04/09/2025 - The British gathering will comprise 247 works from 79 countries, opening with Rian Johnson’s Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery and closing with Julia Jackman’s 100 Nights of Hero

The British Film Institute (BFI) has revealed the plethora of titles that will make up the 69th edition of the BFI London Film Festival (8-19 October). There are a fulsome number of gala screenings, including the international premiere of Rian Johnson’s eagerly awaited new adventure for Southern sleuth Benoit Blanc in Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery, which will open the festival, and – as the closing film – the UK premiere of Julia Jackman’s 100 Nights of Hero [+see also:
trailer
film profile], the adaptation of the graphic novel fresh from its Venice premiere. Other galas include the European bow of Chloé Zhao’s Hamnet – an account of Shakespeare and his wife following the death of their 11-year-old son – and the UK premiere of Philippa Lowthorpe’s H Is for Hawk, an adaptation of Helen MacDonald’s biographical novel.

World premieres across the festival include Rowan Athale’s Giant, a biopic based on the life of British boxing legend “Prince” Naseem Hamed, starring Amir El-Masry and Pierce Brosnan, and Moss and Freud, in which filmmaker James Lucas creates a drama about the relationship between Kate Moss and artist Lucien Freud. In the LFF Series strand, Isabella Eklöf will unveil the first two episodes of the Matt Smith-starring The Death of Bunny Munro, an adaptation of the Nick Cave novel.

The festival’s Official Competition will be made up of ten titles from around the world, and will include Mark Jenkin’s Rose of Nevada [+see also:
film review
film profile] – another recent premiere from Venice – and the documentary Hair, Paper, Water… [+see also:
film review
film profile] by Nicolas Graux and Trương Minh Quý, which bowed at Locarno. The competition will also host the world premiere of Yemi Bamiro’s Black Is Beautiful: The Kwame Brathwaite Story, a documentary that follows the growth of the Afrocentric Black Is Beautiful movement of the 1960s and 1970s through the lens of Kwame Brathwaite, a pioneering Harlem photographer and its unsung godfather.

The festival’s First Features Competition includes three UK features: Imran Perretta’s Ish [+see also:
film review
interview: Imran Perretta
film profile], Joy Gharoro-Akpojotor’s Dreamers [+see also:
film review
film profile] and Akinola Davies’ My Father’s Shadow [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Akinola Davies Jr
film profile], while its Documentary Competition will play host to the world premiere of Super Nature, the debut feature by Ed Sayers – executive-produced by Asif Kapadia – who delves into the world of Mother Nature with a Super 8 camera.

The rest of the programme is divided into its usual strands – Love, Debate, Laugh, Dare, Thrill, Cult, Journey, Create, Experimenta, Family and Shorts – which include a large number of festival favourites from the likes of Berlin, Cannes and Venice.

Screen Talks will take place with Yorgos Lanthimos, Daniel Day-Lewis, Richard Linklater, Jafar Panahi, Lynne Ramsay, Tessa Thompson and Chloé Zhao, in person, and they will also be available online on the BFI Player and the BFI’s YouTube channel.

Full details of the festival’s Industry Forum will be announced in the coming weeks.

The event will take place at BFI Southbank and The Southbank Centre’s Royal Festival Hall, as well as in cinemas and venues across Central London. The festival will also visit 11 UK-wide partner venues, with two new additions: the National Science and Media Museum, Bradford (2025 City of Culture), and Filmhouse, Edinburgh.

The full programme is available to peruse here. Here is the full list of competition titles:

Official Competition

Black Is Beautiful: The Kwame Brathwaite Story - Yemi Bamiro (UK)
The Voice of Hind Rajab [+see also:
film review
film profile] - Kaouther Ben Hania (Tunisia/France)
Hedda - Nia DaCosta (USA)
Bad Apples - Jonatan Etzler (UK)
The Testament of Ann Lee [+see also:
film review
film profile] - Mona Fastvold (UK)
Hair, Paper, Water… [+see also:
film review
film profile] - Nicolas Graux, Trương Minh Quý  (Belgium/France/Vietnam)
Rose of Nevada [+see also:
film review
film profile] - Mark Jenkin (UK)
Landmarks - Lucrecia Martel (Argentina/USA/Mexico/France/Netherlands)
Black Rabbit, White Rabbit - Shahram Mokri (Tajikistan/UAE)
The World of Love - Yoon Ga-eun (South Korea)

First Feature Competition

A Useful Ghost [+see also:
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trailer
film profile] - Ratchapoom Boonbunchachoke (Thailand/France/Singapore)
My Father’s Shadow [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Akinola Davies Jr
film profile] - Akinola Davies (UK/Nigeria)
Sink - Zain Duraie (Jordan/Saudi Arabia/Qatar/France)
Dreamers [+see also:
film review
film profile] - Joy Gharoro-Akpojotor (UK)
Becoming Human - Polen L (Cambodia)
One Woman One Bra - Vincho Nchogu (Kenya/Nigeria)
Ish [+see also:
film review
interview: Imran Perretta
film profile] - Imran Perretta (UK)
Songs of Forgotten Trees - Anuparna Roy (India)
Mad Bills to Pay - Joel Alfonso Vargas (USA)
Diamonds in the Sand - Janus Victoria (Philippines)

Documentary Competition

The Travelers - David Bingong (Cameroon/Spain)
Always - Deming Chen (USA/China/France/Taiwan)
Life After - Reid Davenport (USA)
Singing Wings - Hemen Khaledi  (Iran/Georgia/Belgium)
Only on Earth [+see also:
interview: Robin Petré
interview: Robin Petré
film profile] - Robin Petré (Denmark/Spain)
The Eyes of Ghana - Ben Proudfoot (USA)
Super Nature - Ed Sayers (UK)
Seeds - Brittany Shyne (USA)