Classic films before 1960 Rashomon Credited with bringing Japanese cinema to worldwide audiences, Akira Kurosawa’s breakthrough tells the story of a murder in the woods from four differing perspectives. Crime Period drama 1950 88 mins Akira Kurosawa Available in 4K The Seventh Seal Ingmar Bergman’s best-known film is a brilliant allegorical drama starring Max von Sydow as a knight trying to elude his own death. Fantasy Period drama 1957 96 mins Ingmar Bergman The 400 Blows François Truffaut’s French New Wave landmark is one of the greatest movies about adolescence. Drama 1959 100 mins François Truffaut Black Orpheus Academy Award and Palme d'Or-winning adaption of the Orpheus myth, incorporating the music, costume and dance of Brazil’s Rio Festival. Romance 1959 107 mins Marcel Camus Citizen Kane Given extraordinary freedom by Hollywood studio RKO for his debut film, boy wonder Orson Welles created this notoriously brilliant portrait of a media giant. Drama 1941 119 mins Orson Welles Metropolis Fritz Lang’s expressionist, dystopian vision is one of the first science fiction feature films, and is arguably the most influential. Science Fiction 1927 150 mins Fritz Lang Within Our Gates Oscar Micheaux’s startling silent classic – the earliest surviving feature from an African-American director. Drama 1919 74 mins Oscar Micheaux Man With a Movie Camera Dazzling document of Soviet life, by Dziga Vertov, showing a living city and the people and machines that propel it. Documentary 1929 67 mins Dziga Vertov Nosferatu This influential Dracula adaptation contains some of the most famous images of expressionist film, and remains shocking and stylish after 100 years. Horror 1922 89 mins F.W. Murnau The Passion of Joan of Arc An incontestable masterpiece of silent cinema, Carl Dreyer's moving biopic features one of the most powerful performances ever captured on film. Biopic Historical drama 1928 80 mins Carl Th. Dreyer Un Chien Andalou A scabrous study of desire, the subconscious and anti-clericalism - Buñuel and Dalí’s provocative first film is a classic of Surrealist cinema. Animation & Artists Moving Image 1928 21 mins Luis Buñuel BFI Restoration The River Jean Renoir's entrancing first colour film is a lyrical coming-of-age tale about a girl living with her English family on the banks of West Bengal. Drama 1951 99 mins Jean Renoir M Peter Lorre is unforgettable as the compulsive child murderer on the run from both police and criminals alike, in Fritz Lang’s seminal crime film. Crime Thriller 1931 111 mins Fritz Lang Mädchen in Uniform Leontine Sagan’s pioneering and internationally acclaimed lesbian love story. Drama 1931 89 mins Leontine Sagan Battleship Potemkin A fixture in the critical canon almost since its premiere, Eisenstein’s film about a 1905 naval mutiny was revolutionary in both form and content. Historical drama 1925 69 mins Sergei M. Eisenstein Distant Journey Blending documentary and fiction, Alfréd Radok's remarkable film chronicling the Terezin ghetto was one of the first films to address the Holocaust. Drama 1949 98 mins Alfréd Radok Available in 4K La Règle du jeu Renoir's depiction of an intransigent society teetering towards disaster was derided upon release and only later acclaimed as one of cinema’s most vital films. Drama 1939 102 mins Jean Renoir BFI Restoration The Epic of Everest Premiere. A breathtaking and poignant account of the valiant 1924 British assault on the awe-inspiring peak, beautifully restored by the BFI. Non-Fiction 1924 87 mins J.B.L. Noel Tokyo Story A fixture in critics' polls, Yasujirō Ozu's most enduring masterpiece is a beautifully nuanced exploration of filial duty, expectation and regret. Drama 1953 136 mins Yasujirō Ozu Pickpocket Bresson’s hugely influential study of a petty thief in late 50s Paris is one of his most widely acclaimed films. Drama 1959 76 mins Robert Bresson Available in 4K The Wages of Fear Henri-Georges Clouzot's classic, nail-biting suspense thriller won both The Golden Bear and the Palme d'Or in 1953. Crime Drama 1953 153 mins Henri-Georges Clouzot La Belle et la Bête Jean Cocteau’s ravishingly restored 1946 film is a cinematic classic. Fantasy 1946 95 mins Jean Cocteau Sunrise A Song of Two Humans The Czech archive version of one of cinema's last and most luminous silent masterpieces, an enduring fable of love, loss and redemption. Drama 1927 75 mins F.W. Murnau Rome, Open City Roberto Rossellini’s landmark of Italian neorealism often cited as one of the greatest films ever made. War Drama 1945 103 mins Roberto Rossellini BFI Restoration Together Two deaf-mute dock workers eke out a humble existence in London's East End in Lorenza Mazzetti's striking example of Free Cinema. Animation & Artists Moving Image 1956 51 mins Lorenza Mazzetti
Rashomon Credited with bringing Japanese cinema to worldwide audiences, Akira Kurosawa’s breakthrough tells the story of a murder in the woods from four differing perspectives. Crime Period drama 1950 88 mins Akira Kurosawa
Available in 4K The Seventh Seal Ingmar Bergman’s best-known film is a brilliant allegorical drama starring Max von Sydow as a knight trying to elude his own death. Fantasy Period drama 1957 96 mins Ingmar Bergman
The 400 Blows François Truffaut’s French New Wave landmark is one of the greatest movies about adolescence. Drama 1959 100 mins François Truffaut
Black Orpheus Academy Award and Palme d'Or-winning adaption of the Orpheus myth, incorporating the music, costume and dance of Brazil’s Rio Festival. Romance 1959 107 mins Marcel Camus
Citizen Kane Given extraordinary freedom by Hollywood studio RKO for his debut film, boy wonder Orson Welles created this notoriously brilliant portrait of a media giant. Drama 1941 119 mins Orson Welles
Metropolis Fritz Lang’s expressionist, dystopian vision is one of the first science fiction feature films, and is arguably the most influential. Science Fiction 1927 150 mins Fritz Lang
Within Our Gates Oscar Micheaux’s startling silent classic – the earliest surviving feature from an African-American director. Drama 1919 74 mins Oscar Micheaux
Man With a Movie Camera Dazzling document of Soviet life, by Dziga Vertov, showing a living city and the people and machines that propel it. Documentary 1929 67 mins Dziga Vertov
Nosferatu This influential Dracula adaptation contains some of the most famous images of expressionist film, and remains shocking and stylish after 100 years. Horror 1922 89 mins F.W. Murnau
The Passion of Joan of Arc An incontestable masterpiece of silent cinema, Carl Dreyer's moving biopic features one of the most powerful performances ever captured on film. Biopic Historical drama 1928 80 mins Carl Th. Dreyer
Un Chien Andalou A scabrous study of desire, the subconscious and anti-clericalism - Buñuel and Dalí’s provocative first film is a classic of Surrealist cinema. Animation & Artists Moving Image 1928 21 mins Luis Buñuel
BFI Restoration The River Jean Renoir's entrancing first colour film is a lyrical coming-of-age tale about a girl living with her English family on the banks of West Bengal. Drama 1951 99 mins Jean Renoir
M Peter Lorre is unforgettable as the compulsive child murderer on the run from both police and criminals alike, in Fritz Lang’s seminal crime film. Crime Thriller 1931 111 mins Fritz Lang
Mädchen in Uniform Leontine Sagan’s pioneering and internationally acclaimed lesbian love story. Drama 1931 89 mins Leontine Sagan
Battleship Potemkin A fixture in the critical canon almost since its premiere, Eisenstein’s film about a 1905 naval mutiny was revolutionary in both form and content. Historical drama 1925 69 mins Sergei M. Eisenstein
Distant Journey Blending documentary and fiction, Alfréd Radok's remarkable film chronicling the Terezin ghetto was one of the first films to address the Holocaust. Drama 1949 98 mins Alfréd Radok
Available in 4K La Règle du jeu Renoir's depiction of an intransigent society teetering towards disaster was derided upon release and only later acclaimed as one of cinema’s most vital films. Drama 1939 102 mins Jean Renoir
BFI Restoration The Epic of Everest Premiere. A breathtaking and poignant account of the valiant 1924 British assault on the awe-inspiring peak, beautifully restored by the BFI. Non-Fiction 1924 87 mins J.B.L. Noel
Tokyo Story A fixture in critics' polls, Yasujirō Ozu's most enduring masterpiece is a beautifully nuanced exploration of filial duty, expectation and regret. Drama 1953 136 mins Yasujirō Ozu
Pickpocket Bresson’s hugely influential study of a petty thief in late 50s Paris is one of his most widely acclaimed films. Drama 1959 76 mins Robert Bresson
Available in 4K The Wages of Fear Henri-Georges Clouzot's classic, nail-biting suspense thriller won both The Golden Bear and the Palme d'Or in 1953. Crime Drama 1953 153 mins Henri-Georges Clouzot
La Belle et la Bête Jean Cocteau’s ravishingly restored 1946 film is a cinematic classic. Fantasy 1946 95 mins Jean Cocteau
Sunrise A Song of Two Humans The Czech archive version of one of cinema's last and most luminous silent masterpieces, an enduring fable of love, loss and redemption. Drama 1927 75 mins F.W. Murnau
Rome, Open City Roberto Rossellini’s landmark of Italian neorealism often cited as one of the greatest films ever made. War Drama 1945 103 mins Roberto Rossellini
BFI Restoration Together Two deaf-mute dock workers eke out a humble existence in London's East End in Lorenza Mazzetti's striking example of Free Cinema. Animation & Artists Moving Image 1956 51 mins Lorenza Mazzetti
