The 69th BFI London Film Festival (LFF), in partnership with American Express, has unveiled its full programme for 2025, promising an extraordinary celebration of world cinema from Wednesday 8 October to Sunday 19 October.

This year’s Festival opens with the International Premiere of Rian Johnson’s Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery and closes with the UK Premiere of Julia Jackman’s 100 Nights of Hero, cementing two of the year’s most talked-about titles as major LFF highlights.

Galas and Special Premieres

Among this year’s prestigious Gala presentations:

  • American Express Gala – Rental Family by Hikari, starring Brendan Fraser (UK Premiere).

  • Cunard Gala – Jay Kelly, Noah Baumbach’s star-studded ensemble comedy-drama (UK Premiere).

  • Mayor of London’s Gala – Hamnet, Chloé Zhao’s adaptation of Maggie O’Farrell’s novel (European Premiere).

  • Patrons’ Gala – H Is for Hawk, Philippa Lowthorpe’s adaptation of Helen Macdonald’s memoir starring Claire Foy and Brendan Gleeson (UK Premiere).

World Premieres

The Festival proudly presents 27 World Premieres, with standout debuts including:

  • Rowan Athale’s British boxing drama Giant starring Amir El-Masry and Pierce Brosnan.

  • James Lucas’ intimate portrait Moss & Freud, chronicling the relationship between Kate Moss and Lucien Freud.

  • Ed Sayers’ spellbinding environmental documentary Super Nature.

  • Yemi Bamiro’s moving tribute Black Is Beautiful: The Kwame Brathwaite Story.

  • Actor Bradley Banton’s directorial debut More Life.

  • Calif Chong’s riotous British-Chinese immigrant tale High Wire.

  • Isabella Eklöf’s hotly anticipated new series The Death of Bunny Munro, adapted from Nick Cave’s novel and starring Matt Smith.

  • Ahmed Alauddin Jamal’s Hotel London, newly remastered in 4K by the BFI National Archive.

International Premieres

International discoveries arriving at LFF include:

  • Rian Johnson’s Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery (Opening Night Gala).

  • Bradley Cooper’s third feature Is This Thing On?.

  • Siobhan McCarthy’s gender-swap comedy She’s the He.

  • Jesse Brown and Mikayla Joy Brown’s Finding Optel, a heartwarming childhood detective story.

  • Majid Al Ansari’s chilling psychological horror The Vile.

  • Vincho Nchogu’s One Woman One Bra, a story of ancestral land and resistance.

  • Aitor Arregi’s Maspalomas, a frank examination of elder queer desire.

  • Hsu Ya-Ting’s Island of the Winds, a profoundly moving documentary on Taiwan’s leprosy history.

  • Rachel Abigail Holder’s Love, Brooklyn, a dazzling ode to New York.

  • A major restoration of Ciro Durán’s pioneering 1962 Colombian film La Paga.

Returning Filmmakers

The 2025 line-up also features an impressive roster of returning LFF alumni, including Yorgos Lanthimos, Richard Linklater, Lynne Ramsay, Michel Franco, Guillermo Del Toro, Jim Jarmusch, Chloé Zhao, Bradley Cooper, Edward Berger, Chai Vasarhelyi, Jimmy Chin, Luca Guadagnino, François Ozon, Julia Ducournau, Radu Jude, Ira Sachs, David Michôd, Laura Poitras, Pablo Trapero, Christian Petzold, and Jafar Panahi, among many others.

Special Presentations

Highlights include:

  • Documentary Special Presentation – Broken English, Jane Pollard and Iain Forsyth’s soulful portrait of Marianne Faithfull.

  • Experimenta Special Presentation – Afterlives, Kevin B. Lee’s complex, thought-provoking tapestry.

  • Series Special Presentation – The Death of Bunny Munro, starring Matt Smith.

  • BFI Flare Special Presentation – Maspalomas.

  • Immersive Special Presentation – N O W I S W H E N W E A R E (THE STARS) by Andrew Schneider.

  • Archive Special Presentation – Sholay – Director’s Cut, a landmark 4K restoration of Ramesh Sippy’s classic, screening on the UK’s largest screen.

A Festival of Discovery

As in previous editions, the Festival’s feature film programme is curated into strands — Love, Debate, Laugh, Dare, Thrill, Cult, Journey, Create, Experimenta, Family, and Shorts — each encouraging audiences to explore new cinematic worlds. Alongside, LFF Expanded introduces cutting-edge immersive works, while the Series programme showcases episodic storytelling of the highest calibre.

BFI London Film Festival Director Kristy Matheson said:

“This year’s line-up reflects the richness of world cinema today — films that inspire, challenge, provoke, and move us. From bold new voices to master filmmakers, the Festival is a meeting point for stories that demand to be seen and experienced on the big screen.”

With a programme spanning 27 World Premieres, 11 International Premieres and 20 European Premieres, the 69th BFI London Film Festival promises to be one of the year’s unmissable cultural events, celebrating the art of film in all its forms.

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