BFI London Film Festival unveils 2025 line-up

The 69th BFI London Film Festival (LFF, October 8-19) has unveiled its full line-up, with seven world premiere features, including Rowan Athale’s UK boxing drama Giant and James Lucas’ Moss & Freud.

Amir El-Masry and Pierce Brosnan star in Giant, a biopic of boxer Prince Naseem ‘Naz’ Hamed that follows his rise from the working-class streets of Sheffield and is produced by Tea Shop and AGC Studios. True Brit Entertainment will release in UK-Ireland from January 9 2026. 

Moss & Freud is a dramatised account of when, at the peak of her celebrity in the early 2000s, model Kate Moss decided to sit for famed British artist Lucian Freud. Ellie Bamber and Derek Jacobi star, and Embankment Films represents sales.

The line-up contains 166 feature films, slightly down on last year’s 168. The number of world premieres is also down from last year, from 15 features to this year’s seven (figures updated as of September 4).

There are 251 works in total, comprising features, shorts, series and immersive works from 79 countries; 42% are from female and non-binary filmmakers, slightly down from 44% in 2024.

The number of headline galas is up this year, with 24 versus 2024’s 15, but there are fewer special presentations, with six versus 2024’s 15. 

Previously unannounced galas include Bradley Cooper’s New York Film Festival premiere Is This Thing On?, inspired by the life of Liverpudlian comedian John Bishop and starring Will Arnett and Laura Dern; Philippa Lowthorpe’s H Is For Hawk starring Claire Foy and Chloé Zhao’s Hamnet with Jessie Buckley and Paul Mescal, both first bowing at Telluride; and a raft of Cannes premieres including Lynne Ramsay’s Die, My Love, Jafar Panahi’s Palme d’Or winner It Was Just An Accident, Harry Lighton’s Pillion, Joachim Trier’s Sentimental Value, Kelly Reichardt’s The Mastermind and Oliver Hermanus’ The History Of Sound.

Richard Linklater has two gala screenings: Cannes premiere Nouvelle Vague and Berlinale title Blue Moon.

The first feature competition will include three UK-based filmmakers: Joy Gharoro-Akpojotor’s Berlin premiere Dreamers, Imran Perretta’s Venice Critics’ Week selection Ish and Akinola Davies’ Cannes Un Certain Regard title My Father’s Shadow.

New for 2025, the festival will also host an LFF Expanded industry day on October 15, supported by Southbank Centre. The rest of the industry line-up will be announced in due course.

The Screen Talks series includes Yorgos Lanthimos, Daniel Day-Lewis, Linklater, Panahi, Ramsay, Tessa Thompson and Zhao.

The festival once again takes place at BFI Southbank and the Southbank Centre’s Royal Festival Hall, and will also run in cinemas and venues across central London. LFF On Tour will visit 11 UK-wide partner venues with two new venues, the National Science and Media Museum in Bradford (the 2025 City of Culture) and the Filmhouse in Edinburgh.

LFF 2025 line-up

*Denotes world premiere

Headline galas

Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery (US) – opening night
Dir. Rian Johnson

100 Nights Of Hero (UK-US) – closing night
Dir. Julia Jackman

After The Hunt (US)
Dir. Luca Guadagnino

Ballad Of A Small Player (UK)
Dir. Edward Berger

Blue Moon (US-Ire)
Dir. Richard Linklater

Bugonia (UK)
Dir. Yorgos Lanthimos

The Choral (UK)
Dir. Nicholas Hytner

Christy (US)
Dir. David Michôd

Die, My Love (Can)
Dir. Lynne Ramsay

Frankenstein (US)
Dir. Guillermo del Toro

H Is For Hawk (UK)
Dir. Philippa Lowthorpe

Hamnet (UK)
Dir. Chloé Zhao

The History Of Sound (US-UK-It)
Dir. Oliver Hermanus

Is This Thing On? (US)
Dir. Bradley Cooper

It Was Just An Accident (Iran-Fr-Lux)
Dir. Jafar Panahi

Jay Kelly (US-UK-It)
Dir. Noah Baumbach

The Mastermind (US)
Dir. Kelly Reichardt

No Other Choice (S Kor)
Dir. Park Chan-wook

Nouvelle Vague (Fr)
Dir. Richard Linklater

Pillion (UK)
Dir. Harry Lighton

Rental Family (US)
Dir. Hikari

Roofman (US)
Dir. Derek Cianfrance

Sentimental Value (Nor-Fr-Ger)
Dir. Joachim Trier

Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere (US)
Dir. Scott Cooper

Special presentations

Afterlives (Ger-Belg-Fr)
Dir. Kevin B. Lee

Broken English (UK)
Dirs. Iain Forsyth, Jane Pollard

The Death Of Bunny Munro eps 1 & 2 (UK) – series
Dir. Isabella Eklöf

Maspalomas (Sp)
Dirs. Aitor Arregi, Jose Mari Goenaga

Now Is When We Are (The Stars) (US)
Dir. Andrew Schneider

Sholay – Director’s Cut (India)
Dir. Ramesh Sippy

Official competition

Bad Apples (UK)
Dir. Jonatan Etzler

Black Is Beautiful: The Kwame Brathwaite Story (UK-US)*
Dir. Yemi Bamiro

Black Rabbit, White Rabbit (Tajikistan-UAE)
Dir. Shahram Mokri

Hair, Paper, Water (Belg-Fr-Viet)
Dirs. Nicolas Graux, Trương Minh Quý

Hedda (US)
Dir. Nia DaCosta

Landmarks (Arg-US-Mex-Fr-Neth)
Dir. Lucrecia Martel

Rose Of Nevada (UK)
Dir. Mark Jenkin

The Testament Of Ann Lee (UK)
Dir. Mona Fastvold

The Voice Of Hind Rajab (Tun-Fr)
Dir. Kaouther Ben Hania

The World Of Love (S Kor)
Dir. Yoon Ga-eun

First feature competition

Becoming Human (Camb)
Dir. Polen L

Diamonds In The Sand (Philippines)
Dir. Janus Victoria

Dreamers (UK)
Dir. Joy Gharoro-Akpojotor

Ish (UK)
Dir. Imran Perretta

Mad Bills To Pay (US)
Dir. Joel Alfonso Vargas

My Father’s Shadow (UK-Nigeria)
Dir. Akinola Davies

One Woman One Bra (Kenya-Nigeria)
Dir. Vincho Nchogu

Sink (Jor-Saudi-Qat-Fr)
Dir. Zain Duraie

Songs Of Forgotten Trees (India)
Dir. Anuparna Roy

A Useful Ghost (Thai-Fr-Sing)
Dir. Ratchapoom Boonbunchachoke

Documentary competition

Always (US-China-Fr-Tai)
Dir. Deming Chen

The Eyes Of Ghana (US)
Dir. Ben Proudfoot

Life After (US)
Dir. Reid Davenport

Only On Earth (Den-Sp)
Dir. Robin Petré

Seeds (US)
Dir. Brittany Shyne

Singing Wings (Iran-Geo-Belg)
Dir. Hemen Khaledi

Super Nature (UK)*
Dir. Ed Sayers 

The Travelers (Cameroon-Sp)
Dir. David Bingong

Love

& Sons (UK-Can)
Dir. Pablo Trapero

Calle Malaga (Mor-Fr-Sp-Ger-Belg)
Dir. Maryam Touzani

D Is For Distance (Fin)
Dirs. Christopher Petit, Emma Matthews

Endless Cookie (Can)

Dirs, Seth Scriver, Peter Scriver

Father Mother Sister Brother (US-Ire-Fr)

Dir. Jim Jarmusch

The Girls (Sri)
Dir. Sumitra Peries

Human Resource (Thai)
Dir. Nawapol Thamrongrattanarit

Kim Novak’s Vertigo (US)
Dir. Alexandre O.Philippe

Left-Handed Girl (Tai)
Dir. Shih-Ching Tsou

Love, Brooklyn (US)
Dir. Rachael Abigail Holder

Love Me Tender (Fr)
Dir. Anna Cazenave Cambet

The Love That Remains (Ice)
Dir. Hlynur Pálmason

Resurrection (China-Fr)
Dir. Bi Gan

Romeria (Sp-Ger)
Dir. Carla Simón

A Sad And Beautiful World (Leb-US-Ger-Saudi-Qat)
Dir. Cyril Aris

The Souffler (Austria-Arg)
Dir. Gastón Solnick-

The Thing With Feathers (UK)
Dir. Dylan Southern

Train Dreams (US)
Dir. Clint Bentley

Debate

Cover-Up (US)
Dirs. Laura Poitras, Mark Obenhaus

The Deal eps 1&2 (Switz-Fr-Lux-Belg) – series
Dir. Jean-Stéphane Bron

Island Of The Winds (Tai-Japan-Fr)
Dir. HsuYa-Ting

John Lilly And The Earth Coincidence Control Office (US)
Dirs. Michael Almereyda, Courtney Stephens

Kontinental ’25 (Rom-Switz-Lux-Bra-UK)
Dir. Radu Jude

Love+War (US-UK)
Dirs. Chai Vasarhelyi, Jimmy Chin

Mother (Belg-N Mac-Swe-Den)
Dir. Teona Strugar Mitevska

Orwell: 2+2=5 (Fr-US)
Dir. Raoul Peck

La Paga (Iran)
Dir. Bahram Beyzaïe

Saipan (Ire-UK)
Dir. Lisa Barros D’Sa, Glenn Leyburne

Silent Friend (Ger-Hun-Fr)
Dir. Ildikó Enyedi

Laugh 

Fwends (Australia)
Dir. Sophie Somerville

The Kidnapping Of Arabella (It)
Dir. Carolina Cavalli

More Life (Den-UK)*
Dir. Bradley Banton

Olmo (US-Mex)
Dir. Fernando Eimbcke

She’s The He (US)
Dir. Siobhan McCarthy

Twinless (US)
Dir. James Sweeney

Untameable (Fr)
Dir. Thomas Ngijol

What Marielle Knows (Ger)
Dir. Frédéric Hambalek

Dare

Alpha (Fr-Belg)
Dir. Julia Ducournau

Anemone (US-UK)
Dir. Ronan Day-Lewis

The Assistant (Pol-UK)
Dir. Wilhelm Sasnal

Blue Heron (Can-Hun)
Dir. Sophy Romvari

The Chronology Of Water (US-Fr-Latvia)
Dir. Kristen Stewart

The Devil Smokes (And Saves The Burnt Matches In The Same Box) (Mex)
Dir. Ernesto Martínez Bucio

Dreams (Mex-US)
Dir. Michel Franco

Dry Leaf (Ger-Geo)
Dir. Alexandre Koberidze

The Fence (Fr)
Dir. Claire Denis 

Good Boy (Pol-UK)
Dir. Jan Komasa

Hamlet (UK)
Dir. Aneil Karia

The Ice Tower (Fr-Ger)
Dir. Lucile Hadžihalilović

Lady (UK)*
Dir. Samual Abrahams 

Magellan (Port-Sp)
Dir. Lav Diaz

Memory Of Princess Mumbi (Kenya-Switz-Saudi)
Dir. Damien Hauser

Short Summer (Ger-Fr-Ser)
Dir. Nastia Korkia

Sirât (Sp-Fr)
Dir. Oliver Laxe

Sound Of Falling (Ger)
Dir. Mascha Schilinski

Straight Circle (UK)
Dir. Oscar Hudson

Thrill

At The Place Of Ghosts (Can-Belg)
Dir. Bretten Hannam

Balearic (Sp-Fr)
Dir. Ion De Sosa

Giant (UK)*
Dir. Rowan Athale

If I Had Legs I’d Kick You (US)
Dir. Mary Bronstein

Lurker (US-It)
Dir. Alex Russell

Miroirs No. 3 (Ger)
Dir. Christian Petzold

A Private Life (Fr)
Dir. Rebecca Zlotowski

Retreat (UK)
Dir. Ted Evans

The Secret Agent (Bra-Fr-Ger-Neth)
Dir. Kleber Mendonça Filho

Ultras (Swe-Den-Fin)
Dir. Ragnhild Ekner

Wasteman (UK)
Dir. Cal McMau

Cult

Chao (Japan)
Dir. Yasuhiro Aoki

Decorado (Sp)
Dir. Alberto Vázquez

Exit 8 (Japan)
Dir. Genki Kawamura

Fucktoys (US)
Dir. Annapurna Sriram

The Holy Boy (It-Slov)
Dir. Paolo Strippoli

Honey Bunch (Can)
Dir. Madeleine Sims‑Fewer

Reflection In A Dead Diamond (Belg-Lux-It-Fr)
Dirs. Hélène Cattet, Bruno Forzani

The Vile (UAE-US)
Dir. Majid Al Ansari

Journey 

Below The Clouds (It)
Dir. Gianfranco Rosi

The Blue Trail (Bra-Mex-Chile-Neth)
Dir. Gabriel Mascaro

Enzo (Fr-Belg-It)
Dir. Robin Campillo

High Wire (UK)*
Dir. Calif Chong

Lucky Lu (US-Can)
Dir. Lloyd Lee Choi

Mortu Nega (Guinea-Bissau)
Dir. Flora Gomes

Orphan (Hun-UK-Ger-Fr)
Dir. László Nemes

A Pale View Of Hills (Japan-UK-Pol)
Dir. Kei Ishikawa

La Grazia (It)
Dir. Paolo Sorrentino

Palestine 36 (Palestine-UK-Fr)
Dir. Annemarie Jacir

Portobello: The Fall Of Enzo Tortora (It)
Dir. Marco Bellocchio

The President’s Cake (Iraq-US-Qat)
Dir. Hasan Hadi

Promised Sky (Swe-Den-Neth-Pol-Fin)
Dir. Erige Sehiri

Redoubt (Swe)
Dir. John Skoog

The Son And The Sea (UK)
Dir. Stroma Cairns

Têtes Brûlées (Belg)
Dir. Maja Ajmia, Yde Zellama

Two Prosecutors (Fr-Ger-Neth-Latvia-Rom-Lith)
Dir. Sergei Loznitsa

Weightless (Den)
Dir. Emilie Thalund

Create

Ariel (Sp-Port)
Dir. Lois Patiño

Blknws: Terms & Conditions (US)
Dir. Kahlil Joseph

Dj Ahmet (N Mac-Czech-Ser-Cro)
Dir. Georgi M. Unkovski

Duse (It-Fr)
Dir. Pietro Marcello

Future Botanica (Neth)
Dirs. Marcel Van Brakel, Hazal Ertürkan

Khartoum (UK-Sudan-Ger-Qat)
Dirs. Rawia AlHag, Ibrahim Snoopy, Anas Saeed, Timeea M. Ahmed, Phil Cox

Mare’s Nest (UK-Fr-Can)
Dir. Ben Rivers

Moss & Freud (UK-NZ)*
Dir. James Lucas

Peter Hujar’s Day (US-Ger)
Dir. Ira Sachs

The Stranger (Fr)
Dir. François Ozon

Wild Style (US)
Dir. Charlie Ahearn

Experimenta

Hotel London (UK)
Dir. Ahmed Alauddin Jamal

The Memory Of Butterflies (Peru-Port)
Dir. Tatiana Fuentes Sadowski

With Hasan In Gaza (Palestine-Ger-Fr-Qat)
Dir. Kamal Aljafari

The House Was There Before Me (Can)
Dir. Elian Mikkola

Fugue Notes (NZ)
Dir. Selina Ershadi

Radius Catastrophe (Leb)
Dir. Jad Youssef

Border As Interface (UK-Japan)
Dir. Petra Szemán

Nsala (Congo)
Dir. Mickael-Sltan Mbanza

The Conjured Ones (Ven-Arg)
Dir. Humberto González Bustillo

Terror Element (UK-Neth)
Dirs. Anna Engelhardt, Mark Cinkevich

Happiness (Neth-Turkey)
Dir. Firat Yücel

Daria’s Night Flowers (Iran-UK-Fr)
Dir. Maryam Tafakory

New Territories (Spectacle Is King) (UK)
Dir. Rhea Storr

Tuktuit: Caribou (Can)
Dir. Lindsay McIntyre

Another Other (US)
Dir. Bex Oluwatoyin Thompson

Morning Circle (Ger-Can-UAE)
Dir. Basma Al-Sharif

The Early Sun, Red As A Hunter’s Moon (US)
Dir. Adam Piron

She’s Waiting For The Sunset (Lith)
Dir. Martyna Ratnik

Ka Ba Ddi: A Breath, A Move, A Gam (UK)
Dir. Alia Syed

Nothing Out Of The Island: Bridges (Dom Rep-US)
Dir. Dalissa Montes De Oca Mosquea

Half Memory (UK-US-Fr)
Dir. Ufuoma Essi

Primate Visions; Macaque Macabre (Indo-Switz)
Dir. Natasha Tontey

Hedgehog Cakes: Sweet Weapon Of Terror (Ukr)
Dir. Zhenia Stepanenko

Fragments For Venus (It-Fr)
Dir. Alice Diop

Resurrect Me As A Parasite (UK-Neth-Can)
Dirs. Gabi Dao, Lou Lou Sainsbury

LFF Expanded 

Now Is When We Are (The Stars) (US)
Lead artist: Andrew Schneider

Future Botanica (Neth)
Lead artists: Polymorf

Blue Prince (Fr)
Lead studio: Byebyesama

Despelote (Ecuador)
Lead artists: Julián Cordero & Sebastián Valbuena

Death Of The Reprobate (UK)
Lead studio: Joe Richardson

Songs Of Travel (Can)
Lead artist: Silverstring Media

Some Goodbyes We Made (Lithuania)
Lead artist: Tadas Migauskas

The Dollhouse (Can)
Lead artist: Sophie Dubé

Play Life (Lithuania)
Lead artist: Algis Kriščiūnas

8 Pm And The Cat (S Kor)
Lead artist: Jeong Dahee

Mirror (Tai)
Lead artist: Wu De-Chuen

Family

Animal Farm (UK)
Dir. Andy Serkis

Finding Optel (S Afr)
Dirs. Jesse Brown, Mikayla Joy Brown

Little Amélie (Fr)
Dirs. Maïlys Vallade, Liane-Cho Han

The Songbird’s Secret (Fr)
Dir. Antoine Lanciaux

Whispers In The Woods (Fr)
Dir. Vincent Munier

Mushroom’s Life (Latvia)
Dir. Ēvalds Lācis

Cardboard (UK)
Dir. J.P. Vine

Snow Bear (US)
Dir. Aaron Blaise

The Naughty Seat (UK)
Dir. David Johnson

House Trap (Neth)
Dir. George Hampshire

The Big Bad Wolf (UK)
Dir. Leo Wright

Capybaras (Fr-Uruguay-Chile)
Dir. Alfredo Soderguit

Forevergreen (US)
Dirs. Nathan Engelhardt, Jeremy Spears

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