BFI Unveils Major 2026 Programme Across Cinemas, Festivals, BFI Player and Blu-ray

The BFI has announced its cultural programme highlights for 2026, spanning BFI Southbank, BFI IMAX, BFI Distribution releases across the UK and Ireland, BFI Player, and BFI Blu-ray. The year-long slate combines premieres and new releases, archive restorations, curated seasons, festivals, live events, and access to archive film materials both online and through libraries.

At BFI Southbank, 2026 seasons will include major retrospectives dedicated to filmmakers David Lynch, Kathryn Bigelow, Andrzej Wajda, Peter Weir, Ritwik Ghatak, Guillermo del Toro (recently announced as the next BFI Fellow), Peter Watkins, Sir John Akomfrah, and Billy Wilder, alongside programming for Marilyn Monroe’s centenary. A major two-month survey of Brazilian Cinema will run as part of the UK/Brazil Season of Culture 2025–26, complemented by thematic seasons exploring boxing, Trash Cinema, skateboarding, British Postwar Cinema (1945–1960), TV counter-histories, puppetry on screen, and a season programmed by Kazuo Ishiguro focusing on films set on trains.

BFI Distribution has confirmed UK/Ireland cinema releases of new features including MENUS-PLAISIRS – LES TROISGROS, THE CHRONOLOGY OF WATER, D IS FOR DISTANCE, ROSE OF NEVADA, ISH, and SUPER NATURE, plus classic titles such as STRONGROOM and CRONOS.

BFI’s annual festivals reach landmark anniversaries in 2026, with the 40th BFI Flare: London LGBTQIA+ Film Festival (19–30 March) and the 70th BFI London Film Festival returning in October (dates to be announced).

At BFI IMAX, audiences can expect major event screenings including NARNIA (Greta Gerwig), THE BRIDE! (Maggie Gyllenhaal), PROJECT HAIL MARY (Phil Lord & Chris Miller), THE MANDALORIAN & GROGU (Jon Favreau) and Christopher Nolan’s THE ODYSSEY, shot entirely with IMAX cameras and presented on an IMAX 70mm print. IMAX seasons on David Lynch and Guillermo del Toro will also run.

On BFI Player, 2026 will bring curated subscription collections covering Brazilian Cinema, boxing, trash cinema, skateboarding, and Frederick Wiseman. Meanwhile, BFI Blu-ray releases include Cinema Expanded: The Films of Frederick Wiseman (3-disc), Mark Jenkin’s ROSE OF NEVADA, a BFI remaster of STRONGROOM (1962), Daniel Farson’s Guide to Britain Volume 1, and the Children’s Film Foundation Bumper Box: Volume 6.

The announcement also spotlights upcoming UK-wide releases supported by the BFI Filmmaking Fund (National Lottery funding), including MY FATHER’S SHADOW (Akinola Davies Jr; starring Ṣọpẹ́ Dìrísù), HAMLET (Aneil Karia; starring Riz Ahmed and Morfydd Clark) — both released 6 February — plus ROSE OF NEVADA (released 24 April) and ISH (spring/summer). Projects in production for 2026 include CHORK (Shane Meadows’ first feature in 17 years), I SEE BUILDINGS FALL LIKE LIGHTNING (Clio Barnard), and feature debuts from Ashley Walters (ANIMOL, starring Tut Nyuot, Vladyslav Baliuk and Stephen Graham) and Thea Gajić (SURVIVING EARTH).

International co-productions supported by the UK Global Screen Fund include releases such as documentary TESTIMONY (Aoife Kelleher), SAIPAN (Lisa Barros D’Sa and Glenn Leyburn; starring Steve Coogan and Éanna Hardwicke as Mick McCarthy and Roy Keane) and thriller GOOD BOY (Jan Komasa; starring Stephen Graham and Andrea Riseborough).