What’s On Week Ahead

Opposite Everyman Bristol

Bristol has been an UNESCO City of Film since 2017, but Bristol and cinema have been entwined since – some would say before – the beginning of moving pictures. Join local enthusiast and historian Mark Fuller for the first of three gentle walks.

Thu 23 & Sun 26 July

Deeply personal, beautifully realised, and symbolically obscure, Andrei Tarkovsky’s first film directed outside of his home country stands as a testament to his own conflicting thoughts regarding Russia as he considered a self-proclaimed exile.

Chabrol’s ice cold tale of infidelity, passion and violence – an unmissable Hitchcockian thriller set against a backdrop of bourgeois respectability in late 1960’s Versailles which inspired Andrey Zvyagintsev's Cannes 2026 Grand Prix winner Minotaur.

Thu 23 - Fri 24 July

Charles Burnett’s deeply humanist follow-up to Killer of Sheep centres on Pierce Mundy caught between family expectations and loyalty to a friend, providing an intimate window into early ’80s South Central LA.

Until Sun 13 Sep

Open your animal eyes. An immersive exhibition of groundbreaking video games & virtual reality. A must-do this summer in Bristol's Undershed Gallery.

Join Jake Garriock (Curzon Head of Distribution strategy and group publicity), Mark Cosgrove (Cinema Rediscovered Founder) and guests for a look at the influential UK distributor of indie foreign language and arthouse films, past present and future...

Thu 23 - Sun 26 July

Come and find out how a film archive works in this new exhibition on display in W1 throughout the festival. All welcome including younger guests in this free drop-in space hosted by the BFI National Archive team.

An important milestone of Black South African cinematic history that lives on in cultural memory, African Jim introduced the singular jazz singer and activist Dolly Rathebe to the big screen.

Thu 23 & Sat 25 July

Get insights into the creation of the Peter Gabriel’s award-winning Sledgehammer music video featuring innovative stop-motion animation by Aardman and the Brothers Quay.

Thu 23 & Sun 26 July

Set in the final hours before a nuclear war threatens to wipe out humanity, Andrei Tarkovsky’s visionary final film is a visually breathtaking meditation on existential terror and a melancholic swan song from one of cinema’s true auteurs.

Join Aardman’s co-founders David Sproxton and Peter Lord for a rare 40th anniversary screening of Channel 4’s 1986 cult animated shorts programme Sweet Disaster which includes their rarely screened Babylon, amongst other bold experimental work from Aardman alumni and beyond.

Berlin-based director Cynthia Beatt’s first feature shot shortly after the fall of the Berlin Wall centres on Queenie (a spellbinding performance by a young Tilda Swinton), a woman navigating a personal crisis.

Tsai Ming-Liang's poignant love letter to cinema is an exquisite, wryly funny and tender tribute to the experience of cinemagoing, to cinemas as spaces, and to the people in the audience and behind the scenes. 

Thu 23 & Sun 26 July

An anonymous tip starts a traditional whodunnit which quickly segues into a surrealistic farce and moves from film noir to science fiction in the mysterious and enigmatic Dead Mountaineer’s Hotel.

Until Thu 30 Jul

With a star-studded cast including Matt Damon, Tom Holland, Anne Hathaway, Robert Pattinson, Lupita Nyong'o, Zendaya and Charlize Theron, Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey is the most anticipated film on Letterboxd for 2026.

Experience the visionary sounds of Estonian pioneer of electronic music, Sven Grünberg, the first composer in the Soviet Union to create an album entirely made of electronic music.

Mike Figgis’ beautifully lurid descent into Las Vegas oblivion is anchored by two career defining - and award winning - performances from Nicolas Cage and Elizabeth Shue.

Arundhati Roy’s debut screenplay captures 1970s student rebellion in New Delhi, set against a vibrant backdrop of Marxism, parties and Beatles songs.

Join The Pretend Company for this first of two Improv Cinema Club sessions, a unique opportunity to explore some of the films presented at Cinema Rediscovered in a nuanced and in-depth way.

Fri 24 & Sun 26 July

Join Watershed’s Charlotte Bendrey and BFI National Archive Curator Rosie Taylor on a tour of Watershed’s projection booth and discover how the films screening at the festival make it to the screen during a festival like Cinema Rediscovered.

Four city boys embark on a countryside holiday that will transform them in this quietly incisive gem from Satyajit Ray, presented in a stunning new 4K restoration spearheaded by Wes Anderson, and Martin Scorsese’s The Film Foundation.

A humorous insider critique of 1950s Parisien cinephile scene by filmmaker, critic, and producer Luc Moullet who began writing for Cahiers du Cinéma at the age of 18 alongside figures like Jean-Luc Godard and François Truffaut.  

Join Professor Shawn Sobers, Simon Bright (Zimbabwe) and fellow filmmaker Martin Mhando (Tanzania) to watch Corridors of Freedom (1987) and reflect on the vibrant collaboration and resistance of the Southern African Transnational Cinema movement that emerged in the 1980s and 90s to counter South Africa’s apartheid propaganda and the media biases of former colonial powers.

In this Lunchtime Talk, mechanical sculptor Nik Ramage will present a collection of his useless machines and absurd devices, revealing the stories behind their creation - and the ideas that never made it off the drawing board.

Interested in meeting some of the film curators involved in Cinema Rediscovered and getting insights into how the festival gets programmed? For those of you interested in pitching an event or season for next year’s edition of the festival, this is also a great opportunity to pick up practical tips from those involved in our Other Ways of Seeing commissions supported by BFI awarding funds from National Lottery.

Fri 24 & Sun 26 July

Claude Chabrol’s masterful thriller hinges on the unlikely bond between a schoolmistress and a butcher and the unsettling possibility that all might not be what it seems as a wave of murders grip their small idyllic French village.

Dirk Bogarde and Stanley Baker star in a study of masculine malaise among the academic elite told through the elliptical rhythms of Harold Pinter's’ script and cool and penetratingly detached direction of Joseph Losey.

Crafted by renowned poet and screenwriter Ahmed Bouanani, this experimental masterpiece draws from Morocco’s rich oral traditions, and the ever-present spectre of colonialism.

20th Century Flicks Kino

Before the era of YouTube mashups came The Movie Orgy (1968), an immense found footage cultural catalogue curated by legendary director Joe Dante in his debut feature.

A schoolteacher (the late Diane Keaton in one of her most striking performances) living alone spends her evenings frequenting late-night bars and picking up men in this dark complex drama.

This first and only feature film directed (and edited) by Park Nam-ok, South Korea's first female filmmaker, provides an intimate look at the female experience in post-war Seoul.

The film the British Board of Film Censors didn’t want you to see… until the world changed.

A gritty crime drama focusing on the intense, cat-and-mouse relationship between Inspector Chan and a drug informant, exploring corruption and the "rules of the game" in 1970s Hong Kong.

Fri 24 - Sun 26 July

Enjoy this specially curated BFI Replay showreel bringing together the BFI Replay trailer and Bristol archive highlights of the Harbourside selected by South West Silents for you to enjoy.

A conservative Midwestern patriarch has his world shaken when he must search for his missing daughter in the seedy underworld of the California sex industry in this bleak psychological neo-noir from Paul Schrader.

Set against the gritty backdrop of 1990s New York City, this postmodern reimagining of the Dracula myth, executive produced by David Lynch, follows estranged vampire twins as they reunite after their father’s death.

Join us before the screening of Closed Circuit (1978) in Cinema 2, for a murder mystery inspired by the film. This interactive event will be taking place in Waterside 1, and will pull details from the film, but without giving away whodunit!

Fiction becomes reality for an audience quietly watching a matinee of a spaghetti western at their local cinema when suddenly one of the patrons dies…

College Green Bus Stop

Bristol has been an UNESCO City of Film since 2017, but Bristol and cinema have been entwined since – some would say before – the beginning of moving pictures. Join local enthusiast and historian Mark Fuller for the second of three gentle weekend walks.

BFI National Archive Curator Rosie Taylor presents two rare comedies of farcical romance, weddings and tomfoolery from the early period of British Lion and Hammer, now only viewable on 9.5mm film. 

British film noir at its darkest and most deadly.

Bristol Megascreen (about 1 min walk from Watershed)

B-movie director Lawrence Woolsey rolls into a Key West cinema with his new film Mant (half man, half ant - all terror) whilst the Cuban missile crisis cranks up nearby.

Based on one of Chile's most notorious true crimes, this debut feature by Miguel Littín is a cornerstone of the New Chilean Cinema, ushering in an urgent, realist, and political filmmaking movement. 

Join Aardman co-founders David Sproxton and Peter Lord for a deep dive into the world of Morph, one of the first characters created by the Bristol based studio, who would go on to entertain generations with his slapstick antics.

Bristol Megascreen (about 1 min walk from Watershed)

Join in for our pre-party presented by Party Girl Productions ahead of the Josie & The Pussycats screening.

Join the team behind The Creative Nonfiction Film Weekend (CNFW), Will Swinburne, Curator at the BFI National Archive, and local viral video star Paul Weedon for a screening of early internet video and a discussion about what it means to preserve online moving image and to screen it in cinemas.

Back on the big screen on its 50th anniversary, Elaine May’s neglected mid-1970s gem is a dissection of masculinity and male friendship anchored by mesmerising performances from John Cassavetes and Peter Falk.

Bristol Megascreen (about 1 min walk from Watershed)

Beneath the glitter and pop lies a razor-sharp critique of corporate manipulation and manufactured fame, way ahead of its time. Gather your friends, cats and kitties and join Party Girl Productions to celebrate this classic on its 25th anniversary.

With a production almost as dramatic as its plot, this lavish late silent masterpiece by Erich von Stroheim can be fully experienced thanks to a vital new reconstruction by Milestones.

This important rediscovery banned in 1963 by the Venezuelan government provides a striking snapshot of social disparity which draws on the director’s own childhood experiences.

Cinema Year Zero will be hosting an open discussion of the contemporary film criticism landscape. Essayists Kirsty Asher, Ben Flanagan, Adam Murray, and Daisy Steinhardt will share readings from their new work, followed by a convivial conversation around their critical practice.

A decade before 9.5mm and 16mm film, Pathé launched 28mm, one of the first non-theatrical film gauges. Explore this forgotten format, featuring original prints projected on a 28mm Victor projector.

Break-out roles from Thora Birch and Scarlett Johansson, and also starring Steve Buscemi, this cult classic adapted from Daniel Clowes’ graphic novel remains a sharp, funny, and deeply relatable portrait of youth, identity, and not fitting in.

Bristol Megascreen (about 1 min walk from Watershed)

Fifty years after it picked up the Palme d’Or at Cannes, Scorsese’s chilling masterpiece has lost none of its power to shock and disturb in its visceral exploration of alienation and violence in urban America.

Set in 17th-century China, T’ang Shushuen’s groundbreaking debut feature - one of the first independent films made in Hong Kong - traces the plight of a widow torn between passion and moral obligations.

Join in a Chat & Craft drop-in workshop, inspired by the films showing as part of Comics Come Alive.

After his success with Point Blank and Deliverance, Warner Brothers offered John Boorman the opportunity of a lifetime... what could go wrong?

Now newly restored for its 30th anniversary, Steve Buscemi’s debut feature is a still-largely unsung indie masterpiece capturing the chaos of hopeless loser Tommy (Buscemi) as he stumbles through life.

Bristol Megascreen (about 1 min walk from Watershed)

A twentysomething aspiring musician’s romantic life takes a dramatic turn when he meets the (literal) girl of his dreams, Ramona. Brace yourself for Edgar Wright (Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz)’s high energy adaptation of Bryan Lee O’Malley’s cult comic book.

Join us for an informal discussion before and after Friedkin’s film Cruising (1980) where archive materials will be provided to look through and Jim Hubbard's film Stop The Movie (1980) will be playing on the Café & Bar screen.

Bristol Megascreen (about 1 min walk from Watershed)

From the director of Point Blank and Deliverance comes this vision-like metaphysical thriller that confounded audience expectations by delivering something unique and entirely unexpected.

Controversial at the time of its release, William Friedkin’s nocturnal thriller which sees Al Pacino’s undercover cop descend into New York’s gay leather scene on the hunt for a serial killer is being reappraised by a new generation.

Comic book Japanese style with a Korean twist: the Oldboy manga is brought to screen by maestro Park Chan-wook, a masterpiece of visceral violent vengeance.

Opposite Everyman Bristol

Bristol has been an UNESCO City of Film since 2017, but Bristol and cinema have been entwined since – some would say before – the beginning of moving pictures. Join local enthusiast and historian Mark Fuller for the third of three gentle weekend walks.

Join The Pretend Company for this second of two Improv Cinema Club sessions, a unique opportunity to explore some of the films presented at Cinema Rediscovered in a nuanced and in-depth way.

To celebrate the centenary of Lotte Reiniger’s beautiful 1926 silhouette animation, The Adventures of Prince Achmed, The Little Film Society bring you an enchanting screening of these magical tales from the Arabian Nights showing alongside some her lesser known, but no less spellbinding, fairytale films.

On the centenary of his birth, BFI National Archive presents a brand new 35mm print of Brian Forbes’ directorial debut, which put the rural North of England on screen and launched the screen career of Alan Bates.

Real comic-book artist Harvey Pekar is brought to cinematic life in this sweet, funny and off-kilter take on his highly idiosyncratic, autobiographical work.

Join Dáire Carson (The Little Film Society) for a special shadow puppet making workshop inspired by the work of Lotte Reiniger, the foremost pioneer of silhouette animation.

Few films tell a heartbreaking story as hilariously as this must-see 1960s British New Wave classic in which Tom Courtenay stars in this tale of a young clerk lost to daydreams in his Yorkshire hometown. But will they ever come true?

The Cube Microplex (about 20 min walk from Watershed)

Fresh off box-office comedy smash The Longest Yard (1974), director Robert Aldrich and star sensation Burt Reynolds ditched laughs for a gritty, uncompromising neo-noir set in the seedy underbelly of LA.

Curzon Cinema & Arts (about 45 min bus journey from Watershed)

Take a trip out to the stunning Curzon Cinema in Clevedon (and a peek at their Christie organ) followed by a special screening of this lavish late silent masterpiece introduced by critic and film historian Pamela Hutchinson.

Joseph Losey’s screen adaptation of the 1960s British comic strip Modesty Blaise is a camp, star-studded pop-art romp that brilliantly satirises the Bond-mania of the time.

A hilarious cautionary tale about the perils of independent filmmaking starring Steve Buscemi as a penniless New York screenwriter with big cinematic ambitions.

Based on an iconic Italian comic, Mario Bava’s stylish cult classic has been an inspiration to many from the Beastie Boys to acclaimed British filmmaker Edgar Wright, who will present a pre-recorded introduction to the film.

It’s time to prove your film knowledge at this year's 10th Anniversary Cinema Rediscovered Film Quiz — a night where deep-cut movie knowledge meets friendly competition.

Mon 27 July - Tue 1 Sept

A double bill of the first outings of Bristol's favourite animated duo Wallace & Gromit.

Until Thu 30 Jul

Joe and Angela’s marriage is on thin ice. When they invite their enigmatic upstairs neighbours for a dinner party, the night spirals into unexpected places. Have they reignited the spark or lit the match that burns it all down?

Mon 27 - Thu 30 July

Sumitra Peries’ groundbreaking Sri Lankan film offers a tender and transporting journey through young dreams and first loves.

Mon 27 - Thu 30 July

Taika Waititi's iconic film is back in 4K to celebrate its 10 year anniversary!

Mon 27 - Thu 30 July

Deeply personal, beautifully realised, and symbolically obscure, Andrei Tarkovsky’s first film directed outside of his home country stands as a testament to his own conflicting thoughts regarding Russia as he considered a self-proclaimed exile.

Tue 28 July - Mon 24 Aug

Fall back in love with those crafty hens (and one smooth-talking rooster) with Aardman's classic Chicken Run!

Join us for a special Bristol culture sector screening of The People’s Emergency Briefing – an eye-opening film bringing together nine leading UK scientists covering weather, food, health and the cost of living.

In the late 1990s, a family of six settles into their new home on Vancouver Island, as internal dynamics are slowly revealed through the experiences of the youngest child, Sasha. Their fresh start is interrupted by the increasingly dangerous behavior of Jeremy, the family’s oldest child.