January 2025 programme highlights at BFI Southbank and BFI IMAX: Poitier, Visconti and more

The programme for January 2025 at BFI Southbank starts with Sidney Poitier: His Own Person, a major celebration of the trailblazing actor, director and activist who broke barriers with a filmography that showcased his dazzling vitality and made him cinema’s first Black superstar. 

The season, programmed by Jonathan Ali, will reflect on the progression of Poitier’s vast career and commemorate his legacy, from early work such as No Way Out (Joseph L. Mankiewicz, 1950) and Blackboard Jungle (Richard Brooks, 1955), to the films in which he was Hollywood’s biggest box office draw, Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner (Stanley Kramer, 1967) and In the Heat of the Night (Norman Jewison, 1967). 

Conscious of a responsibility that came with his success, Poitier initially cultivated a persona of virtue and respectability, but when audiences began to demand an edgier Black hero he also used his clout to direct and star in films reflecting the new mood. As times changed, so did the Poitier persona – from actor, to director, to legend – and the season also features films that demonstrate this era in his career, including The Lost Man (Robert Alan Arthur, 1969), A Warm December (Sidney Poitier, 1973), The Wilby Conspiracy (Ralph Nelson, 1975), Stir Crazy (Sidney Poitier, 1980) and Sneakers (Phil Alden Robinson, 1992). A special event on the third anniversary of Poitier’s passing (6 January), For Love of Sidney Poitier will see season programmer Jonathan Ali and a panel of special guests consider Poitier’s key roles and films, positioning his filmography in the wider landscape of Hollywood while reflecting on his legacy and his role in inspiring future generations.

Also taking place in January will be Luchino Visconti: Decadence and Decay, curated by film critic Christina Newland and presented in partnership with Cinecittà, who are providing several 35mm prints and 4K restorations for the season. A pioneer of the Italian neorealism movement, as well as a maestro of luxurious historical drama, Visconti was an artist of great contradiction and a singular product of his time. With an eye for the darkness of dynastic power struggles and the volatility of men obsessed by the past, his work revelled in wry humour and bold sensuality, from his early neorealist pictures to the opulent period pieces he would become known for. 

Special events in January will include a preview of Memoir of a Snail (Adam Elliott, 2024), which won the Best Film Award at this year’s BFI London Film Festival, followed by a Q&A with Adam Elliot on 17 January. This funny and moving stop-motion triumph, starring Sarah Snook, Eric Bana and Jacki Weaver, follows twins Grace and Gilbert who are separated in 1970s Australia due to tragic circumstances. While Gilbert is ensconced with a religious fundamentalist family, Grace is sent to live with a ‘swinger’ couple. Her life changes when she meets old Pinkie, who has ‘done it all’ – from making love to John Denver, to playing ping pong with Fidel Castro. 

Meanwhile, a TV preview of Brian and Maggie (Channel 4/Baby Cow Productions, 2024) on 27 January will be followed by a Q&A with Steve Coogan, Harriet Walter and key members of the creative team. From writer James Graham (Sherwood) and director Stephen Frears, this scintillating drama reconstructs the seismic LWT interview that reshaped national opinion and, in many ways, signalled the end of Thatcher’s premiership, starring Coogan as politician-turned-journalist Brian Walden and Walter as Margaret Thatcher.

Also in January will be a focus on Alain Tanner, a filmmaker who was concerned with the connection between artists, the state, and the political landscapes that formed them. Alfonso Cuáron Presents: Alain Tanner is curated by the Academy Award winning director Alfonso Cuáron, who has chosen to screen four films by Tanner, all of which will play from digital restorations: Charles, Dead or Alive (1969), The Salamander (1971), Jonah Who Will Be 25 in the Year 2000 (1976) and In the White City (1983). 

January sees the return of Focus Hong Kong, including the UK Premiere of True Love, For Once in My Life (Siu Koon-Ho, 2024), All Shall Be Well (Ray Yeung, 2024) and Shanghai Blues (Tsui Hark, 1984). Meanwhile, the annual London Short Film Festival also returns with a programme dedicated to the work of Deaf filmmakers as well as four Competition programmes of new UK and International shorts. This year’s LSFF also features a special programme, Holidays on Mars: The 16mm Films of Harry Hill, featuring rare 16mm shorts made in the 90s by then-rising-star Harry Hill and experimental filmmaker and projectionist David Leister. Both Hill and Leister will take part in a Q&A following a screening of these madcap DIY shorts on 19 January, projected from original 16mm prints.

Further programme highlights in January include an African Odysseys screening of Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat (Johan Grimonprez, 2024), a stunningly constructed documentary that premiered at this year’s BFI London Film Festival. It’s 1960 and 16 newly independent African countries are admitted to the UN. Russia denounces Western colonial plunder in Africa and the US surreptitiously recruits its top jazz stars on a mission to promote US culture and, more subversively, its ambitions. 

The BFI’s annual Woman with a Movie Camera Summit returns to BFI Southbank on 18 January with this year’s programme announced soon. Audiences can expect a Summit Pass to give them access to a day jam-packed with talks, Q&As and panel discussions with filmmakers, curators and creatives, as well as workshops and drop-in sessions. 

A 70th anniversary screening of Britain’s first animated feature film Animal Farm (1954) will be introduced by BFI National Archive curator Jez Stewart on 7 January, and finally, Mark Kermode Live in 3D returns on 20 January. Joined by surprise guests from across the film industry, Kermode explores, critiques and dissects current and upcoming releases, cinematic treasures, industry news and even some guilty pleasures.

Films playing on extended run throughout the month at BFI Southbank will include the BFI Distribution release Architecton (Victor Kossakovsky, 2024), which will be accompanied by screenings of two further films by Victor Kossakovsky, ¡Vivan las antipodas! (2011) and Aquarela (2018), with the latter also screening at BFI IMAX. There will also be runs of The Brutalist (Brady Corbet, 2024), including 70mm screenings, plus Hard Truths (Mike Leigh, 2024), Nickel Boys (RaMell Ross, 2024) and the BFI Distribution re-release of Rocco and His Brothers (Luchino Visconti, 1960), screening as part of the Luchino Visconti season.

New releases at BFI IMAX in January will include Nosferatu (Robert Eggers, 2025). A variation on Bram Stoker’s Dracula, which was previously filmed as Nosferatu: A Symphony Of Horror (F.W. Murnau, 1922) and  Nosferatu the Vampyre (Werner Herzog, 1979) – which both also play on the UK’s largest screen this month, it’s the perfect material for the filmmaker behind The Witch and The Lighthouse, not only drawing on Egger’s Ggthic sensibilities but also his penchant for rich, evocative and era-specific dialogue. This trio of blood-chilling tales marks the start of a three-month season at BFI IMAX that celebrates the vampire, with other titles coming soon to the UK’s largest screen. Full details will be announced in the coming weeks.

Tickets for BFI Southbank screenings in January are on sale to BFI Patrons on 2 December, BFI Members on 3 December, and to the general public on 5 December.