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London
From the seedy streets of '60s Soho to the city's metropolitan sheen.
Welcome to the London collection.
In its tunnels and on its streets, a city hums with life. its arteries flow with stories of valour, love and struggle, pulled from the millions who live within.
Battle of SohoBattle of Soho
Documentary2017100 minsDirector: Aro Korol
Take a journey through London's most notorious district, meeting residents and campaigners at the forefront of a battle to keep its eccentric, diverse spirit alive.
A Moving ImageA Moving Image
Drama201774 minsDirector: Shola Amoo
The gentrification of London’s Brixton is examined in this probing and stylistically ambitious debut feature.
Dispossession: The Great Social Housing SwindleDispossession: The Great Social Housing Swindle
Documentary201782 minsDirector: Paul Sng
Maxine Peake narrates this forthright polemic on the consequences of the 1980s Right-to-Buy scheme on the nation's affordable housing.
The Party's OverThe Party's Over
Drama196592 minsSilentDirector: Guy Hamilton
The partying of a wild group of beatniks lead by Oliver Reed has shocking consequences. Written by Marc Behm, directed by Guy Hamilton and with music by John Barry.
London SymphonyLondon Symphony
Documentary201772 minsDirector: Alex Barrett
A poetic journey through the capital, presenting an artistic snapshot of London as it stands today, and a celebration of its rich diversity of culture, architecture and religion.
NighthawksNighthawks
Drama1978113 minsDirector: Ron Peck
A schoolteacher juggles everyday life with nights spent cruising for Mr Right in this fascinating landmark in British gay cinema
My Brother the DevilMy Brother the Devil
Drama2012107 minsDirector: Sally El Hosaini
Sally El Hosaini's feature debut tells of the love and disenchantment of two British-Egyptian brothers as gangs, drugs and sexuality come between them.
LondonLondon
Animation & Artists Moving Image199485 minsDirector: Patrick Keiller
The first in Patrick Keiller’s highly imaginative trilogy of films is a photographic trip through London, recounted by our unseen narrator.
Peeping TomPeeping Tom
Drama1960101 minsDirector: Michael Powell
Michael Powell’s dark, disturbing, once controversial tale of a shy camera technician who films women as he kills them is now rightly deemed a classic.
Deep EndDeep End
Drama197092 minsDirector: Jerzy Skolimowski
Jerzy Skolimowski’s darkly comic and utterly compelling story of teenage infatuation in a run-down swimming pool.
Bullet BoyBullet Boy
Drama200586 minsDirector: Saul Dibb
Ashley Walters impresses in the hard-hitting Hackney drama that’s still one of the best of Britain’s black urban crime films.
Brick LaneBrick Lane
Drama200797 minsDirector: Sarah Gavron
Sarah Gavron’s subtle and intelligent adaptation of Monica Ali’s acclaimed novel charts the experiences of a Bangladeshi woman in London.
This Is TomorrowThis Is Tomorrow
200754 minsDirector: Paul Kelly
The final part of Saint Etienne and Paul Kelly’s London trilogy follows the renovation and reopening of the Royal Festival Hall through 2005-7.
What Have You Done Today Mervyn Day?What Have You Done Today Mervyn Day?
Documentary200545 minsDirector: Paul Kelly
Paul Kelly’s second collaboration with pop band Saint Etienne traces the hidden history of East London’s Lower Lea Valley before its Olympic makeover.
FinisterreFinisterre
Documentary200359 minsDirector: Kieran Evans and Paul Kelly
A journey from London’s suburbs to its heart, charting the influence of the city on indie pop band Saint Etienne.
The Boy Who Turned YellowThe Boy Who Turned Yellow
Children's197254 minsDirector: Michael Powell
A London schoolboy’s surprise transformation marks the final collaboration of great British director Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger.
UndergroundUnderground
Romance192893 minsSilentDirector: Anthony Asquith
The BFI National Archive restoration of one of Anthony Asquith's finest silent films set in London's Underground, with a new score.
Heart of the AngelHeart of the Angel
Documentary198940 minsDirector: Molly Dineen
Molly Dineen’s wry, humorous and sometimes touching look at the trials faced by the staff and passengers of London’s dishearteningly dilapidated Angel tube station, before its modernisation.
ElectricityElectricity
Drama201496 minsDirector: Bryn Higgins
Agyness Deyn stars in a powerful story seen through the eyes of a young woman whose epilepsy brings extraordinary hallucinations.
London the Modern BabylonLondon the Modern Babylon
Documentary2012128 minsDirector: Julien Temple
The story of London told through a century of popular music and film archive treasures.
PressurePressure
Drama1978121 minsDirector: Horace Ové
Hailed as Britain's first black feature film, Pressure is a hard-hitting, honest document of the plight of disenchanted black youths in 1970s London; now available in its new restoration.
Burning an IllusionBurning an Illusion
Drama1982102 minsDirector: Menelik Shabazz
Menelik Shabazz’s pioneering first feature traces the emotional and political growth of a young black couple in Thatcher’s London.
Bronco BullfrogBronco Bullfrog
Drama197087 minsDirector: Barney Platts-Mills
A fascinating record of 1960s suedehead youth culture which is largely improvised by a non-professional cast of teenagers from east London
Private RoadPrivate Road
Drama197189 minsDirector: Barney Platts-Mills
A compelling tale about the struggle for personal freedom, starring Bruce Robinson (Withnail and I).
Chelsea Bridge BoysChelsea Bridge Boys
Documentary196531 minsDirector: Peter Davis and Staffan Lamm
Made for Swedish television, a look at a gang of "Rockers" who meet at a tea-kiosk on Chelsea Bridge.
DufferDuffer
Drama197175 minsDirector: Joseph Despins and William Dumaresq
A bizarre study of obsession focusing on a teenage boy who is torn between the charms of a fleshly female prostitute and the sadism of an older man.
The Moon over the AlleyThe Moon over the Alley
Musical1977108 minsDirector: Joseph Despins
The Moon Over the Alley is a bizarre and compelling musical exploring the problems of multicultural Notting Hill residents in the early 1970s.
FaceFace
Crime1997101 minsDirector: Antonia Bird
Robert Carlyle and Ray Winstone are members of a criminal gang that tears itself apart after a heist goes wrong, in Antonia Bird’s stylish thriller.
The Day the Earth Caught FireThe Day the Earth Caught Fire
Science Fiction1961100 minsDirector: Val Guest
The BFI’s HD remaster of the British sci-fi classic. A journalist discovers that the Earth has been knocked off its axis and is moving ever closer to the sun. Is the Earth doomed?
Quatermass and the PitQuatermass and the Pit
Horror196794 minsDirector: Roy Ward Baker
One of Britain’s finest sci-fi films, based on Nigel Kneale’s masterful script, about the discovery of ancient alien craft beneath central London.
NightbirdsNightbirds
Drama197078 minsDirector: Andy Milligan
Dark drama about the doomed relationship of two down-and-outers living in the squalid East End of London in the early 1970s.
CarousellaCarousella
Documentary196526 minsDirector: John Irvin
A controversial, well-made documentary that follows the lives of three young striptease artistes working in Soho.
PubPub
Documentary196215 minsDirector: Peter Davis
Short documentary originally made for Swedish television which opens the doors a typical working-class pub in East London.
StripStrip
Documentary196626 minsDirector: Don Defina, Peter Davis and Staffan Lamm
Documentary about the lives of the women who work at a striptease club called The Phoenix on Old Compton Street, in the heart of Soho in the swinging sixties.
Oliver TwistOliver Twist
Period drama1948116 minsDirector: David Lean
Arguably the essential Dickens adaptation, David Lean’s evocative portrayal of Victorian London in sooty black and white features Alec Guinness as a memorably sinister Fagin.
Seance on a Wet AfternoonSeance on a Wet Afternoon
Crime1964111 minsDirector: Bryan Forbes
Bryan Forbes’ stylish psychological thriller about a medium who plans to kidnap a child and help the police solve the crime to bolster her reputation as a clairvoyant.
The Elephant ManThe Elephant Man
Biopic1980124 minsDirector: David Lynch
David Lynch's moving true-life tale of the severely deformed Joseph Merrick and his rescue from the hell of a Victorian circus sideshow.
She, a ChineseShe, a Chinese
Drama201099 minsDirector: Xiaolu Guo
British-Chinese director Xiaolu Guo’s story of a young woman's journey from a remote Chinese village to London, in an attempt to realise the Western consumer dream.
The Lodger: A Story of the London FogThe Lodger: A Story of the London Fog
Crime192691 minsSilentDirector: Alfred Hitchcock
Ivor Novello plays a strange lodger who may be behind a number of Jack the Ripper-style killings in Alfred Hitchcock’s silent thriller.
Terry on the FenceTerry on the Fence
Children's198570 minsDirector: Frank Godwin
11-year-old Terry runs away from home and is drawn into a gang of bullies, in a gritty Children's Film Foundation drama.
The Monster of Highgate PondsThe Monster of Highgate Ponds
Children's196159 minsDirector: Alberto Cavalcanti
A boy receives a mysterious egg, but when it hatches a baby monster, mayhem ensues.
The Salvage GangThe Salvage Gang
Children's195852 minsDirector: John Krish
John Krish directs this beautifully photographed Children’s Film Foundation caper about four children scavenging bomb-damaged London for scrap metal.
Operation Third FormOperation Third Form
Children's196658 minsDirector: David Eady
John Moulder Brown (Deep End) fronts a crack children’s spy unit in this ripping boy's own adventure.
Hide and SeekHide and Seek
Children's197261 minsDirector: David Eady
Gary Kemp (The Krays) becomes entangled with a borstal escapee known as the Deptford Dodger in this cracking drama from the Children’s Film Foundation.
Soapbox DerbySoapbox Derby
Children's195764 minsDirector: D'Arcy Conyers
Children’s Film Foundation adventure that sees a young Michael Crawford scrapping with a rival South London gang in Battersea.
It Always Rains on SundayIt Always Rains on Sunday
Drama194788 minsDirector: Robert Hamer
Austerity noir: Ealing's downbeat but compelling East End thriller.
SwandownSwandown
Documentary2012107 minsDirector: Andrew Kötting
Filmmaker Andrew Kötting and writer Iain Sinclair embark on a quest from Hastings to East London by pedalo.
Welcome to BritainWelcome to Britain
Documentary197673 minsDirector: Ben Lewin
Ben Lewin’s 1976 film captures a moment in Britain's evergreen immigration debate, focusing on new arrivals at Heathrow as they wrestle with immigration law.