BFI’s 2026 Line-Up Brings Lynch, Bigelow, del Toro, Brazil, Flare 40 and LFF 70 to the Big Screen

The BFI has revealed a packed slate of 2026 programme highlights, promising a year where audiences can move between cinema history, global discoveries, new releases, and live cultural events across BFI Southbank, BFI IMAX, the UK and Ireland via BFI Distribution, plus BFI Player and BFI Blu-ray.

The year begins with a headline tribute: “David Lynch: The Dreamer” in January across BFI Southbank and BFI IMAX, marking a year since the filmmaker’s passing. January also includes Ensemble: The Filmmakers of Richard Linklater’s Nouvelle Vague, the Woman With a Movie Camera Summit, and Beyond The Frame: Women Filmmakers and their Archives.

From February to March, the programme turns to auteur power: Andrzej Wajda (to mark the centenary of his birth and ten years since his passing) and Kathryn Bigelow in a big-screen season described as “action, adrenaline and artistry”. Further highlights across the spring include a season examining the postwar era of Britain on TV through Constructed, Told, Spoken: A Counter History of Britain on TV, and the 40th BFI Flare: London LGBTQIA+ Film Festival (19–30 March).

April to June expands into major thematic and international seasons, including The Cinematic Life of Boxing, a season on Peter Weir, and a major two-month survey of Brazilian Cinema (May–June) as part of the UK/Brazil Season of Culture 2025–26. A Guillermo del Toro season coincides with his BFI Fellowship (May) and the release of CRONOS (15 May). June also includes programming for Marilyn Monroe in her centenary year, in partnership with the National Portrait Gallery.

Across the summer, BFI IMAX turns into an event-cinema destination with Christopher Nolan’s THE ODYSSEY (July), presented on an IMAX 70mm print and shot entirely with IMAX cameras. The second half of the year continues with seasons on Peter Watkins (August) and John Akomfrah (September), while the autumn brings the 70th BFI London Film Festival in October (dates TBA) and a major late-year season celebrating Billy Wilder (October–December).

Alongside programmes and seasons, BFI Distribution and BFI’s wider funding activity anchor 2026 with notable releases, including HAMLET (Aneil Karia; starring Riz Ahmed and Morfydd Clark) and MY FATHER’S SHADOW (Akinola Davies Jr; starring Ṣọpẹ́ Dìrísù) both released 6 February, plus ROSE OF NEVADA (24 April). The BFI also confirms anticipated productions expected in 2026: CHORK by Shane Meadows, I SEE BUILDINGS FALL LIKE LIGHTNING by Clio Barnard, and feature debuts from Ashley Walters and Thea Gajić.

Online, curated collections arrive on BFI Player (including Brazilian Cinema, boxing, trash cinema, skateboarding, and Frederick Wiseman), while BFI Blu-ray releases include the Wiseman 3-disc set and a BFI remaster of STRONGROOM (1962).