BFI Player’s January 2026 line-up

The three wise men are so last year. We’re focusing on one Wiseman now – Frederick Wiseman, whose career we chart from 1967 to his most recent triumph, Menus-Plaisirs – Les Troisgros. Winter also merits an exclusive access to The Ice Tower with Marion Cotillard, and a surreal salute to Luis Buñuel…

Stan & Ollie
2019/United Kingdom
Steve Coogan and John C. Reilly give delightful performances as Laurel & Hardy — comedy’s most famous double act — as they enter their twilight years.

20th Century Women
2016/United States
Annette Bening stars as a mum enlisting two friends (Greta Gerwig and Elle Fanning) to help her son navigate adolescence in Mike Mills’s comedy-drama.

The Ice Tower
2025/France
Subscription exclusive
Marion Cotillard brings a thrilling magnetism to this snowbound tale of obsession and wish-fulfilment between an actress and a young runaway.

In My Skin
2002/France
Marina de Van’s deeply personal debut about a young woman’s addiction to self-mutilation stretches the body horror genre in new ways.

The Exterminating Angel
1962/Mexico
Luis Buñuel’s surreal, darkly satirical masterpiece about a group of wealthy dinner guests finding themselves inexplicably unable to leave the room.

Viridiana
1961/Spain
Banned in Spain, condemned by the Vatican and celebrated at Cannes, Buñuel’s satire about an aspiring nun takes a stinging crack at society.

Simon of the Desert
1965/Mexico
Silvia Pinal’s Devil torments and tempts a holy man in Buñuel’s final Mexican film, which features the most thrillingly unexpected ending.

Amelie
2001/France
Audrey Tatou plays the shy waitress whose altriusm leads to love, in Jean-Pierre Jeunet’s BAFTA-winning hit romance.

Dreamers
2025/United Kingdom
Subscription exclusive
Two Nigerian migrants dare to imagine a vibrant future outside of their confinement at a British immigration removal centre.

Downfall
2004/Germany
Bruno Ganz is extraordinary as Adolf Hitler, living out his final days during the fall of Berlin in Oliver Hirschbiegel’s acclaimed drama.

The Rules of Attraction
2002/United States
Exuberant adaptation of the Bret Easton Ellis novel, about a group of beautiful, wealthy and self-absorbed students tearing it up at college.

Palindromes
2004/United States
Todd Solondz’s casting of eight different actors of varying ages, genders and races to play the lead role of Aviva, makes for a truly original film.

Distant Journey
1949/Czechoslovakia
Blending documentary and fiction, Alfréd Radok’s remarkable film chronicling the Terezin ghetto was one of the first films to address the Holocaust.

Titicut Follies
1967/United States
Frederick Wiseman’s unflinching debut shows life inside an institution for the criminally insane, voted one of the greatest documentaries of all time in Sight and Sound magazine.

High School
1968/United States
Frederick Wiseman’s riveting portrait of life inside a large city high school, where social and moral values are handed down.

Welfare
1975/United States
Frederick Wiseman’s remarkable glimpse into the Kafkaesque nature of New York’s welfare system.

Multi-Handicapped
1987/United States
Wiseman’s portrait of students at a school for the sensory impaired.

Central Park
1990/United States
A fascinating portrait of the comings and goings, and the people involved in maintaining Manhattan’s iconic green space.

Ballet
1995/United States
Frederick Wiseman captures the pursuit of perfection at the American Ballet Theatre, as dancers balance professional demands with their personal lives.

National Gallery
2014/United States
The inner workings of London’s National Gallery are laid bare in this absorbing, forensic examination by revered filmmaker Frederick Wiseman.

Ex-Libris: The New York Public Library
2017/United States
An immersive journey into the New York Public Library with great documentarian Frederick Wiseman.

Menus-plaisirs – Les Troisgros
2023/United States
Frederick Wiseman’s gastronomic dream of a film captures daily life in one of the world’s most prestigious restaurants.