BFI (British Film Institute)

Grappling with the unexpected death of her husband (Nasser Memarzia), Mary Hussain is tidying his things in their Dover home when she stumbles upon a secret connection he had across the Channel, in Calais. Armed with just a bag and his cell phone, she sets off to uncover the truth. Beautifully directed by Aleem Khan […]

As one of a disparate group of fortune-seekers bound for Africa, hard-up Billy Dannreuther (Humphrey Bogart) faces the swindling machinations of his fellow travellers as they await passage from a picturesque port on Italy’s Amalfi coast. But with scheming aplenty, will this motley crew miss the boat completely? Jennifer Jones, Gina Lollobrigida and Peter Lorre […]

During a long hot summer in south London Jamie is bunking off school more than usual, scurrying back to the TV and the flat in the Thamesmead estate where he lives with his mother Sandra. Whilst his neighbour Leigh, who’s been kicked out of school, spends her days listening to Mama Cass records. In the […]

Billy Connolly is at the peak of his powers in this newly restored and rediscovered documentary. Capturing ‘The Big Yin’ on and off stage during his 1975 tour of Ireland, Big Banana Feet is a captivating record of Connolly on the cusp of international stardom. Inspired by the fly-on-the-wall style of DA Pennebaker’s Bob Dylan […]

“The Duke is in London, and London will never be the same!” Veteran Chicago detective Jim Brannigan (John Wayne, The Searchers) is dispatched to London to bring back notorious gangster Ben Larkin (John Vernon, Dirty Harry), and is assured that the whole operation will run smoothly. However, when things don’t go to plan, Brannigan finds […]

Drench yourself in the high-energy, sweatbox world of British 2 Tone in the late-1970s and early 1980s with this legendary concert film. Brilliantly capturing the vibrancy of the genre, Dance Craze offers a vivid, immersive snapshot of the 2 Tone era, through kinetic concert performances by The Specials, Madness, The Selecter, The Beat, Bad Manners […]

From visionary filmmaker Mark Jenkin, the Bafta award-winning director of Bait. Enys Men is a mind-bending Cornish folk horror set in 1973 that unfolds on an uninhabited island off the Cornish coast. A wildlife volunteer’s (Mary Woodvine) daily observations of a rare flower take a dark turn into the strange and metaphysical, forcing both her […]

EO, a grey donkey with melancholic eyes and a curious spirit, begins his life as a circus performer before escaping on a trek across the Polish and Italian countryside. During his travels, he encounters an eclectic cast of characters, including a countess, a young Italian priest and a riotous Polish football team. EO’s journey speaks […]

Alan Strang (Peter Firth) is a troubled teenager who suffers from an uncontrollable urge to blind horses. In court, facing prosecution for his actions, psychiatrist Dr Martin Dysart (Richard Burton) attempts to unravel the root causes of Alan’s pathologic affliction. Adapted by Peter Shaffer from his own landmark, Tony-winning play, Equus is a gripping psychological […]

Despite its grand settings and substantial cast, Bergman’s final – and most expensive – film for the cinema is also among his most personal and intimate. Mystical, joyous, dark, at times exuberant and at others doomladen, Fanny and Alexander follows the transformation of the young Ekdahl children’s fortunes after the death of their easygoing father […]

Michael Caine is Jack Carter, the London gangland enforcer who returns to his hometown of Newcastle to investigate his brother’s death. Rarely has the criminal underworld been so realistically portrayed as in this 1971 masterpiece. Shot on location, resulting in a devastatingly authentic snapshot of life in the north east of England, Get Carter remains […]

In the racially turbulent UK of the early 70s, a group of black musicians came together in South London with a common love of rhythms and a message of peace. Cymande – with the dove as their symbol – combined jazz, funk, soul and Caribbean grooves to form a unique sound. Despite success in the […]

Initially banned on its release, Weekender – the film of Flowered Up’s classic acid house cri de cœur – is today hailed as one of the most innovative music films ever made. Now WIZ’s pioneering meditation on the British rave experience is celebrated in I Am Weekender, Chloé Raunet’s documentary about the film’s making, impact […]

When multiple residents of a Californian backwater begin to suffer from identical frenzied delusions, Dr Miles Bennell (Kevin McCarthy) suspects the town is in the grip of a new kind of epidemic. But his investigations soon reveal the terrifying truth, uncovering not a medical emergency but an extra-terrestrial invasion that threatens mankind’s very existence. Directed […]

This energetic, enigmatic indictment of capitalism is a late masterpiece by Bresson, imbued with a fierce cinematic power and tautly positioned amid the coldly structured complexities of human behaviour. Adapted from a novella by Leo Tolstoy, Bresson’s portrait of an ordinary man driven to evermore extreme crimes by social and financial forces beyond his control […]

Mathieu Kassovitz’s landmark mid-90s drama, newly restored in 4K to mark the film’s 25th anniversary. Turning the camera away from iconic Paris to the concrete banlieue, Mathieu Kassovitz’s second film as a director changed the cultural landscape of French cinema when it landed at the Cannes Film Festival in 1995, where it won the prize […]

On the surface, Jean Renoir’s brilliant satire is a series of interlinked romantic intrigues that take place during a weekend shooting party in a country château. But the film is, in fact, a study of the corruption and decay at the top of French society on the eve of the Second World War. Denigrated by […]

‘An intimate documentary portrait of England’s greatest lost musical genius’ Will Hodgkinson, The Guardian ‘Arguably the greatest pop star Britain never had.’ Alexia Petridis, The Guardian As lead singer of the much-loved bands Felt, Denim and Go-Kart Mozart, Lawrence is one of true cult artists of the British indie music scene, without really ever troubling […]

Lorenza Mazzetti arrived in London from Italy in 1951, survivor of a wartime atrocity in which her Jewish relatives were murdered; she quickly made friends with other artists in a new and different world. Though associated with the realist Free Cinema movement, her stark yet playful films – all shot on location in the capital’s […]

The historical rivalry between two of Britain’s most fascinating monarchs is brought to life in this thrilling period drama. When the Catholic Mary, Queen of Scots (Vanessa Redgrave) returns to her homeland to claim her throne, the court of her cousin, the Protestant Elizabeth I (Glenda Jackson) in neighbouring England, is thrown into turmoil, as […]

Cebe (Linda Manz, Days of Heaven) is a teenage rebel obsessed with Elvis and the Sex Pistols. Her trucker father, Don (Dennis Hopper, Easy Rider) is in prison after drunkenly smashing his rig into a school bus, and her mother, Kathy (Sharon Farrell, It’s Alive) is a junkie waitress who takes refuge in the arms […]

Originally conceived as an hour-long video based on the Pet Shop Boys 1987 album, Actually, It Couldn’t Happen Here turned into a full-scale feature film directed by Jack Bond (The Blueblack Hussar). The first feature-length film starring the Pet Shop Boys alongside Joss Ackland, Gareth Hunt and Barbara Windsor finds Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe […]

In one of Robert Bresson’s most admired, intriguing and influential films, resolute drifter Michel spends his days learning the art of pickpocketing and targeting the unsuspecting citizens of 1950s Paris. After his inevitable arrest (and almost immediate release) Michel reflects on the morality of crime, developing a vague theory that exceptional individuals are above the […]

Chris Petit’s cult classic Radio On is one of the most striking feature debuts in British cinema – a haunting blend of edgy mystery story and existential road movie, crammed with eerie evocations of English landscape and weather. Stunningly photographed in monochrome by Wim Wenders’ assistant cameraman Martin Schäfer, Radio On is driven by a […]

BFI Flipside presents… Remembrance, a rarely seen British film that follows a group of young Royal Navy sailors during their last 24 hours ashore before their ship sets sail on a six-month naval exercise. Set around the pubs and clubs of the then-notorious Union Street in 1980s Plymouth, Colin Gregg’s direction and Hugh Stoddart’s script […]

Corrupt cop Jack Grimaldi (wonderfully played by Oscar-winning actor Gary Oldman) is about to get in way over his head. In bed with the mob, Jack has made a lot of money but when he gets an assignment from the Feds to protect the beautiful by deadly Mona Demarkov (Lena Olin), orders from the mob […]

From legendary filmmaker Paul Verhoeven (Robocop, Basic Instinct) and screenwriter Gerald Soeteman (Soldier of Orange) comes an explosive, fast-paced and thrilling coming-of-age drama. Raw, intense and unabashedly sexual, Spetters is a wild ride that will knock the unsuspecting for a loop. Stuck in a dead-end town on the outskirts of Rotterdam, three young friends Rien, […]

Daniel Kokotajlo’s impressive follow-up to his award-winning Apostasy is a brilliant adaptation of Andrew Michael Hurley’s acclaimed novel. In 1970s Yorkshire, Richard and Juliette relocate to Richard’s childhood home, hoping the idyllic country surroundings will benefit their young son. However, a sudden tragic event drives a wedge through the family, which triggers Richard, an academic […]

Byron Orlok (Boris Karloff) is a retiring horror-star bidding farewell to the limelight. Bobby Thompson (Tim O’Kelly) is an unassuming but disturbed Vietnam veteran who suddenly embarks on a murderous shooting rampage. As Byron makes one final public appearance, the two’s worlds collide as Bobby brings carnage to a suburban Los Angeles drive-in cinema. Both […]

An evil and enigmatic entity throws and family into turmoil in Lindsey C. Vickers much sought-after cult horror. Unable to attend his daughter’s violin recital, suburban father Ian – played by Edward Woodward (The Wicker Man) – is haunted by a series of prophetic nightmares that seem to foresee a looming tragedy. Are dark forces […]

François Truffaut’s late-career drama features mesmerising performances from two icons of French cinema, Catherine Deneuve and Gérard Depardieu, in a powerful character study set in German-occupied Paris. The Last Metro explores the fortunes of the Montmartre Theatre as its owner (Deneuve) battles censorship and compromise while hiding her Jewish husband from Nazi persecution. When a […]

Molly Dineen is one of Britain’s most acclaimed contemporary documentary filmmakers, known for her intimate and probing portraits of British individuals and institutions, and recipient of numerous accolades, including BAFTA, Grierson and RTS awards for documentary Being Blacker (2018) was Dineen’s first film in a decade. It tells the story of the renowned Brixton reggae […]

Masters of terror Vincent Price and Christopher Lee are both at their spine-chilling best in this grisly Gothic tale of the macabre, inspired by an Edgar Allan Poe story. In shadow-shrouded Victorian England, Sir Julian Markham (Price) is a landowner hiding a terrible family secret, while Dr Neuhartt (Lee) is a surgeon carrying out dreadful […]

BFI Flipside presents…a previously unavailable Irish folk horror written and directed by the writer of Blood on Satan’s Claw. Set in an isolated rural community in pre-famine Ireland when poverty and magic were rife, The Outcasts sees introverted farm girl Maura (Mary Ryan) discover a magical world of the imagination through ‘a wild, ungodly man’, […]

Sol Nazerman (Rod Steiger), a survivor of the concentration camps, which took the lives of his wife and children. Managing a New York pawn shop, he is bereft of hope and takes refuge in condemnation of humanity while seemingly numb to the circumstances of the prostitutes, pimps and thieves that frequent his store. Yet there […]

The legendary story of Joan of Arc’s trial and conviction is powerfully retold in Robert Bresson’s minimalist masterpiece. Working from the official transcript of the 15th century trial, Bresson shoots Joan’s ordeal with a serene simplicity that reveals her vulnerability and her resilient faith. A transcendent and moving evocation of human suffering and spiritual liberation, […]

This year marks the 120th anniversary of Japanese filmmaker Yasujirō Ozu’s birth. From his early silent films to his final features in the 1960s, Ozu perfected a style that stripped away unnecessary plot mechanics and camera movement. In doing so, he produced a cinema whose surface simplicity belies character studies of depth, warmth and on […]

A constant fixture in critic’s polls, Yasujito Ozu’s most enduring masterpiece, Tokyo Story, is a beautifully nuanced exploration of filial duty, expectation and regret. From the simple tale of an elderly husband and wife’s visit to Tokyo to see their grown-up children, Ozu draws a compelling contrast between the measured dignity of age and the […]

Master filmmaker, auteur, poet, truth seeker, explorer, brand, meme, actor, lauded voice artiste, doomsayer, legend… that is Werner Herzog. This is a man, now 81, who had a 320-ton steamboat hauled over a steep hill in Peru, who hypnotises his actors, climbs down volcanoes, talks to murderers on death row, cooks and eats his own […]

Opening with a starkly symbolic dream sequence, Wild Strawberries follows Professor Isak Borg as he journeys by car in the company of his daughter-in-law to collect an award from his former university. The trip occasions a series of reminiscences and reveries, as the ageing Borg revisits the scenes of his youth and reflects on an […]

From filmmaker Mark Cousins (Story of Film: An Odyssey) comes his epic new documentary, Women Make Film: A New Road Movie Through Cinema. Presented as a guide on how to make a film, it’s presented in thematic chapters, using examples from 183 woman filmmakers from around the world. Includes narration from Tilda Swinton, Debra Winger, […]

A landmark for Black – and Queer – British film, Isaac Julien’s iconic, beautifully crafted 1991 period piece has been newly remastered by the BFI. Isaac Julien’s groundbreaking inner-city murder mystery explores London subcultures of the late 1970s. Pirate radio hosts Caz and Chris decide to investigate the death of their friend, who was killed […]

Strange, sumptuous and visually stunning, this wildly melodramatic tale of a Kabuki female impersonator who exacts a long-delayed revenge on the men who drove his parents to suicide is played out against a colourful backdrop of comic rivalries between thieves in the Tokyo underworld. Kazuo Hasegawa stars, in the dual role of the actor and […]

Modern-day Cornish fisherman Martin (Edward Rowe) is struggling to buy a boat while coping with family rivalry and the influx of London money, Airbnb and stag parties to his harbour village. The summer season brings simmering tensions between locals and newcomers to boiling point, with tragic consequences. Stunningly shot on a vintage 16mm camera using […]

Blue was to be a very special final creative act by Derek Jarman and perhaps one of his singularly iconic works. Numerous musicians, including Simon Fisher Turner, Coil, Scanner and Brian Eno, provide the highly textured soundscape in which the director and his close friends weave a rich vocal account of his life and loves. […]

Céline (Juliet Berto), a magician, and Julie (Dominique Labourier), a librarian, meet in Montmartre and wind up sharing the same flat, bed, fiancé, clothes, identity and imagination. Soon, thanks to a magic sweet, they find themselves spectators, then participants, in a Henry James-inspired ‘film-within-the-film’ – a melodrama unfolding in a mysterious suburban house with the […]

‘The German invasion of England took place in July 1940 after the British retreat from Dunkirk. Strongly resisted at first, the German army took many months to restore order. But the resistance movement, lacking outside support, was finally crushed. Then, in 1944, the resistance movement reappeared.’ That is what happened when history was rewritten. Nazi […]

The mythological past and bleak future converge on the sparse, grey streets of London in this cult classic of the punk era. Queen Elizabeth 1 and her occult aide Dr John Dee (brilliantly played by Jenny Runacre and Richard O’Brien, respectively) travel into the future, encountering the megalomania of big business as well as gangs […]

This gripping, provocative and powerful film sheds a controversial light on the darkest era in modern history. Nominated for eleven Oscars® including Best Picture, Judgment at Nuremberg contains searing performances by an all-star cast that includes Burt Lancaster, Marlene Dietrich and Judy Garland. American judge Daniel Haywood (Spencer Tracy) presides over the trial of four […]

Ken Loach is arguably Britain’s most lauded director of the last 30 years. This collection presents three films emblematic of the acclaimed filmmaker’s talent for engaging with social injustice and contemporary politics in stories by turn funny, heart-breaking and harrowing. In Riff Raff Glaswegian jailbird Stevie (Robert Carlyle) heads to London to find work but discovers a […]

Marking a new chapter in the history of one of the world’s greatest films, the release of Abel Gance’s Napoleon is the culmination of a project spanning 50 years. Digitally restored by the BFI National Archive and Academy Award-winning film historian

Considered by many to be the last of the true 40s and 50s film noirs, Odds Against Tomorrow is the story of a daring robbery gone wrong. When ruthless killer Earle Slater (Robert Ryan) teams up with crooked ex-cop Dave Burke (Ed Begley), and gambler Johnny Ingram (Harry Belafonte) to rob a New York bank, things quickly start […]

Delbert Mann’s 1958 classic MGM drama Separate Tables, based on a Terence Rattigan play and co-scripted by Rattigan himself, is a star-studded character study of a group of eccentric residents of a Bournemouth boarding house who all share a common trait – loneliness. Major Pollack (David Niven) hides a dark secret behind a polished military […]

The latest film by British auteur Mark Cousins (I am Belfast, The Story of Film). Stockholm My Love follows the footsteps of Alva Achebe (Neneh Cherry), a Swedish architect fascinated by the way buildings influence lives, but haunted by a tragic event from her past. Filmed on the streets of the Swedish capital by Cousins and acclaimed […]

Starting just before the Great War and spanning three decades, François Truffaut’s hugely popular classic depicts one of cinema’s most captivating love triangles, between two best friends – the Austrian Jules (Oskar Werner) and the French Jim (Henri Serre) – and the object of their mutual desire , the enigmatic and alluring Catherine, played with […]

François Truffaut’s directorial debut introduces his enduring alter ego , Antoine Doinel (Jean-Pierre Léaud) – a misunderstood 12-year-old, neglected by his parents and mistreated by repressive schoolteachers, who seeks refuge in truancy, petty crime and , above all, cinema. Truffaut’s most autobiographical film is widely regarded as one of the all-time great coming-of-age movies. A […]

The Crying Game was heavily marketed based on its story’s “secret” — “the movie no one is talking about,” quipped one news magazine about….

Donald Sutherland (Don’t Look Now) and Kate Nelligan (The Prince of Tides) play star-crossed lovers torn between passion and allegiance in this heart-wrenching World War ll-set thriller, played out against the blitz-scarred 1940s backdrop of England and the windswept hills of the Scottish islands. En route to the Fatherland with secrets that will stop the […]

Close to a nuclear power station, inside his modest, sparsely furnished home on the barren, windswept Dungeness coastline, Derek Jarman dreams. This intimate insight into Jarman’s inner world was beautifully shot on fragile Super 8 film with the help of friends and collaborators. Shifting from the personal to the political, it culminates in a near-mythic […]

Mozart’s immortal opera is masterfully reworked for the screen by the great Ingmar Bergman in this sublime rendering of one of the composer’s best-loved works a cheerful and charming operatic celebration of love, forgiveness and humanity. This marvellously melodic visual treat is available for the first time on Blu-ray and DVD in the UK, The […]