Collections Featured collections Trash! The wildest films you’ve ever seen. Staff Picks: Must-Watch Films Too much choice, not enough time? Let the BFI Player team do the choosing. Sci-fi Few genres stretch like science fiction, a marketplace for idle prediction, utopia, apocalypse and wonder. Comforting Cosy up, grab the popcorn, and sink into stories that feel like home. Must-watch collections Subscription Exclusives Only available on BFI Player subscription. Screen Classic Sunday Update your watchlist with films of distinction and close your weekend with a classic. The Great Unwatched The greatest films you've probably never seen. 3 You Must See Your time is precious, so we've done some of the hard work for you. 3 of the best from the world's greatest filmmakers, themes and cinematic movements. Genres Thriller Who Can You Trust? Action Throwing you into the explosive world of action. Comedy Celebrating a world of side-splitting cinema, from slapstick legends to today's anarchic voices. Crime Revenge, money, power and love – the passions that push moral and immoral alike into a shady underworld. Documentaries Documentaries can be as expressive, surreal and experimental as any work of fiction. This collection explores a world made up of people and places. Experimenta Bringing together films and videos by artists that have transformed our experience of the moving image. Our collection includes films from outside the sphere of experimental filmmaking, including the celebrated surrealists and challenging works of narrative fiction. Fantasy Perverse fairytales and wayward visions meet, as Pasolini, Hadžihalilović, Cocteau and their fellow dreamers create films that burrow into memory. Horror Tales of terror have been embraced by cinema since its birth. Melodrama Vivid visual language and heightened dramatics invite you to leave your cynicism at the door and feel something. Sci-fi Few genres stretch like science fiction, a marketplace for idle prediction, utopia, apocalypse and wonder. Silent Classics The first three decades of cinema gave us some of the greatest films ever made, which had to tell their stories purely visually, giving us countless unforgettable images. Country of origin British Cinema From established classics to new discoveries, from the mainstream to the bizarre, we celebrate the breadth and diversity of British cinema. Classic American Indie Celebrating the outsiders and mavericks whose independent methods rewrote the rulebook for American cinema. Hispanic Cinema Celebrating the art and influence of Spanish-speaking films and filmmakers. French Cinema From the New Wave to poetic realism and cinéma vérité, French cinema takes many forms and offers endless delights. Italian Cinema Fellini, Antonioni, Pasolini, Rossellini, Argento – the melodic names that conjure up the best of Italian cinema. German Cinema Chaos, hostility and murder are, said one of these directors, our common denominator. Another had scandal as a hobby and human nature as a focus. Japanese Cinema From the samurai thrillers of Kurosawa to Koreeda's beautiful domestic dramas, this collection celebrates the extraordinary diversity of Japanese cinema. Korean Cinema Celebrating the vibrance and immediacy of South Korean cinema. Themes and subjects Backed by BFI Internationally acclaimed films, with success at the box office, festivals and awards ceremonies, the BFI is proud to support the breathtaking range of the UK’s filmmaking talent. Based on the Book… Literature has inspired some of the greatest films ever made. Black Cinema Consider these films as milestones on a long and winding road. Coming of Age Filmmakers love it, audiences live it. The rites-of-passage film enables us the chance to relive the past with wisdom, but not angst. Controversial Classics A collection of the bold and the banned; causes célèbre to incite, provoke and arouse. Cult Movies Celebrating Moviedrome, the inspirational BBC film series that posed the question, 'What is a cult film?' Discomfort Movies A collection contemplating those films that challenge us the most. Girlfriends Let’s hear it for the badass buddies, the inseparable gal-pals, the obsessive duos and the wisecracking girl gangs of cinema. Instant Film School Essential viewing for cinephiles. London From the seedy streets of '60s Soho to the city's metropolitan sheen. Welcome to the London collection. Nineties Cult Classics Exploring the films and filmmakers that broke the rules of cinema in the 1990s. Political Pictures These films chart events and people, real and imagined, heroes and monsters who yearned for change, for power, for more. Sex Despite the accessibility of erotica, audiences still seek out the more substantial approaches to sex that only narrative cinema can offer. Under 90 Minutes When time is of the essence. Woman with a Movie Camera A celebration of work by female directors past and present. Working Class Heroes A collection of films lit up by the charisma of working-class stars. Celebrating fine actors in remarkable leading roles. Awards and festivals BFI Flare LGBTQIA+ From landmark LGBTQIA+ portraits to the next generation of queer classics. Academy Awards Cinema's ultimate prize, the Academy Awards. These nominees and winners show the medium at its electric best. BFI London Film Festival Catch up with a range of recent successes including previous winners of the festival’s top prizes. Best of BAFTA A selection of past nominees and winners, honouring the world’s most inventive storytellers and creators. Classic Cannes Festival The red carpet remains forever unfurled in this selection from the world’s most famous film festival. Best of British Independent Film Awards Striking, ambitious and delicious: the best indie films from the UK and around the world. Directors Chantal Akerman Formally audiacious works from the maker of the minimal masterpiece, Jeanne Dielman. Akira Kurosawa Discover an astonishing range of works, from early classics to avowed masterpieces. Ingmar Bergman A selection of penetrating masterworks from one of the greatest filmmakers of all time. Terence Davies ‘I do passionately believe in the poetry of the ordinary.’ - Terence Davies. Rainer Werner Fassbinder Dead by 37, openly bi-sexual, constantly controversial: Rainer Werner Fassbinder was arguably post-war Germany’s greatest filmmaker. Peter Greenaway Tales of carnal bargaining, conspiracy, subversion and rage. Peter Greenaway's maverick work embodies all of these and more. Michael Haneke Films of precision, purpose and humanity from the master of provocation. Werner Herzog The leading light of New German Cinema who has progressed to become something of an international treasure, Herzog is famed for making all types of films - in all sorts of strange places. Derek Jarman Startling and subversive works from an inspirational figure in British cinema. Hirokazu Koreeda Celebrating the master of contemporary Japanese cinema and his diverse, beautiful and human stories. Laura Mulvey Celebrating Laura Mulvey’s impact on film culture, theory and visual language. Directors cont'd Gerard Johnson Sight and Sound's Kim Newman called him 'the most underrated director currently working at the top of his game in Britain.' Gerard Johnson earned that praise after just four films, shadowing fallible people in extreme situations. Watch them all, and know why. Yasujirō Ozu Along with Kurosawa, the director Yasujirō Ozu is a true master of Japanese cinema whose work has its place among the all-time greats. Roberto Rossellini One of the key figures in cinema history, Rossellini initiated a new movement and evolved the language of film. François Truffaut Our tribute to a leading figure of the nouvelle vague. Frederick Wiseman With a career spanning seven decades, Frederick Wiseman is one of the great American storytellers. Popular and polls Staff Picks: Must-Watch Films Too much choice, not enough time? Let the BFI Player team do the choosing. Most Popular LGBTQIA+ 2025 Lust and laughter meet stories of defiance and discovery in a selection of films to quicken the heart London Critics' Circle - BFI Player Top 20 Over 200 of the UK's leading film critics were polled to select the greatest films on BFI Player. Most Popular Classic Cinema 2025 Hannibal Lecktor, police inspectors, Wim Wenders and other splendours... Sight and Sound Greatest Films Poll 101 - 250 Meet the elite: hand-picked highlights from the 2022 Sight and Sound 250 Greatest Films of All Time Poll. Most Popular World Cinema 2025 Spin the globe and sample… Most Popular British Indie 2025 Your favourite homegrown or British-backed films of the year Sight and Sound Greatest Films Poll Top 100 Meet the elite: hand-picked highlights from the 2022 Sight and Sound 100 Greatest Films of All Time Poll.
