteka Polish Film Festival
• Close to the Edge: The Films of Kathryn Bigelow defined by action, adrenaline and artistry, Bigelow’s cinema demands to be seen on the big screen (BFI Southbank – Feb-Mar)
• Constructed, Told, Spoken: A Counter History of Britain on TV In the postwar era, Afro-Caribbean and South Asian Britons began to construct a new identity, using television as a medium to advocate for their political and social representation (BFI Southbank – Feb-Mar)
• Cinema Made in Italy Festival, celebrating the best new Italian Cinema (BFI Southbank – Mar)
• Daniel Farson’s Guide to Britain Volume 1 showcasing the pioneering investigative journalist’s most innovative, eccentric and important work who paved the way for later programme-makers in the Louis Theroux mould (BFI 3-disc Blu-ray/DVD Dual Format Edition set — 16 Feb)
• Children’s Film Foundation Bumper Box: Volume 6 (BFI Blu-ray — 16 Mar)
• 40th BFI Flare: London LGBTQIA+ Film Festival (BFI Southbank – 19-30 Mar)

• D Is for Distance (Christopher Petit & Emma Matthews) (BFI Distribution UK/Ireland cinema release – 3 Apr)
• The Cinematic Life of Boxing (BFI Southbank – Apr)
• Peter Weir (BFI Southbank – Apr)
• Rose of Nevada (Mark Jenkin) (BFI Distribution UK/Ireland cinema release – 24 Apr)
• Trash Cinema building on the legacy of the BFI’s John Waters, Scala and Moviedrome, the season reclaims he subversive delights of US Trash Cinema as exemplified by the films of John Waters, Andy Warhol, Jack Smith, George Kuchar and Ed Wood among others (BFI Southbank – Apr)
• Guillermo del Toro BFI Fellowship and season (BFI Southbank and BFI IMAX – May) & CRONOS (BFI Distribution UK/Ireland cinema release – 15 May)
• Brazilian Cinema (BFI Southbank – May-Jun) major two-month survey of Brazilian Cinema as part of UK/Brazil Season of Culture 2025-26
• Great Expectations – British Postwar Cinema 1945-1960 (BFI Southbank – May) curated by Ehsan Khoshbakht and organised in partnership with the Locarno Film Festival
• Celebratory free weekend programmes looking back at film in the 1951 Festival of Britain and exploring youth culture on film to tie in with Southbank 75 (BFI Southbank – May)
• Skateboarding (BFI Southbank Jun) as part of Southbank Centre Skate Space 50 celebrations
• Marilyn Monroe (BFI Southbank – Jun) with programming presented in partnership with the National Portrait Gallery and their exhibition Marilyn Monroe: A Portrait
• Ritwik Ghatak (BFI Southbank – Jun)
• ISH (Imran Perretta) (BFI Distribution UK/Ireland cinema release – date TBC)

• The Odyssey (Christopher Nolan) playing on an IMAX 70mm print (BFI IMAX - Jul)
• Kazuo Ishiguro and Trains on Film (BFI Southbank – Jul)
• Black and South Asian Workshops (BFI Southbank – Jul) premieres of new BFI National Archive 4K remasters.
• Mark Jenkin BFI Player collection to coincide with ROSE OF NEVADA online premiere (BFI Player – Jul)
• Peter Watkins (BFI Southbank – Aug)
• Puppetry on Screen (BFI Southbank – Aug)
• John Akomfrah (BFI Southbank – Sep)
• Super Nature (Ed Sayers) – (BFI Distribution UK/Ireland cinema release – date TBC)

• 70th BFI London Film Festival (BFI Player/BFI Southbank/Venues across London and the UK – dates in October to be announced)
• Billy Wilder (BFI Southbank – Oct-Dec)