Here’s what we’ve got coming in 2025...

From highly anticipated premieres and new releases, curated seasons and film festivals on the big screen, to the most exciting names in film and television live on stage, plus free, newly digitised archive film material in libraries and at home as well distinctive online collections, the BFI’s 2025 cultural programme – including in cinemas at BFI Southbank, BFI IMAX and venues UK-wide through BFI Distribution, on BFI Player, BFI UHD, Blu-ray and DVD – will help connect audiences everywhere to stories on screen, old and new, from the UK and around the world. 

• Luchino Visconti, including BFI re-release of Rocco and His Brothers (3 Jan) (BFI Southbank/BFI Distribution/BFI Player – Jan) – presented in partnership with Cinecittà 
• Sidney Poitier (BFI Southbank – Jan) 
• UK-wide release of Victor Kossakovsky’s meditative Architecton (10 Jan) 
• Akira Kurosawa’s High and Low and Stray Dog released on BFI Blu-ray (20 Jan) and Yojimbo and Sanjuro released together in new 4K UHD and Blu-ray sets (17 Mar) 
• London Short Film Festival (BFI Southbank – Jan) 
• Woman with a Movie Camera Summit (BFI Southbank – 18 Jan, plus collection on BFI Player) 
• Chantal Akerman, major retrospective including BFI re-release of Jeanne Dielman, 23, quai du commerce, 1080 Bruxelles (7 Feb), a UK touring cinema package of her key films, a curated BFI Player Subscription collection and two BFI Blu-ray Collections (BFI Southbank/BFI Distribution/BFI Player/BFI Blu-ray/UK-wide – Feb/March) 
• Picnic at Hanging Rock (UK-wide/BFI Southbank) – Valentine’s Day previews then re-released on 21 Feb in a 4K restoration of the Director’s Cut 
• Payal Kapadia’s All We Imagine as Light, released exclusively to BFI Player subscribers (17 Feb) 
• New 4K restoration of Guillermo del Toro’s Cronos, released on BFI Blu-ray and UHD (24 Feb) 
• Edward Yang (BFI Southbank – Feb/March) 
• Black Rodeo (BFI Southbank – Feb/Mar) 
• BFI Future Film Festival (BFI Southbank/UK-wide/Online, 20 Feb – 6 Mar). The country’s largest festival for young, emerging filmmakers with masterclasses, workshops, screenings and networking opportunities. Full programme announced in January. 
• Payal Kapadia’s All We Imagine as Light, released on Blu-ray/DVD (3 Mar) 
• BFI Flare: London LGBTQIA+ Film Festival (BFI Player/BFI Southbank/UK-wide – 19-30 Mar) 
• The first edition of the London Soundtrack Festival, presented in partnership with the BFI at venues across London including BFI IMAX (19-26 March) 
• Four Mothers (UK-wide/BFI Southbank, 4 Apr). Darren Thornton’s comedy drama which won the Audience Award at this year’s BFI London Film Festival 
• New Taiwanese Cinema (BFI Southbank – Apr) 
• Queer East Festival (BFI Southbank – Apr) 
• A film season programmed by Karina Longworth to coincide with the launch of the new series of her popular podcast series You Must Remember This, focusing on the late careers of Alfred Hitchcock, John Ford, Howard Hawks, Vincente Minnelli and many others (BFI Southbank – Apr) 
• Wojciech Has (BFI Southbank/BFI Player – Apr) – presented in partnership with Kinoteka Polish Film Festival. 

• Mai Zetterling (BFI Southbank – May) – a centenary celebration in collaboration with the Swedish Film Institute. 
• Black Debutante (BFI Southbank/BFI Player – May) – a season of first and second features from Black filmmakers. 
• UK Asian Film Festival (BFI Southbank – May)  
• Michael Haneke (BFI Southbank/BFI Player – June) – in partnership with Curzon. 
• Barbara Loden, Visionary: Wanda and Her World (BFI Southbank/BFI Player – June) – a season exploring Barbara Loden’s 1970 film Wanda and the ongoing legacies and influences of both the director and the film. Coincides with the publication of a new Wanda BFI Film Classic by season curator Elena Gorfinkel. 
• BFI Film on Film Festival (BFI Southbank and selected events at partner cinemas – 12-15 June) 
• Dorothy Dandridge (BFI Southbank – July) 
• Moviedrome (BFI Southbank/BFI Player – July) – a season celebrating the BBC television series that ran between 1988 and 2000 (hosted first by Alex Cox and in later years by Mark Cousins); it acted as an introduction for many British filmmakers and audiences to cult and art house cinema. 
• London Indian Film Festival (BFI Southbank/BFI Player – July)  
• Sophia Loren (BFI Southbank/BFI Player – Aug) – presented in partnership with Cinecittà. 
• John Akomfrah (BFI Southbank – Aug) 
• S.O.U.L FEST (BFI Southbank – Aug)  

• Ridley Scott (BFI Southbank – Sept/Oct) 
• Anna May Wong (BFI Southbank – Sept/Oct) 
• Associated Rediffusion (BFI Southbank/BFI Player – Sept/Oct) – a season of fascinating key works produced by the first ever ITV franchise. 
• The 69^TH BFI London Film Festival (BFI Player/BFI Southbank/Venues across London and the UK – dates in October to be announced) 
• Melodrama (BFI Distribution/BFI Player/BFI Southbank/UK-wide – Oct/Nov/Dec) 
• Terence Davies (BFI Southbank/BFI Player/UK-wide – Oct/Nov) – this season will feature selected events presented in partnership with Edge Hill University, who care for the Terence Davies’ personal collection. 
• Screen Two (BFI Southbank – Oct/Nov) – celebrating the BBC’s successor to Play for Today, which was shot entirely on film.