The BFI has announced its programme for July 2026 at BFI Southbank and BFI IMAX from 1-31 July, beginning with the second part of Marilyn Monroe: Self Made Star, a “major two‑month season celebrating the centenary of the birth of cinema’s most enduring film star”.
The second month of the Marilyn Monroe season, curated by BFI lead programmer Kimberley Sheehan, “traces her evolution as a performer and unpacks elements behind her compelling screen presence”, the BFI said, with reflections on the artist behind the cultural phenomenon of Marilyn Monroe the icon.
The continuing season brings together introduced screenings of Monroe’s most memorable and iconic film performances under three loose themes – Star Attractions, musicals and comedies showcasing Monroe at her triple‑threat best in Ladies of the Chorus (Phil Karlson, 1948), The Seven Year Itch (Billy Wilder, 1955) and additional screenings of Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (Howard Hawks, 1953), How to Marry a Millionaire (Jean Negulesco, 1953) and Some Like It Hot (Billy Wilder, 1959); Dramatic Turns, showing Monroe’s depth as a serious performer in Don’t Bother to Knock (Roy Ward Baker, 1952), Bus Stop (Joshua Logan, 1956) and additional screenings of BFI Distribution’s rerelease of The Misfits (John Huston, 1961); and Scene Stealers, small roles which made a big impact on her career with All About Eve (Joseph L. Mankiewicz, 1950), Clash by Night (Fritz Lang, 1953) and As Young as You Feel (Harmon Jones, 1951).
Meanwhile, Station to Station: Kazuo Ishiguro’s Top Ten Train Films is a season curated by the Nobel Prize‑winning and Academy‑Award‑nominated writer Kazuo Ishiguro (The Remains of the Day, Never Let Me Go) that features some of the finest films set aboard trains – with full details announced previously.
Finally, Bullets and Brotherhood: The Films of John Woo celebrates the “groundbreaking action cinema” of Hong Kong maestro John Woo, whose “operatic and emotionally charged ‘heroic bloodshed’ films transformed the genre” and influenced Hollywood filmmakers including Quentin Tarantino, Michael Mann and the Wachowskis.
“In the mid‑1980s, Woo collaborated with producer Tsui Hark and production company Golden Princess on a series of films that transformed his career and revolutionised action cinema,” the BFI explained.
“These landmark works, recently recovered by Shout! Studios with many restored in collaboration with the Hong Kong Film Archive, return to the big screen at BFI Southbank in newly restored editions.”
Curated by BFI lead programmer Sheehan, the season showcases the “dazzling slow‑motion action, balletic shoot‑outs and pyrotechnic spectacle that became the director’s signature style, fusing breathtaking action with heartfelt stories of brotherhood, sacrifice and honour”.
Highlights throughout the season will include Woo’s explosive breakthrough A Better Tomorrow (1986) and its action‑packed sequel A Better Tomorrow II (1987), the iconic crime thriller The Killer (1989), Vietnam‑war epic Bullet in the Head (1990), stylish caper Once a Thief (1991) and the dazzling Hard Boiled (1992), introduced by BFI TV Programmer Xavier Alexandre Pillai.
The season also includes Woo’s first Hollywood feature Hard Target (1993), his deliriously entertaining action masterpiece Face/Off (1997), and a rare opportunity to experience the full, two‑part version of his monumental historical epic Red Cliff (2008/09) on the big screen.
And elsewhere, We Crip Film Festival brings a “bold and celebratory weekend of disabled filmmaking, creativity and collective power to BFI Southbank” and London Indian Film Festival returns with a “rich array of cutting-edge premieres from India and South Asia, plus restorations of magnificent classics of Indian cinema”.
More information is available on the BFI website.
