From Amy Adams to Pedro Pascal, legendary directors to newcomers on the scene, fan favourites to foreign masterpieces, the upcoming festival promises to be one of the best.
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Over 12 days from Wednesday, October 7 to Sunday, October 18, London’s iconic cinemas, including BFI’s own Southbank cinema, will host an array of films from around the world.
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Elsinore follows the story of actor Ian Charleson, who took on the role of Hamlet at the National Theatre in the final few months of his life while terminally ill from Aids.
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who → follow → Aids
As he transforms into one of Shakespeare’s most famous characters for the performance of a lifetimes, the bard’s own meditations on mortality and grief begin to mirror his own life.
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Why we’re excited
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This film, which kicks off the festival, has already received acclaim following debut screenings at various autumn festivals.
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Many have already deemed Scott to be in contention for the Best Actor awards at the Academy Awards, in a performance hailed by critics as "astonishing" and “for the ages".
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Pedro Pascal stars as Alex Serian, a gifted child prodigy turned classical musician who, following a bad relationship, flees from Chicago, the city he has called home for 20 years.
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Back in his native LA, he begins recording film scores and dealing with the family business, embarking on a music-powered journey that will “change him forever”.
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Why we’re excited
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Behemoth! marks Tony Gilroy’s first film in 14 years, arriving four years after his major commercial and critical success with the Disney+ series Andor.
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The director is best known for his work on the Jason Bourne series.
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Ink
Starring: Jack O'Connell, Guy Pearce and Claire Foy
In 1969, Rupert Murdoch, played by Guy Pearce, acquired The Sun, hiring gifted editor Larry Lamb to change the paper’s fortunes.
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Murdoch → star → fortunes
Their ensuing Fleet Street partnership went on to change both British journalism and society forever.
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partnership → ensue → journalism
Why we’re excited
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Danny Boyle’s movie is based on a 2017 West End play that racked up four Olivier Award nominations in 2018, whilst its Broadway adaptation in 2019 won two Tony Awards.
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The Spanish-language film explores LGBT heritage across three interconnected stories of three men in 1932, 1937, and 2017.
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It is inspired by and pays tribute to murdered Spanish poet and playwright Federico García Lorca.
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Why we’re excited
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The film, directed by Javier Calvo and Javier Ambrossi, known together as Los Javis, took Cannes by storm in May, receiving a 20-minute ovation before winning Best Director for Calvo and Ambrossi.
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A bidding war for the US rights broke out over the film, which was ultimately won by Netflix in a deal worth around $4–5million.
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A celebrated architect, played by Barden, is offered the chance to secretly design a survival bunker for a billionaire who is convinced that the end of the world is coming.
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end → play → world
As he gets lured in by the controversial project, his wife, played by Cruz, begins to question their 17-year-long relationship.
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wife → lure → relationship
Why we’re excited
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The film is written specifically for real-life couple Cruz and Bardem, as well as being directed by Florian Zeller, a French filmmaker who won the Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay for The Father in 2021.
Club Kid
Starring: Jordan Firstman, Cara Delevingne, Diego Calva and Travis Jackson
The comedy-drama film, written, directed, and starring Jordan Firstman, follows a washed-up New York party promoter who sees his hectic lifestyle brought to a standstill when he discovers he has a 10-year-old son he knew nothing about.
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Why we’re excited
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During its world premiere at the 79th Cannes Film Festival in the Un Certain Regard section, it received a seven-minute standing ovation.
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A heated bidding war promptly followed, which was ultimately won by A24 for $17million.
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Starring: Ruth Madeley, Mark Ruffalo, Dylan O'Brien, Madeline Delp, and Rob Delaney
The historical drama centres on Judy Heumann, known as the “Mother of the Disability Rights Movement”.
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It explores her historic 28-day occupation of San Francisco's Federal Building in 1977, as she united protesters in a fight for accessibility laws and equal rights.
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Why we’re excited
Oscar-winning filmmaker Siân Heder (CODA) is at the helm, with its depiction of different types of disabliities being praised as “stirring stuff”.
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A Norwegian woman, played by Reinsve, relocates with her Conservative Christian husband, played by Stan, and their five children to a close-knit remote coastal town.
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woman → play → town
Their world is soon turned upside down when suspicions around their children’s wellbeing place the rigid parents under intense scrutiny.
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Why we’re excited
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The film premiered in the main competition of the 2026 Cannes Film Festival in May, where it received a 12-minute standing ovation and won the Palme d'Or, François Chalais Prize, FIPRESCI Prize, Prize of the Ecumenical Jury, and Prix de la Citoyenneté.
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it → premier → Jury
Klara and The Sun
Starring: Jenna Ortega, Amy Adams, Mia Tharia, Natasha Lyonne and Steve Buscemi
Taika Waititi’s dystopian science fiction film sees Ortega play Klara, a solar powered Artifical Friend (AF) who is chosen by sickly child Josie to be her companion, bringing light to Josie and her family’s complicated world.
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Why we’re excited
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The film is an adaptation of the best-selling 2021 novel by Kazuo Ishiguro, acclaimed British-Japanese author whose novel Never Let Me Go was adapted into a 2010 film starring Carey Mulligan, Andrew Garfield and Keira Knightly.
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Ortega also said that she was drawn to the role of ever-optimistic Klara “who’s very different from the characters that I’ve been playing recently,” she told Empire, expressing her desire not to be type cast.
Paper Tiger
Starring: Adam Driver, Scarlett Johansson, and Miles Teller
Set in 1980s New York, two brothers who pursue a lucrative business opportunity end up finding themselves caught up in a scheme that involves the Russian Mafia.
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The promise of easy money soon turns into real danger, testing their bond as siblings as their family is pushed to the edge.
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family → turn → edge
…and 8 more, not listed.
The Aporia
