Australian and New Zealand filmmakers, actors and artists feature across this year's BFI London Film Festival, from the prestigious Opening Night Gala and major premieres to new Australian features, shorts and immersive work.
The 70th edition of the festival runs from 7–18 October, bringing 251 films, series, shorts and immersive works from 88 countries to venues across London and the UK.
Simon Stone opens the festival with Elsinore
The festival gets underway on 7 October with the European premiere of Elsinore, directed by acclaimed Australian filmmaker Simon Stone.
The film stars Andrew Scott as actor Ian Charleson and tells the true story of Charleson's celebrated performance as Hamlet at the National Theatre while facing his own mortality during the AIDS crisis.
Olivia Colman, Billie Piper, Johnny Flynn, Juliet Stevenson, Adeel Akhtar and Peter Mullan also feature in the ensemble cast.
Taika Waititi brings Klara and the Sun to London
New Zealand filmmaker Taika Waititi returns to the festival with one of its major Gala presentations, Klara and the Sun.
Adapted from Nobel Prize-winning author Kazuo Ishiguro's bestselling novel, the film stars Jenna Ortega as Klara, an Artificial Friend created to alleviate loneliness, alongside Amy Adams, Mia Tharia, Steve Buscemi and Natasha Lyonne.
The film marks another major international project for the Academy Award-winning Kiwi filmmaker behind Jojo Rabbit, Hunt for the Wilderpeople and Boy.
Prima Facie moves from stage to screen
Australian playwright and screenwriter Suzie Miller's international phenomenon Prima Facie receives its eagerly awaited screen adaptation at the festival.
The UK-Australian production stars Cynthia Erivo as Tessa, a successful barrister whose faith in the legal system is transformed when she experiences sexual assault herself.
Miller has adapted her own Olivier Award-winning play for the screen, with Susanna White directing. Erivo will also take part in a special BFI Screen Talk during the festival to discuss her career and her performance in the film.
New Australian features
Several new Australian films also feature across the programme.
Australian filmmaker Dario Russo makes his feature debut with dark comedy The Fox. Set in the Australian outback, the film stars Emily Browning and Jai Courtney, alongside the vocal talents of Olivia Colman and the late New Zealand acting legend Sam Neill.
The festival will also host the international premiere of Hyun Lee's Australian debut feature French Girls, a micro-budget comedy-drama following a young woman's unexpected entry into the modelling world.
Writer, director and actor Harvey Zielinski brings Sweet Milk Lake, in which a young trans man returning home to see his estranged and dying father is mistaken for his cisgender twin brother. Zielinski stars alongside Hunter Page-Lochard and Kieran Darcy-Smith.
Australian and New Zealand shorts
The short-film programme also includes work from both countries.
Australian filmmaker James Ashley McLaren's A Grief Encounter appears as part of the As the Years Roll By programme. The 12-minute short follows a struggling taxidermy artist whose flirtation with a customer takes an unexpected turn.
For younger audiences, New Zealand is represented by Chris Callus's animated short Grounded, about a spider attempting to help a ladybird learn to fly. It screens as part of the festival's Animated Shorts for Younger Audiences programme.
Cate Blanchett at LFF
Australian actor and producer Cate Blanchett also has a presence at this year's festival through the Displacement Film Fund, which she founded and leads.
The initiative supports displaced filmmakers and filmmakers telling authentic stories about displacement. LFF will present its inaugural collection of shorts, with Blanchett due to join filmmaker guests for an extended introduction to the programme.
The collection includes films from filmmakers Maryna Er Gorbach, Shahrbanoo Sadat, Hasan Kattan and Fadi Al Halabi, Mo Harawe and Mohammad Rasoulof.
Australian creativity in LFF Expanded
Australian work also extends beyond conventional cinema screenings.
The World Came Flooding In, from Isobel Knowles and Van Sowerwine, is an Australian XR experience created with communities affected by flooding. Using cardboard models, photogrammetry, sound and virtual environments, it reconstructs homes lost to rising waters and explores memory, loss and resilience.
The work can be experienced in the BFI Southbank Atrium throughout the festival.
Meanwhile, Australian game studio Beethoven & Dinosaur, based in Melbourne, features in the festival's Games Lounge with Mixtape. The coming-of-age narrative game follows three friends on their final night together, playing out against a soundtrack featuring artists including DEVO, Roxy Music, The Smashing Pumpkins, Joy Division and The Cure.
The Games Lounge is free to visit at BFI IMAX throughout the festival.
Booking information
The BFI London Film Festival runs from 7–18 October 2026 at BFI Southbank, the Southbank Centre's Royal Festival Hall and cinemas across London, with selected screenings also taking place around the UK.
Priority booking opens for BFI Patrons on 9 September and BFI Members on 10 September, with tickets on general sale from 17 September.