London Film Fest Unveils Full Program, Including Doc and First Feature Competition Lineups, Series

The BFI London Film Festival (LFF) 2024 will screen documentaries about “witches,” and zoos and animal rescue centers in Argentina, as well as first features from directors of varied backgrounds, organizers said on Wednesday as they unveiled the full program for this year’s event.

Overall, LFF will screen 253 titles, including features films, shorts, series, and immersive works, that hail from 79 countries and feature 64 languages. Of the total, 112 works are made by female and non-binary filmmakers, or 44 percent of the program, the fest said.

The London doc lineup includes the likes of Elizabeth Sankey’s 90-minute goth-y Witches, which posits a connection between historical witchery and post-partum psychological suffering and debuted at the Tribeca Film Festival. 

Meanwhile, the first feature program at LFF includes Denise Fernandes’ Hanami, which recently world-premiered at the Locarno Film Festival, and Neo Sora’s Happyend, which debuted at Venice 2024.

LFF Series will once again “showcase compelling series and episodic programming throughout the strands, with new work from some of the world’s most exciting film and TV creatives, including Steven Knight, Jon Brown, Thomas Vinterberg, Sam Mendes, Alfonso Cuarón, Janicza Bravo, Nick Murphy and Tinge Krishnan,” the fest said.

Last week, the LFF revealed its 11 competition program titles, including new movies with Barry Keoghan, Nick Cave, and the voices of Sarah Snook and Eric Bana. Among them are The Extraordinary Miss Flower, the new film from Iain Forsyth and Jane Pollard, known for their Cave movie 20,000 Days on Earth, and the Luca Guadagnino-produced April from Georgia’s Dea Kulumbegashvili, whose feminist debut feature Beginning drew rave reviews.

As in previous years, LFF’s program beyond the competition sections is organized by strand “to encourage discovery and to open up the festival to new audiences.” The strands are: Love, Debate, Laugh, Dare, Thrill, Cult, Journey, Create, Experimenta, Family, Shorts and Treasures. Audiences can also find new and exciting Series programming in many of the strands. Premieres include 40 world premieres (of16 features, two series, 19 shorts, and three immersive projects), 12 international premieres (six features, four shorts, two immersive) and 21 European premieres (17 features, one series, three shorts). 

The Debate strand, for example, will include the likes of Asif Kapadia’s Venice Film Festival title 2073, Sergei Loznitsa’s Ukraine doc The Invasion, Göran Hugo Olsson’s Israel Palestine on Swedish TV 1958-1989, and Wang Bing’s Youth (Homecoming).

“Cinematic ideas materialize in many forms, and this year artists have taken us to some giddy highs and poked at our tender underbellies,” said festival director Kristy Matheson. “Troubled histories linger close to the surface alongside optimistic futures, all explored in unique and creative ways.”

Added BFI CEO Ben Roberts: “The real joy of LFF for me is seeing the hard work of so many talented filmmakers come to life and given the prominence and noise that they deserve.”

Check out some of the latest program lineup additions for LFF 2024 below.

First Feature Competition
Crocodile Tears (director Tumpal Tampubolon)
Hanami (director Denise Fernandes)
Happyend (director Neo Sora)
Last Swim (director Sasha Nathwani)
My Eternal Summer (director Sylvia Le Fanu)
Olivia & the Clouds (director Tomás Pichardo-Espaillat)
On Falling (director Laura Carreira)
Santosh (director Sandhya Suri)
September Says (director Ariane Labed)
To a Land Unknown (director Mahdi Fleifel)
Who Do I Belong to (director Meryam Joobeur)

Documentary Competition
Collective Monologue (director Jessica Sarah Rinland)
Holloway (directors Sophie Compton, Daisy-May Hudson)
Kamay (directors Ilyas Yourish, Shahrokh Bikaran)
Mother Vera (directors Cécile Embleton, Alys Tomlinson)
Rising up at Night (director Nelson Makengo)
Seeking Mavis Beacon (director Jazmin Jones)
The Shadow Scholars (director Eloise King)
Witches (director Elizabeth Sankey)

LFF Series
Thomas Vinterberg’s Families Like Ours
Alfonso Cuarón’s Disclaimer
Jordan Tannahill’s The Listeners
Steven Knight’s A Thousand Blows
co-directors Sam Mendes and Liza Johnson’s The Franchise

Short Film Competition
ADURA BABA MI (Director-Screenwriter Juliana Kasumu, UK)
COLD SNAP (Director-Screenwriter Ellen Evans, UK)
DRAGFOX (Director Lisa Ott, UK)
I DON’T WANT TO BE JUST A MEMORY (Director Sarnt Utamachote, Germany)
MAGIC CANDIES (Director Nishio Daisuke, Japan)
MOTHER’S DAY (Director-Screenwriter Emily Burnett, UK)
SEE IT, SAY IT (Director-Screenwriter Nez Khammal, UK)
STOMACH BUG (Director-Screenwriter Matty Crawford, UK)
TWO REFUSALS (WOULD WE RECOGNIZE OURSELVES UNBROKEN?) (Director Suneil Sanzgiri, USA)
VIBRATIONS FROM GAZA (Director-Screenwriter Rehab Nazzal, Palestine-Canada)

Love
ALL OF YOU (Director William Bridges, UK)
ALL SHALL BE WELL (Director-Screenwriter Ray Yeung, Hong Kong (S.A.R of China))
AT AVERROES & ROSA PARKS (Director Nicolas Philibert, France)
GRAND TOUR (Director Miguel Gomes, Portugal-Italy-France)
I’M YOUR VENUS (Director Kimberly Reed, USA)
MOTHERBOARD (Director-Screenwriter Victoria Mapplebeck, UK)
PATRICE: THE MOVIE (Director Ted Passon, USA)
PAVEMENTS (Director-Screenwriter Alex Ross Perry, USA)
QUEENS OF DRAMA (Director Alexis Langlois, France-Belgium)
SEX (Director-Screenwriter Dag Johan Haugerud, Norway)
TARIKA (Director Milko Lazarov, Bulgaria-Germany-Luxembourg)
WEIGHTLESS (Director Sara Fgaier, Italy)
WHEN FALL IS COMING (Director François Ozon, France)
WHEN THE LIGHT BREAKS (Director-Screenwriter Rúnar Rúnarsson, Iceland-Netherlands-Croatia-France)

Debate
2073 (Director Asif Kapadia, UK)
BLACK BOX DIARIES (Director Shiori Itō, Japan-USA-UK)
THE CATS OF GOKOGU SHRINE (Director Kazuhiro Soda, Japan-USA)
FAMILIES LIKE OURS (Series Creator-Director Thomas Vinterberg, Denmark-France-Sweden-Czechia-Belgium-Norway-Germany)
I AM NEVENKA (Director Icíar Bollaín, Spain-Italy)
THE INVASION (Director-Screenwriter Sergei Loznitsa, Netherlands-France-USA)
ISRAEL PALESTINE ON SWEDISH TV 1958-1989 (Director-Screenwriter Göran Hugo Olsson, Sweden-Finland-Denmark)
JULIE KEEPS QUIET (Director Leonardo Van Dijl, Belgium-Sweden)
THE LISTENERS (Series Creator-Screenwriter Jordan Tannahill, UK)
THREE KILOMETRES TO THE END OF THE WORLD (Director Emanuel Pârvu, Romania)
YOUTH (Homecoming) (Director Wang Bing, France-Luxembourg-Netherlands)

Laugh
AUDREY (Director Natalie Bailey, Australia)
THE GUTTER (Directors Isaiah Lester, Yassir Lester, USA)
THE OTHER WAY AROUND (Director Jonás Trueba, Spain-France)
RUMOURS (Directors Guy Maddin, Evan Johnson, Galen Johnson, Canada-Germany)
SOFA, SO GOOD (Director-Screenwriters Kyle Thiele, Eli Thiele, Cole Thiele, USA)
A TRAVELER’S NEEDS (Director-Screenwriter Hong Sangsoo, South Korea)
TRIUMPH (Directors Kristina Grozeva, Petar Valchanov, Bulgaria-Greece)
UNIVERSAL LANGUAGE (Director Matthew Rankin, Canada)

Dare
BIONICO’S BACHATA (Director Yoel Morales, Dominican Republic)
CAUGHT BY THE TIDES (Director Jia Zhangke, China)
CIDADE; CAMPO (Director-Screenwriter Juliana Rojas, Brazil-Germany-France)
DON’T CRY, BUTTERFLY (Director-Screenwriter Dương Diệu Linh, Vietnam-Singapore-Philippines-Indonesia)
EIGHT POSTCARDS FROM UTOPIA (Director-Screenwriters Radu Jude, Christian Ferencz-Flatz, Romania)
FAMILIAR TOUCH (Director-Screenwriter Sarah Friedland, USA)
MY STOLEN PLANET (Director-Screenwriter Farahnaz Sharifi, Germany-Iran)
THE NIGHTS STILL SMELL OF GUNPOWDER (Director-Screenwriter Inadelso Cossa, Mozambique-France-Germany-Portugal-Netherlands-Norway)
PEPE (Director-Screenwriter Nelson Carlos De los Santos Arias, Dominican Republic-Namibia-Germany-France)
PRAIA FORMOSA (Director Julia de Simone, Portugal-Brazil)
SANATORIUM UNDER THE SIGN OF THE HOURGLASS (Director-Screenwriters Quay Brothers, UK-Poland-Germany)
SOUNDTRACK TO A COUP D’ÊTAT (Director-Screenwriter Johan Grimonprez, Belgium-France-Netherlands)
SUGAR ISLAND (Director-Screenwriter Johanné Gómez Terrero, Dominican Republic-Spain)
VIÊT AND NAM (Director-Screenwriter Trương Minh Quý, Philippines-France-Singapore-Netherlands-Italy-Germany-Vietnam)

Thrill
AÏCHA (Director-Screenwriter Mehdi M. Barsaoui, Tunisia-France-Italy-Saudi Arabia-Qatar)
ARCHITECTON (Director-Screenwriter Victor Kossakovsky, Germany-France)
LA COCINA (Director-Screenwriter Alonso Ruizpalacios, Mexico-USA)
EAT THE NIGHT (Directors Caroline Poggi, Jonathan Vinel, France)
GHOST TRAIL (Director Jonathan Millet, France-Germany-Belgium)
MALDOROR (Director Fabrice du Welz, Belgium-France)
MARCO, THE INVENTED TRUTH (Directors Aitor Arregi, Jon Garaño, Spain)
MISERICORDIA (Director-Screenwriter Alain Guiraudie, France-Spain-Portugal)
SKINCARE (Director Austin Peters, USA-Italy)
STRANGER EYES (Director-Screenwriter Yeo Siew Hua, Singapore-Taiwan-France-USA)
A THOUSAND BLOWS (Series Creator-Screenwriter Steven Knight, UK)

Cult
THE BALCONETTES (Director Noémie Merlant, France)
CHAIN REACTIONS (Director-Screenwriter Alexandre O. Philippe, USA)
FRÉWAKA (Director-Screenwriter Aislinn Clarke, Ireland)
SISTER MIDNIGHT (Director-Screenwriter Karan Kandhari, UK)
THE SURFER (Director Lorcan Finnegan, Australia-Ireland)
THE WAILING (Director Pedro Martín-Calero, Spain-Argentina-France)
THE WEEKEND (Director Daniel Oriahi, Nigeria)

Journey
AFTER THE LONG RAINS (Director-Screenwriter Damien Hauser, Kenya-Switzerland)
BABY (Director Marcelo Caetano, Brazil)
EEPHUS (Director Carson Lund, USA-France)
FLOW (Director Gints Zilbalodis, Latvia-France-Belgium)
GOOD ONE (Director-Screenwriter India Donaldson, USA)
LAYLA (Director-Screenwriter Amrou Al-Kadhi, UK)
LOOK INTO MY EYES (Director Lana Wilson, USA)
MY EVERYTHING (Director-Screenwriter Anne-Sophie Bailly, France)
SEBASTIAN (Director-Screenwriter Mikko Mäkelä, UK-Belgium-Finland)
SHAMBHALA (Director-Screenwriter Min Bahadur Bham, Nepal-France-Norway-Turkey-Hong Kong (S.A.R of China)-Taiwan-USA-Qatar)
SUJO (Director-Screenwriters Astrid Rondero, Fernanda Valadez, Mexico-France-USA)
SUPER/MAN: THE CHRISTOPHER REEVE STORY (Directors Ian Bonhôte, Peter Ettedgui, UK-USA)
TREADING WATER (Director-Screenwriter Gino Evans, UK)
THE VILLAGE NEXT TO PARADISE (Director-Screenwriter Mo Harawe, Austria-France-Germany-Somalia)

Create
ABIDING NOWHERE (Director Tsai Ming-liang, Taiwan-USA)
ERNEST COLE: LOST & FOUND (Director-Screenwriter Raoul Peck, France-USA)
GRAND THEFT HAMLET (Director-Screenwriters Pinny Grylls, Sam Crane, UK)
IT’S NOT ME (Director-Screenwriter Leos Carax, France)
ONE TO ONE: JOHN & YOKO (Directors Kevin Macdonald, Sam Rice-Edwards, UK)
PAULINE BLACK: A 2-TONE STORY (Director Jane Mingay, UK)
THE STIMMING POOL (The Neurocultures Collective (Sam Chown Ahern, Georgia Bradburn, Benjamin Brown, Robin Elliott-Knowles, Lucy Walker), Steven Eastwood, UK)
SUPERBOYS OF MALEGAON (Director Reema Kagti, India)
TWIGGY (Director Sadie Frost, UK)
TWO STRANGERS TRYING NOT TO KILL EACH OTHER (Director Jacob Perlmutter, Manon Ouimet, UK-Denmark-USA)
THE WAY WE TALK (Director Adam Wong Sau-Ping, Hong Kong (S.A.R of China))

Experimenta
THE TREASURY OF HUMAN INHERITANCE (Director-Screenwriter Alexis Kyle Mitchell, Canada-UK)
I DON’T WANT TO BE JUST A MEMORY (Director Sarnt Utamachote, Germany)
FORMS OF CIRCULATION #1 (Director-Screenwriters Paul Stewart, Sarah Perks, UK)
THE RIVER THAT NEVER ENDS (Director-Screenwriter JT Trinidad, Philippines)
NOTES: REMEMBERED AND FOUND (Director-Screenwriter Maria Anastassiou, UK-Cyprus)
TWO REFUSALS (WOULD WE RECOGNIZE OURSELVES UNBROKEN?) (Director Suneil Sanzgiri, USA)
FILE NO. 2304 (Director-Screenwriter A.S.M. Kobayashi, Canada-USA)
AT THE VERGE OF WORDLESSNESS (Director-Screenwriter Alaa Abu Asad, Netherlands)
AVANT SERIANA (Director-Screenwriter Samy Benammar, Canada-Algeria)
NIDO DE CROCODILO (Director-Screenwriter Jazmin Rojas Forero, Colombia-Germany)
NON/LIVING (Director-Screenwriter Müge Yildiz, Turkey-Finland)
TWO STONES (Director Noel Meek, Aotearoa New Zealand)
HEXHAM HEADS (Director-Screenwriters Chloë Delanghe, Mattijs Driesen, Belgium)
THE FLESH OF LANGUAGE (Director-Screenwriter Amanda Rice, Ireland)
HEMEL (Director Danielle Dean, UK)
OUR LADY WHO BURNS (Director-Screenwriter Alice dos Reis, Portugal)
DIRECT ACTION (Directors Guillaume Cailleau, Ben Russell, Germany, France)
A FIDAI FILM (Director Kamal Aljafari, Palestine)
UNDR (Director Kamal Aljafari, Palestine)
A NIGHT WE HELD BETWEEN (Director-Screenwriter Noor Abed, Palestine)
NO EXORCISM FILM (Director-Screenwriter Komtouch Napattaloong, Thailand)
SMALL HOURS OF THE NIGHT (Director-Screenwriter Daniel Hui, Singapore)

Experimenta Works in Progress:
15 IRANIAN YEARS (Adonia Bouchehri)
CTRL+Z (Parwana Haydar)
THE KRUEGER INSTITUTE (Mahenderpal Sorya)
I AM A DALE (Edd Carr)

Family
BLINK (Directors Edmund Stenson, Daniel Roher, Canada-USA)
THE COLOURS WITHIN (Director Naoko Yamada, Japan)
SAVAGES (Director Claude Barras, Switzerland-France-Belgium)
WATERSHIP DOWN (Director Martin Rosen, UK)

Animated Shorts for Younger Audiences:
COO-RAGE (Director Alina Milkina, Netherlands)
LOVE AT FIRST WAF (Directors Louise Le Toullec, Helene Gouil, France)
WHO’S WRONG? (Directors Stina Wirsén, Linda Hambäck, Sweden)
THE BRAVE LOCOMOTIVE (Director Andrew Chesworth, USA)
THE ODD CARROT (Director Inese Pavēne, UK)
FREELANCE (Directors Luciano A Muñoz Sessarego, Magnus I. Møller, Peter Smith, Denmark)
THE CHILD OF THE WAVES (Directors Valentine Hilarin, Gaelle Bejjani, Yuhan Wang, Martin Gross, Noam Szwarc, Sofian Pourquery-de-Boisserin, France)
HELLO SUMMER (Directors-Screenwriters Martin Smatana, Veronika Zacharová, Slovakia-Czechia-France)
MAGIC CANDIES (Director Nishio Daisuke, Japan)

Treasures
THE CHURNING (Director Shyam Benegal, India)
MANJI (Director Yasuzô Masumura, Japan)
MARÍA CANDELARIA (Director Emilio Fernández, Mexico)
THE SEALED SOIL (Director Marva Nabili, Iran)
THE TALK OF THE TOWN (Director George Stevens, USA)