The BFI London Film Festival has just announced the line-up for its 70th edition, which will run from 7-18 October. A large bounty of the year’s best films will land in the UK’s capital, largely chosen from this year’s top international festivals: the line-up comprises 251 titles in total (taking in features, shorts, series and immersive works) from 88 different countries, with nine of the features being world premieres. Beyond movies, the festival will be hosting Screen Talks across London and Manchester with some of the key creatives with work in the line-up, and its Industry Forum, solely for accredited delegates, will find leading writers, directors and producers “talking about urgent subjects that are top of the industry’s agenda, sharing their insights and experience”.

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The gathering opens with the European premiere of Simon Stone’s awards-tipped Elsinore, which features the great actor Andrew Scott portraying Ian Charleson, another theatrical legend, as he fought an AIDS diagnosis whilst preparing a lauded run as Hamlet at London’s National Theatre (see the news). The theatre theme continues with the Closing Night Gala, the UK premiere of Jesse Eisenberg’s third feature, The Debut, which sees Julianne Moore as a suburban mum making her community-theatre debut under the strict direction of Paul Giamatti. Premiering at Telluride this weekend, the film is supposedly a great crowd-pleaser. Other Headline Galas include Danny Boyle’s imminent Venice opener Ink, the international premiere of Tony Gilroy’s Behemoth! with Pedro Pascal, the world premiere of Travis Knight’s ambitious animation Wildwood and Bassam Tariq’s actioner Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother.

The festival’s Official Competition section has many timely choices straight from Venice, attesting to their breakthrough potential: among these are May el-Toukhy’s Woman Unknown, Lili Horvát’s My Notes on Mars and Rubaiyat Hossain’s The Difficult Bride. In the First Feature Competition, Marie-Clémentine Dusabejambo’s Ben’Imana and Sompot Chidgasornpongse’s 9 Temples to Heaven have already gained plaudits left, right and centre as two of the year’s best debuts. Standing out alongside them in the section are Bertil Nilsson’s Toronto Platform premiere Masc and Aung Phyoe’s Karlovy Vary Crystal Globe winner Fruit Gathering. The Documentary Competition is especially international, with films such as Theo Rollason’s Queer Edward II, an innovative behind-the-scenes peek at Derek Jarman’s eponymous film; Erik Shirai’s Sumo: Spirit Weighs Nothing, a Japanese-US-Danish-UK co-production opening Venice Spotlight; and Once Upon a Time in Harlem, a verité look at the Harlem Renaissance from US doc legend William Greaves, posthumously finished by his son David.

“When this festival first sprang to life 70 years ago, little more than a decade after the end of World War II, British society was in a period of rapid social change,” said artistic director, BFI Festivals Kristy Matheson. “Then, like now, we turn to artists to synthesise our times. And what a vision they have for us in 2026; tumults of the era live inside our programme, but so, too, do cinematic thrills, moral conundrums, and a reoccurring exploration of care and community. If you find yourself in London, or in the UK, this October, the opportunity to experience worlds outside ourselves will be on offer. We hope you can join us.”

Here are the festival’s three competition sections in full:

Official Competition

Woman Unknown - May el-Toukhy (Denmark/Sweden/Latvia)
My Notes on Mars - Lili Horvát (Hungary/France/Austria/Bosnia and Herzegovina/Montenegro/Germany/USA)
The Difficult Bride - Rubaiyat Hossain (France/Bangladesh/Portugal/Norway/Germany)
Look Back - Hirokazu Koreeda (Japan)
Imperium - Sergei Loznitsa (Germany/Italy/France/Lithuania)
Act 3 - Christine Molloy, Joe Lawlor (Ireland/UK)
7 Miles Out - Carol Morley (UK)
Glaxo - Benjamín Naishtat (Brazil/Argentina)
The Idiot(s) - Małgorzata Szumowska, Michał Englert (UK/Poland/Germany/France)
Ketticè - Giovanni Tortorici (Italy)

First Feature Competition

Our Share of Sand - Shalini Adnani (India/UK/Greece)
Fruit Gathering - Aung Phyoe (Myanmar/Czech Republic/France)
9 Temples to Heaven - Sompot Chidgasornpongse (Thailand/Singapore/France/Norway/China/Hong Kong/Indonesia)
Forest High - Manon Coubia (Belgium/France)
Ben’Imana - Marie-Clémentine Dusabejambo (Rwanda/Gabon/France/Norway/Côte d’Ivoire)
A Common Story - Anna Foglietta (Italy)
Masc - Bertil Nilsson (UK)
Lady - Olive Nwosu (UK/Nigeria)
The Last Day - Rachel Rose (USA)
Animol - Ashley Walters (UK)

Documentary Competition

Concrete Land - Asmahan Bkerat (Jordan/Palestine)
Ba’s Book - Ashley Duong (Canada)
Once Upon a Time in Harlem - William Greaves, David Greaves (USA)
Dependence - Grace Harper Brighouse (UK)
The Calf Doll - Ankur Hooda (India)
Concrete Turned to Sand - Jessica Johnson, Ryan Ermacora (Canada)
Queer Edward II - Theo Rollason (UK)
Sumo: Spirit Weighs Nothing - Erik Shirai (Japan/USA/Denmark/UK)