The 69th BFI London Movie Competition (LFF) in partnership with American Specific will probably be introduced in cinemas and on-line, throughout the UK.
Over twelve days from Eighth – Nineteenth October, the LFF will return to its improbable flagship venues within the coronary heart of London.
With such an intensive programme it may be a little bit bit intense in order we do yearly we’ve pulled out the movies we expect you our great viewers will get pleasure from …
LFF AWARD FILMS – Official Competitors
Hedda
An creative and classy reimagining of Henrik Ibsen’s famend play. This adaptation of Hedda Gabler is relocated to mid-century England, at a decadent occasion hosted by newlyweds in a home stuffed with secrets and techniques and hidden motives, together with former suitors. DaCosta crafts a scrumptious sport of female wishes and energy, with Hedda’s starvation to dwell outdoors societal conventions straining relations. Thompson is supported by glorious turns from
Imogen Poots and Nina Hoss. IM
Starring: Tessa Thompson | Nicholas Pinnock | Saffron Hocking | Jamael Westman
Screenwriter/ Director: Nia DaCosta
Producer: Nia DaCosta | Tessa Thompson
Courtesy of: Amazon MGM Studios
- Sunday twelfth October 2025 18:15 – BFI Southbank, NFT1
- Monday thirteenth October 2025 17:45 – Curzo Soho, Display 1
Black is Lovely
A touching tribute to a forgotten photographer, freedom fighter and activist, who helped popularise the transformative ‘Black is Lovely’ motion. Photographer to the greats, collaborator in African liberation actions and archivist of Harlem tradition, Kwame Brathwaite’s affect on Black tradition is simple. But his achievements went unrecognised for a few years. Bringing his story to gentle, this movie sees household and mates honour his artistry.
Wema Mumma
Director: Yemi Bamiro
Screenwriter (s): Otto Burnham | Yemi Bamiro
With: Gabrielle Union | Alicia Keys | Jesse Williams
Courtesy Of: Misfits Leisure
- Thursday ninth October 2025 18:00 – BFI Southbank, NFT1
- Saturday eleventh October 2025 12:20 – ICA, Display 1 – Bought Out!
LFF AWARDS – First Function Competitors
One Lady One Bra
A humorous account of 1 girl’s combat to maintain her ancestral land. It’s an thrilling day in Sayet Village. The chief is giving out title deeds and everyone will get one, besides orphan Star, who should first show her kinship. The vultures are circling and her job appears not possible, till a possible resolution reveals itself. There’s by no means a uninteresting second in Star’s quest, as she encounters catty neighbours, insidious NGOs and even potential love pursuits.
Director-Screenwriter: Vincho Nchogu
With: Sarah Karei | Norng’aruani Kipuker | Amos Leuka
Producer: Nia DaCosta | Tessa Thompson
Courtesy Of: Kilastory
- Saturday eleventh October 2025 20:30 – BFI Southbank, NFT2 – Bought Out!
- Sunday twelfth October 2025 17:40 – Curzon Soho Cinema, Display 2 – Bought Out!
- Sunday 12 October 2025 17:55 – Curzon Soho Cinema, Display 3 – Bought Out!
Dreamers
Two Nigerian migrants dare to think about a vibrant future outdoors of their confinement at a British immigration removing centre.
After undocumented immigrant Isio is found by British authorities, she is remanded at Hatchworth Elimination Centre, the place deportation looms. Nothing might have ready her for such a gruelling surroundings. Fortunately, her roommate Farah is there to maintain her spirits up. However what begins as a tentative friendship, blooms into one thing far more profound on this highly effective, heartfelt and all-too-pertinent drama.
Director-Screenwriter: Pleasure Gharoro-Akpojotor
With: Ronkẹ Adékọluẹ́jọ́ | Ann Akinjirin | Kemi Adekoya | Damola Adelaja | Sia Kiwa | Antonia Layiwola | Luyanda Unati Lewis-Nyawo | Dolapo Oni | Diana Yekinni
Courtesy Of: We Are Parable
- Friday tenth October 2025 18:25 – BFI Southbank, NFT1 – Bought Out!
- Saturday eleventh October 2025 12:30 – Curzon Mayfair, Display 1
My Father’s Shadow
Chronicles two brothers spending a uncommon day with their father in Lagos. Fola is an enigmatic determine in his sons’ lives. As they traverse Lagos, Remi and Akin start to know him as an individual, and the sacrifices he has made for them. However as Nigeria’s presidential election outcomes loom, occasions transpire that can dramatically change their relationship with him
Director: Akinola Davies Jr
Screenwriter(s): Akinola Davies Jr | Wale Davies
With: Ṣọpẹ́ Dìrísù | Chibuike Marvellous Egbo | Godwin Egbo
Courtesy Of: MUBI
- Friday seventeenth October 2025 21:00 – BFI Southbank, NFT1 – Bought Out!
- Saturday 18th October 2025 12:30 – Vue Westend, Display 5 – Bought Out!
LFF AWARDS – Documentary Competitors
The Eyes of Ghana
A love letter to cinema and Ghanian icon Chris Esse who, in his nineties, nonetheless works tirelessly to protect the nation’s movie legacy and the teachings of colonialism. Full of pleasure, verve and a devoted deal with the significance of self-representation, The Eyes of Ghana is a voyage by way of Ghanian cinema and a portrait of the nation, from cinema’s inception by way of to the current day. Esse joins forces with filmmaker Anita Afonu to deliver
to audiences a Ghanian perspective on their historical past – one which has been principally hidden till now.
Lynn Nwokorie
Director: Ben Proudfoot
Courtesy Of: Breakwater Studios
- Thursday ninth October 2025 20:45 ICA, Display 1
- Friday tenth October 2025 12:50 – BFI Southbank, NFT3- Bought Out!
Seeds
Sundance Movie Competition’s documentary Grand Jury Prize winner is an empathetic and soulful debut that vividly captures a neighborhood of Black farming households within the American South.
Filmed over seven years, director-cinematographer Brittany Shyne’s hanging monochrome movie follows generations of Black farmers as they navigate systemic challenges, together with discriminatory authorities subsidies that favour their white neighbours. Greater than a narrative of hardship, it’s an immersive portrait of their lives and non secular heritage. A deeply resonant movie, it presents a well timed exploration of land, racial justice and extractive capitalism.
Director: Britanny Shyne
Courtesy Of: INDOX
- Sunday eleventh October 2025 18:25 – BFI Southbank, NFT3- Bought Out!
- Friday tenth October 2025 20:10 – ICA, Display 1
The Traveler’s
David Bingong’s private movie is an intimate and hopeful account of the harmful journey taken by a gaggle of migrants from Cameroon to Europe.
A wealthy oral tapestry of resilience beats on the coronary heart of director’s David Bingong’s personal journey from Africa to Spain throughout 2014. In revealing this uncommon first-hand perspective of a migrant’s journey, Bingong highlights the sense of kinship he felt along with his fellow travellers. It’s a movie of humour, defiance and unbridled hope, fuelled by group’s perception of a greater life.
DirectScreenwriter: David Bingong
With: David Bingong | Hyppolite Bingong | Joseph Ilouga
Courtesy Of: Juliana Schwindt
- Thursday sixteenth October 2025 18:40 – BFI Southbank, NFT2- Bought Out!
- Friday seventeenth October 2025 12:00 – BFI Southbank, NFT3- Bought Out!
FILMS AND EVENTS – Dare
Reminiscence of Princess Mumbi
Set in 2093, this epic follows Kuve, a younger director who units out to make a documentary concerning the results of the First World Struggle on the residents of Umata. Kuve assembles a crew, together with Mumbi, an aspiring actress, who challenges them to shoot with out AI. Kuve finds himself falling for his main woman, however Mumbi harbours a secret that might change all the pieces.
Director/Screenwriter: Damien Hauser
With: Shandra Apondi | Ibrahim Joseph | Samson Waithaka
Courtesy Of: Paradise Metropolis Gross sales
- Tuesday 14th October 2025 21:00 BFI Southbank, NFT3 – Bought Out!
- Thursday sixteenth October 2025 12:10 BFI Southbank, NFT2 – Bought Out!
Hamlet
Hamlet and his rich British Asian household are reunited, however he’s pushed solely to establish his enemies and actual revenge. He finds spectacular foes in Polonius and Claudius , whereas Morfydd Clark brings a touching sensitivity to her Ophelia. Via daring stylistic selections, Karia brings a contemporary and radical studying to this basic textual content.
With: Jasmine Jobson | Riz Ahmed
Courtesy Of: Common Photos
- Monday thirteenth October 2025 18:00 – Curzon Mayfair, Display 1 – Bought Out!
- Tuesday 14th October 2025 20:15 – BFI Southbank, NFT2 – Bought Out!
- Thursday sixteenth October 2025 12:50 – BFI Southbank, NFT3 – Bought Out!
The Fence
On a white-run development web site in West Africa, an edgy, tightly wound foreman anxiously awaits his bride. Her presence is met with resistance by a cocksure engineer who clings to the established order of the hyper-masculine world he resides in. However it’s the arrival of one other stranger who finally upends the delicate world by which all of them exist. Tailored from Bernard-Marie Koltès’s play ‘Black Battles with Canine’, Denis’ riveting drama provides primacy to her actors – their dialogues expressing internal wishes and articulating the broader societal inequities that prevail between those that reside on both facet of the fence.
With: Isaach de Bankolé
Courtesy Of: Goodfellas
- Saturday 18th October 2025 12:00 – Vue West Finish, Display 7 – Bought out!
- Sunday Nineteenth October 2025 20:30 – Vue West Finish, Display 5
FILMS AND EVENTS – Love
Love, Brooklyn
Roger, a journalist with author’s block, is relationship Casey, a widow and mom who’s clear about her wants. His ex, Nicole, is combating to carry onto her artwork gallery. As a love triangle develops, their native borough undergoes rising gentrification. Channelling the spirit of movies like Brown Sugar and Love Jones, Holder has created a Black rom-com that delights in each potential manner.
Director: Rachael Abigail Holder
With: André Holland | Nicole Beharie | DeWanda Clever
Courtesy Of: CAA
- Friday tenth October 2025 18:20 – Vue West Finish, Display 5 – Bought Out!
- Saturday eleventh October 2025 20:10 – Curzon Soho Cinema, Display 2 – Bought Out!
- Saturday eleventh October 2025 20:25 – Curzon Soho Cinema, Display 3 – Bought Out!
- Saturday 18th October 2025 20:55 – BFI Southbank, NFT3 – Bought Out!
FILMS AND EVENTS – Journey
Promised Sky
Preacher Marie, younger mom Naney and pupil Jolie share a home, every having moved to Tunisia on the promise of a ‘higher’ life. Regardless of their variations, they band collectively to shelter Kenza, an orphaned migrant who has washed ashore. Unwilling to sugar-coat the difficulties of migrant lives, Sehiri presents an empathetic portrait of those ladies and the ability of their sisterhood.
With: Aïssa Maiga | Debora Lobe Naney | Laetitia Ky
Courtesy Of: CAA
- Thursday ninth October 2025 20:45 – BFI Southbank, NFT2 – Bought Out!
- Saturday eleventh October 2025 12:15 – Curzon Soho Cinema, Display 2
- Saturday eleventh October 2025 12:30 – Curzon Soho Cinema, Display 3
Mortu Nega
Chronicling the tip of Guinea-Bissau’s conflict of independence and the primary steps in the direction of a self-determining republic, Gomes’ portrait of a younger couple’s love affair sidesteps the didactic tropes that underpin some stridently political movies. Astonishing war-time set items are interspersed with the tragedies and romances of a younger nation to mesmerising impact. The end result is without doubt one of the treasures of African cinema.
Director: Flora Gomes
Screenwriter(s): Flora Gomes
With: Bia Gomez | Tunu Eugenia Almada | Mamadu Uri Balde
Courtesy Of: The Movie Basis
Restored in 2025 by the Movie Basis’s World Cinema Challenge and Cineteca di Bologna at L’Immagine Ritrovata laboratory, in collaboration with Flora Gomes. Funding offered by the Hobson/Lucas Household Basis.
FILMS AND EVENTS – Chortle
Extra Life
In his superlative hangout movie, a few group of outdated mates who reunite to have a good time considered one of their very own opening a gallery present in Copenhagen, Banton manages to make the formal format of the movie really feel contemporary, and expertly handles delicate shifts in tone and dynamic. It’s a deftly carried out drama, significantly by Tuwaine Barrett, who was final seen in Laborious Truths.
Director/Screenwriter: Bradley Banton
With: Tuwaine Barrett | Dipo Ola | Jordan Peters
Courtesy Of: DMC Movie
- Tuesday 14th October 2025 18:30 – Prince Charles Cinema, Downstairs Display
- Friday seventeenth October 2025 21:00 – Vue West Finish, Display 5
Untamable
In bustling Yaoundé, Cameroon, Police Commissioner Billong runs a decent ship to maintain crime at bay. However chaos erupts one night time when a colleague is murdered. Billong battles mounting work pressures and household calls for to manage this high-stakes investigation. An outstanding ensemble forged, drawing out the complexity of their characters, complement each the edgy comedy and motion of this spectacular thriller.
Director/Screenwriter: Thomas Ngijol
With: Danilo Melande | Bienvenu Mvoe | Thérèse Ngono
Courtesy Of: Goodfellas
- Friday tenth October 2025 18:15 – Curzon Soho Cinema, Display 2 – Bought Out!
- Friday tenth October 2025 18:30 – Curzon Soho Cinema, Display 3 – Bought Out!
- Sunday twelfth October 2025 13:00 – BFI Southbank, NFT3 – Bought Out!
FILMS AND EVENTS – Create
Khartoum
This mosaic of 5 Sudanese lives (a civil servant, a tea woman, a resistance volunteer and two avenue boys), uprooted in 2023 by the civil conflict, was created by a equally displaced filmmaking workforce. Mixing oral storytelling, archival analysis and staged reenactments, Khartoum eschews journalistic distance because it explores filmmaking as a channel for resistance, remembrance and the novel potential of dreaming amid devastation.
Director(s): Rawia Alhag | Ibrahim Snoopy | Anas Saeed | Timeea M Ahmed
With: Danilo Melande | Bienvenu Mvoe | Thérèse Ngono
Courtesy Of: Autlook Filmsales
- Saturday 11 October 2025 21:10 – BFI Southbank, NFT3 – Bought Out!
- Sunday twelfth October 2025 13:05- ICA, Display 1- – Bought Out!
Blows: Phrases & Circumstances
Utilizing each W.E.B. DuBois’ Encyclopedia Africana (the scholar’s chronicle of African-American life) and Joseph’s circle of relatives historical past as leaping off factors, BLKNWS defies any straightforward classification. In some scenes, the movie is essayistic, using clips and memes as a historical past lesson. In others, it’s Afrofuturist, following a speculative Biennale cruise. Joseph’s distinctive voice and filmmaking type make this an completely compelling watch.
Director: Khalil Joseph
Screenwriters: Kahlil Joseph | Onye Anyanwu | Saidiya Hartman | Kristen Adele Calhoun | Irvin Hunt | Christina Sharpe | Madebo Fatunde
With: Shaunette Renée Wilson | Hope Giselle | Zora Casebere
Courtesy Of: Wealthy Spirit
- Sunday twelfth October 2025 15:15 – BFI Southbank, NFT1
- Monday thirteenth October 2025 18:10 – ICA, Display 1
- Sunday Nineteenth October 2025 15:00 – Curzon Soho Cinema, Display 2
- Sunday Nineteenth October 2025 15:15 – Curzon Soho Cinema, Display 3
SHORTS
Are You Kidding:
- Friday tenth October 2025 20:45 – Vue West Finish, Display 5 – Bought out!
- Thursday sixteenth October 2025 16:30 – BFI Southbank, NFT2 – Bought out!
Finish Of Play
A person finds himself in a life-or-death race in opposition to the clock to beat his inventive block earlier than his head explodes.
Director-screenwriter: Edem Wornoo
With: Sope Dirisu
UK 2025. 15min
Discovering House:
- Wednesday fifteenth October 2025 20:30 – Curzon Soho Cinema, Display 1 – Bought out!
- Friday seventeenth October 2025 15:50 – BFI Southbank, NFT2 – Bought out
Ackee and Saltfish
Hilda grows despondent as she fears her boys’ Caribbean id is slipping away, anglicised by their new life within the UK.
Director-screenwriter: Jasmin Nunes
UK 2025. 16min
Seventeen
We observe a gaggle of teenage skaters in London over a single summer season, charting their journey from childhood to maturity.
Director: Ajuan Isaac-George
UK 2024. 17min
So Right here We Are
A younger man, torn between need and desires, permits a telephone name to decide on his future.
Director(s): Warren Mendy | Mahaila Palmer
Screenwriter: Warren Mendy
UK 2024. 8min
Hope is Misplaced
A single mom arrives in London together with her two infants, determined for shelter. She turns to a seemingly benevolent stranger, unaware of the hazard that awaits her.
Director-screenwriter: Eno Enefiok
UK-Macedonia 2025. 16min
Mapped Out Futures:
- Monday thirteenth October 2025 20:40 – Vue West Finish, Display 5 – Bought out!
- Thursday sixteenth October 2025 20:50 – BFI Southbank, NFT4 – Bought out
Child
Trapped in a intercourse trafficking community, Child’s guilt over her complicity compels her to avoid wasting another person’s future.
Director: Simisolaoluwa Akande
Screenwriter: Mojola Akinyemi
UK 2025. 18min
Freeway to the Moon
Discovering himself in a realm referred to as ‘The Inbetween’, Micah embarks on a journey to rediscover his manner residence.
Director-screenwriter: Letitia Wright
UK 2025. 25min
Roots and Branches:
- Wednesday Eighth October 2025 20:40 – BFI Southbank, NFT1 – Bought out!
- Friday tenth October 2025 17:30 – BFI Southbank, NFT3 – Bought out!
We Had Enjoyable
An eldest son treats himself to a weekend getaway, dangerously leaving his siblings to their very own gadgets.
Director-screenwriter: Linda Lô
France 2025. 18min
Past the Rush
The decline of Luton’s once-thriving Caribbean tradition is seen by way of the prism of pivotal occasions, and establishments that confronted defunding for years.
Director-screenwriter: NIYADRE
UK 2025. 16min
Mud to Goals
Set in Lagos, the place a dying nightclub proprietor entrusts her legacy to her shy daughter, a long-lost father ignites household drama, and music turns into their redemption.
Director-screenwriter: Idris Elba
Nigeria 2024. 20min
Present Me Who I Am:
- Tuesday 14th October 2025 21:00 – Vue West Finish, Display 5 – Bought out!
- Thursday sixteenth October 2025 18:15 – BFI Southbank, NFT4 – Bought out!
22+1
A pair navigating late-term being pregnant loss are confronted with the truth of racism within the healthcare system.
Director: Pippa Bennett-Warner
Screenwriters: Pippa Vosper, Pippa Bennett-Warner, Kefi Chadwick
UK 2025. 20min
Crusts
Paris navigates her relationship together with her hair and id, on this coming-of-age story about present outdoors of the norm.
Director-screenwriter: India Sleem
UK 2025. 16min
Darkish Pores and skin Bruises In a different way
When a lie threatens a instructor’s integrity, can she proceed defending a peculiar pupil from her class?
Director-screenwriter: Susan Wokoma
UK 2025. 11min
The BFI London Movie Competition Runs Eighth-Nineteenth October.
Tickets from £10 (£6 for 25 and Underneath) on sale sixteenth September.