Explore local connections to celebrate Bristol’s status as UNESCO City of Film, a global recognition of the city's outstanding contribution to film culture.

This year, we continue to spotlight Bristol-born film Oscar® and BAFTA nominated director J. Lee Thompson (1914 – 2002) with two 4K restorations of his films, both featuring strong performances from two recently lost British female leads Glynis Johns and Sylvia Syms.

On the 100th anniversary of Bristol archives, we host David Parker’s very personal sweep through some of the well-known, and not so well-known events and people that shaped Bristol, 650 years of Bristol in 65 mins (2023).

Bristol-based director Nariman Massoumi also presents his poetic award-winning documentary Pouring Water on Troubled Oil (2023) following Welsh poet Dylan Thomas’s journey through Iran in 1951 on a film assignment for the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company constructed almost entirely from archival photographic images.

Key locations for film in the city will be brought to life as local film enthusiast and historian Mark Fuller and Dr Peter Walsh from South West Silents take visitors on walking tours around the city, that take in the landmarks and personalities of cinema from the 1880s to the present day, revealing a rich cinematic history.

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