The BFI London Film Festival (LFF) is back this autumn for its landmark 69th edition, running from 8 – 19 October 2025. In partnership with American Express, the festival once again takes over London with screenings at BFI Southbank, Southbank Centre’s Royal Festival Hall, and iconic cinemas across the city as well as partner venues nationwide.
Over twelve packed days, audiences will have the chance to explore a programme of 247 features, shorts, series and immersive works from 79 countries, with 27 World Premieres and a strong line-up of films from female and non-binary directors, who make up 42% of this year’s programme.
A Global Celebration of Film
This year’s festival welcomes back some of the biggest names in cinema, including Rian Johnson, Noah Baumbach, Yorgos Lanthimos, Richard Linklater, Lynne Ramsay, Guillermo Del Toro, Chloé Zhao, Bradley Cooper, Luca Guadagnino, and Andy Serkis, alongside an exciting new generation of voices making their debut. Among the first-timers are Kristen Stewart, Ronan Day-Lewis, Bradley Banton, and Joy Gharoro-Akpojotor.
Highlights include:
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World Premieres such as Giant (Rowan Athale), Moss & Freud (James Lucas), Super Nature (Ed Sayers), Black is Beautiful: The Kwame Brathwaite Story (Yemi Bamiro), and The Death of Bunny Munro starring Matt Smith.
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International Premieres including Rian Johnson’s Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery, Bradley Cooper’s Is This Thing On?, and Siobhan McCarthy’s gender-swap comedy She’s The He.
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Special Presentations like Broken English, Afterlives, and the immersive experience NOW IS WHEN WE ARE (THE STARS).
Closing the festival is Julia Jackman’s 100 Nights of Hero, while other major Galas include Brendan Fraser in Rental Family, Philippa Lowthorpe’s H Is For Hawk, and Noah Baumbach’s ensemble comedy Jay Kelly.
Beyond the Big Screen
The festival also continues to grow its LFF Expanded offering, showcasing cutting-edge immersive and XR storytelling, alongside a packed shorts programme featuring new work from talents like Letitia Wright, Idris Elba, Ali Gill, and Susan Wokoma.
Audiences across the UK can join in the excitement, with films once again showing at partner cinemas in Nottingham, Cardiff, Glasgow, Manchester, Sheffield, Newcastle, Bristol, Belfast, Edinburgh, and Bradford.
Accessibility and Young Audiences
Staying true to its commitment to accessibility, the festival will again offer £10 tickets for London screenings, £6 tickets for under 25s, and free programming as part of LFF for Free.
A Festival for Everyone
As BFI CEO, Ben Roberts puts it,
“Audiences are at the heart of the LFF and the festival brings them an incredible breadth of stories from some of the most talented and creative filmmakers from the UK and across the world.”
This October, LFF invites film lovers everywhere to experience the best of world cinema, from red carpet galas to groundbreaking new voices, and from intimate dramas to immersive art.
Sunrise’ Take
At Sunrise Film Festival, we’re passionate about shining a light on new and emerging voices, so it’s inspiring to see LFF platform such a bold mix of established filmmakers alongside debut directors.
It’s a reminder of how exciting and diverse the future of cinema is, and why festivals, big and small, play such an important role in bringing audiences closer to these stories.
You can view programme for the 69th BFI London Film Festival here.
