BFI London Film Festival Announces 10 Films Competing for 2026 Best Film Award

The BFI London Film Festival has announced the 10 films selected for its official competition, bringing together an international group of filmmakers and a diverse collection of stories ahead of the festival’s 70th edition.

The competition lineup features films from 10 countries, including the United Kingdom, Ireland, Brazil, Denmark, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Japan and Poland. The selection covers a broad range of filmmaking styles and subjects, with fiction and documentary storytelling represented alongside stories exploring personal trauma, history, identity, social change and contemporary life.

The 2026 BFI London Film Festival will take place from October 7 to October 18, with the complete festival programme scheduled to be announced on September 2.

Among the most anticipated entries is 7 Miles Out, a new film from British filmmaker Carol Morley. The movie will receive its world premiere as part of the competition and is adapted from Morley’s own novel.

7 Miles Out draws on Morley’s difficult adolescence following the death of her father by suicide. The story follows Ann, a young woman who finds herself navigating grief and uncertainty while becoming immersed in Manchester’s music scene during the 1970s and 1980s.

The film adds a deeply personal element to this year’s competition, with Morley drawing from experiences connected to her own life while exploring the relationship between loss, youth, music and personal identity.

Japanese filmmaker Hirokazu Kore-eda is also represented in the competition with Look Back. The acclaimed director brings his distinctive approach to human relationships and emotional storytelling to the 2026 festival.

Kore-eda’s participation adds considerable international interest to the competition, particularly given his established reputation for creating films that explore family, memory, relationships and the complexities of everyday life.

The lineup also features Imperium, directed by Sergei Loznitsa, a filmmaker known for examining European history and political realities through distinctive cinematic approaches. The German, French, Italian and Lithuanian production adds another international dimension to the programme.

Another major title is Glaxo, directed by Benjamín Naishtat, representing a Brazil and Argentina collaboration. The film is part of a competition that increasingly reflects the global nature of contemporary cinema and the growing importance of international co productions.

Italian cinema is represented by Ketticè, directed by Giovanni Tortorici. The film adds a contemporary Italian perspective to a competition that stretches across Europe, Asia and Latin America.

The Hungarian and Austrian production My Notes on Mars, directed by Lili Horvát, is also among the selected films. Horvát brings another distinctive voice to the competition, continuing the festival’s tradition of highlighting filmmakers working outside the most established international film markets.

The Difficult Bride, directed by Rubaiyat Hossain, expands the competition’s geographical reach even further. The France, Bangladesh, Portugal, Norway and Germany production provides a South Asian connection within an increasingly international lineup.

Hossain’s inclusion is particularly notable because the competition brings audiences stories and filmmaking perspectives from regions that do not always receive equal representation on major international festival programmes.

The German and Polish production The Idiot(s), directed by Małgorzata Szumowska and Michał Englert, is another European entry in the competition. The filmmaking partnership brings together two established creative voices whose work has frequently explored challenging social and human subjects.

The final title in the announced competition is Woman Unknown, directed by May el-Toukhy. The Denmark, Latvia and Sweden production completes the 10 film selection and reinforces the Scandinavian presence in this year’s programme.

Alongside the films themselves, the selection highlights the BFI London Film Festival’s continuing focus on international cinema and emerging as well as established filmmaking voices.

The competition includes filmmakers returning to the festival as well as directors making their first appearance in the official competition. Festival director Kristy Matheson said the 2026 selection represents a wide range of storytelling approaches and filmmaking styles.

The 70th edition gives the competition additional significance as the festival celebrates seven decades of bringing international cinema to London audiences.

The BFI London Film Festival’s best film award has become an important recognition within the international festival calendar. Since the award was established in 2009, it has been won by filmmakers including Jacques Audiard for A Prophet, Ryusuke Hamaguchi for Evil Does Not Exist, Adam Elliot for Memoir of a Snail and Lucrecia Martel for Landmarks in 2025.

The latest selection suggests that the 2026 competition will again provide a broad range of cinematic voices rather than focusing on one particular genre or style.

Several films are also expected to arrive in London after appearing at other major international festivals. Some of the selected titles will have their world premieres at Venice or Toronto before being presented to audiences in London.

For the filmmakers, inclusion in the official competition provides an important international platform and an opportunity to reach critics, industry professionals and audiences from across the world.

For London, the festival represents one of the year’s major cultural events, attracting filmmakers, actors, industry representatives and cinema enthusiasts to the capital.

The festival’s 70th anniversary is expected to add further attention to the October programme, while the competition will be one of the main attractions for audiences interested in international and independent cinema.

The 10 selected films are:

7 Miles Out
United Kingdom
Director: Carol Morley

Act 3
Ireland and United Kingdom
Directors: Christine Molloy and Joe Lawlor

Glaxo
Brazil and Argentina
Director: Benjamín Naishtat

Imperium
Germany, France, Italy and Lithuania
Director: Sergei Loznitsa

Ketticè
Italy
Director: Giovanni Tortorici

Look Back
Japan
Director: Hirokazu Kore-eda

My Notes on Mars
Hungary and Austria
Director: Lili Horvát

The Difficult Bride
France, Bangladesh, Portugal, Norway and Germany
Director: Rubaiyat Hossain

The Idiot(s)
Germany and Poland
Directors: Małgorzata Szumowska and Michał Englert

Woman Unknown
Denmark, Latvia and Sweden
Director: May el-Toukhy

With films spanning multiple continents and a mixture of established directors and returning festival filmmakers, the 2026 competition is positioned as one of the central highlights of the BFI London Film Festival’s milestone 70th edition.

The festival will run from October 7 through October 18, while audiences will have to wait until September 2 for the complete programme. The eventual winner of the best film award will follow a distinguished list of previous champions and will add another chapter to the festival’s growing history of recognizing ambitious international filmmaking.

Courtesy: hollywoodreporter