Rob Brydon is back in the BFI conversation as the 70th BFI London Film Festival unveiled its full 2026 lineup on 2026-09-02. The program runs from October 7 to 18 and stretches across 251 titles from 88 countries, with 169 feature films at its core.
Jasmine Jobson in In The Shadows
Jasmine Jobson anchors one of the nine feature world premieres in In The Shadows, where she stars as Ramla Ali alongside Finn Cole as her husband. That kind of casting gives the lineup a sharper commercial edge than a pure prestige list: the festival is not just counting premieres, it is foregrounding films with recognizable performers attached to them.
Ray Gunn adds another easy-to-track name check, with Sam Rockwell and Scarlett Johansson leading a title that will stream on Netflix from December. The same update also folds in Frank And Percy with Ian McKellen and Roger Allam, plus Wildwood with Jacob Tremblay, Carey Mulligan and Mahershala Ali, so the slate is built to travel well beyond opening week in London.
169 features, 251 titles
The 169 feature films are slightly above last year’s 166, and the article says the increase is only slight. That leaves the festival bigger on paper without pretending the jump is dramatic, which is the right read for a lineup built on breadth rather than a wholesale reset.
The 251-title total matters because it shows how the 2026 edition expands beyond features into the wider program structure. The 23 Gala screenings will sit at the Southbank Centre’s Royal Festival Hall, while six Special Presentations spread the spotlight beyond one venue; the first feature competition brings Animol, Masc, Lady and Our Share Of Sand into the mix, after the previously announced 10-strong competition lineup already included Carol Morley’s 7 Miles Out.
BFI’s 43% female share
43% of the program is by female filmmakers, which is the clearest signal in the lineup beyond sheer volume. That figure, paired with nine feature world premieres rather than seven last year, suggests a program that is incrementally wider and a little more open at the top end, even if the overall rise remains modest.
For readers following the festival as a market signal, the practical takeaway is simple: the 70th edition is now set, the strongest access points are the world premieres and gala slots, and the first hard choices begin with the full list rather than a teaser. Rob Brydon sits in the headline because the festival itself is the story now, and this lineup gives programmers enough scale to make the opening week feel crowded without losing its shape.
