Africa, Asia and Latin America at the London Film Festival

Photo: Ba’s Book, “A heartfelt hybrid film in response to her father’s memoir, which recounts his experiences of the Vietnam War and Iranian Revolution, Ashley Duong returns to her father’s village in Vietnam .. to bring buried memories into the present through participatory re-creations.” 

Films from or about countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America at the BFI London Film Festival (7 - 18 October 2026) include: 

* Amazomania, reframing of ‘adventure journalist’ Erling Söderström’s 1996 Amazonian expedition to the isolated Korubo people as an unflinching critique of the ethics of first-contact filmmaking, 16, 18 October

* Az Zeeb, discovering a cache of Super 8 home movies and photographs following the death of his grandmother, Chilean filmmaker Rafael Guendelman embarks on a personal journey through his family’s intertwined political histories, 13, 15 October

* Ba’s Book, Ashley Duong crafts a heartfelt hybrid film in response to her father’s memoir, which recounts his experiences of the Vietnam War and Iranian Revolution,  9 October

* The Calf Doll, when his only cow delivers a stillborn calf and then falls sick, a retired Indian professor turns to an age-old calf-doll ritual, while industrialisation closes in around him, 8 October.

* Concrete Land, Asmahan Bkerat’s feature directorial debut is an intimate, multi-generational portrait of a mixed-raced family fighting displacement and hostility in Jordan, 8, 10 October

* Life of Jorge Luis Borges, Mariano Llinás’ epic contemplation of the life and works of Jorge Luis Borges is every bit as wily and playful as the Argentine writer’s stories, 10, 13 October

* A Bit of Light, Ali Asgari’s moving political drama sees an Iranian doctor caught at an emotional crossroads after his medical practice is shut down for treating anti-government protestors, 17, 18 October

* Clarissa, Sophie Okonedo’s delicate, sun-soaked re-imagining of Mrs Dalloway, set in contemporary Lagos, 12, 13, 17 October

* A Girl Unknown, Jing Zou’s intimate, decade-spanning character study, explores the consequences of the single-child policy on generations of Chinese girls, 8, 11 October

* No Good Men, one of world cinema’s most exciting voices, Shahrbanoo Sadat returns to the festival with a playfully sharp and politically charged tale of love and the city, 8, 10 October

* The Secret Lives of Baba Segi’s Wives, the Secret Lives of Baba Segi’s Wives, Daniel Oriah’s wonderful adaptation of Lola Shoneyin’s acclaimed novel is an engrossing exploration of a highly traditional Yoruba household forced to confront hidden truths from its past, 14, 15 October

* The Station, a women-only petrol station in Yemen is the site for this bright and powerful female-centred story, where sisterhood reigns against the absurdity of war, 8, 10 October

* Tutu, impressively researched and rich archival documentary is an incisive portrait of one of the most beloved public figures of the 20th century, 10, 13 October

* Congo Boy, set in the Central African Republic, Rafiki Fariala’s melodic autobiographical feature follows a young refugee who, against all odds, chases his musical dreams, 11, 12 October

* Easter, an ageing and charismatic Korean trans burlesque star is front and centre in this glorious film about life, 12, 14 October

* The Friend’s House is Here, a dancer and a playwright juggle the mundanities of living together with the struggles of creative practice as part of Iran’s underground art scene, 11, 13 October

* Elephants in the Fog, a parent’s search for their missing child disrupts the fragile coexistence between Nepal’s kinnar community and the rest of a village’s population, 17, 18 October

* Furies, two sisters plan a daring heist in this gripping thriller set during Lebanon’s economic collapse, when millions of citizens were denied access to their bank savings,. 10, 11 October

* The Meltdown, knife-edge thriller centring on the disappearance of a teenager in a remote Chilean resort, 13, 14 October

* Moonglow, the queen of sensual cinema returns with a 1970s Manila-set neo-noir about a police officer-turned-criminal under investigation by her former lover, 15, 16 October

* The Banning Curse, Iranian director Mohsen Amiryousefi discusses his eventful career with the Angel of Death in this hilarious cinematic autofiction about the highs and lows of radical filmmaking, 13, 14, 15 October

* Hot Water, atmospheric and sharply funny road movie sees a Lebanese mother and her American son take a trip, with a lot to unpack along the way, 7, 9, October

* Lali, two emotionally scarred strangers are thrust into an arranged marriage, in this wildly original, pitch-black comedy with hints of the supernatural, 7, 8 October

* Atlantic Rhapsody, a  young man embarks on a surreal quest to find his long-lost father in a remarkable feature debut that spans 20 years of recent Chinese history, 16, 17 October

* Atlantic Rhapsody, a young man embarks on a surreal quest to find his long-lost father in a remarkable feature debut that spans 20 years of recent Chinese history, 14 October

* Filipiñana, this bold debut, set over the course of one sweltering day, follows a 17-year-old working as a ‘tee-girl’ at a golf club, 17, 18 October

* Hearing, known for his precise and enigmatic filmmaking, here Lê Bảo crafts a meditative anti-love story revealing fragile connections between humans, sounds and unseen worlds, 14, 15 October

* Prince, an Afghan hound Inherits a luxury estate in the South American resort of Punta del Este in this absurdist tale of class, greed, and family dysfunction, 8,  9 October

* I Plant My Hand in the Garden, playing versions of themselves as the central protagonists, Iran’s Hoda Taheri and Serbia’s Boris Hadžija make a daring debut: a witty, irreverent and politically astute portrait of lives shaped by the search for belonging. 10, 11 October

* Let Them Be Seen, Nolitha Refilwe Mkulisi’s debut feature – a tender love letter to Tapoleng, her hometown in South Africa – offers an intimate evocation of a community in transition, 16, 17 October

* Life of Jorge Luis Borges,  Mariano Llinás’ epic contemplation of the life and works of Jorge Luis Borges is every bit as wily and playful as the Argentine writer’s stories, 10, 13 October

* Marie Madeleine, the second feature from Haitian actor-director Gessica Généus follows an unlikely friendship between a sex worker and preacher’s son that rocks their community, 10, 13 October

.* Revolutionaries Never Die, framed as a cinematic letter to the late Lebanese filmmaker Jocelyne Saab, this evocative and timely work reanimates Saab’s 16mm archive as a living space of dialogue and political imagination, 10, 12 October

* Possible Love, Lee Chang-dong finds four strangers’ lives entwined by hidden desires and repressed emotions, 11, 14, 18 October

* Solwata, for the saltwater people of Solomon Islands, the ocean is both life and their greatest threat, as detailed in this powerful mixed-reality documentary on adaptation and survival, in the VR lounge

* Inherit, a rich Thai family falls apart with the arrival of a distant relative in Banjong Pisanthanakun's gripping and unpredictable new horror, 9, 10 October

* In A Whisper, when a young queer woman returns home to Tunisia to mourn her uncle’s death, she finds his cause of death shrouded in mystery

* Chronicles From The Siege, Abdallah Al-Khatib’s fiction debut traces the daily lives of Palestinian citizens trapped in a war zone

* Solwata, for the saltwater people of Solomon Islands, the ocean is both life and their greatest threat, as detailed in this powerful mixed-reality documentary on adaptation and survival, in the VR lounge