Stirring dramas and documentaries, along with comedies that the Brits do so well, are among the feast of films on offer at the 2026 British Film Festival, taking place around Australia from October 28 to December 6. Screening at Palace Cinemas, Palace Nova and Luna Palace Cinemas, the program showcases 36 films, including five not-to-be-missed retrospectives,
The festival opens with My Duchess, starring Dame Joan Collins as Wallis Simpson, the Duchess of Windsor. The film tells of the period after the Duke of Windsor’s death, when Wallis retreats to her Paris châteaux surrounded by aides including her exploitative lawyer Suzanne Blum, played by Isabella Rossellini.
A host of Britain’s finest stars appear in the festival line-up including Dame Helen Mirren, Sir Ian McKellen, Saoirse Ronan, Olivia Colman and Bill Nighy. New works from directors Danny Boyle, Mike Leigh, Anton Corbijn and Andrew Haigh, plus James McAvoy’s directorial debut, are highlights of the program.
Screening in special Centrepiece premiere sessions, the gripping legal drama, Prima Facie, adapted from Suzie Miller’s award-winning play, sees brilliant barrister Cynthia Erivo commanding the courtroom as she is forced to confront the justice system she once fiercely defended.
One of the most talked about films to hit the festival circuit is romantic comedy Wicker, a raunchy fable starring Olivia Colman and Alexander Skarsgård. And in a deeply nostalgic comedy, Once Upon A Time In A Cinema, writer/director David Gleeson delivers a powerful love letter to the cinema experience, as he draws on personal experience of growing up in a family of cinema owners.
From award-winning director Danny Boyle, Ink follows the tumultuous rise of The Sun, the newspaper that Rupert Murdoch and Larry Lamb moulded to become Britain’s most influential tabloid. Also based on true events is historical drama The Uprising, about a grief-stricken labourer in the 14th century who ignites a peasant’s revolt in an England ravaged by plague, poverty and growing distrust of the Crown.
Set across breathtaking Irish landscapes, 500 Miles is a poignant drama starring Bill Nighy which tells the story of a broken family that must come together as two young boys embark on an epic journey to reunite with their estranged grandfather.
In Queen At Sea, winner of the Jury Prize at the 2026 Berlin International Film Festival, a family faces a moral dilemma as their mother’s dementia shatters her ability to be in control of her own decisions. Richard E. Grant and Claire Foy lead the cast of Savage House, a darkly comedic, cautionary tale of greed, ambition and power in which two desperate social climbers in 18thcentury England sacrifice everything to host the aspirational dinner party of their dreams.
The closing night film is the Australian premiere of biographical drama, Elsinore, directed by Australian Simon Stone. Andrew Scott plays the role of legendary actor Ian Charleson as he embarks on his final role in London’s National Theatre production of Hamlet.
Among the documentaries and true stories in the festival program is an intimate portrait of ‘the king of the chat show’, Sir Michael Parkinson, in the world premiere of Parky; Hill, a deeply personal portrait of British Formula One champion Damon Hill; and The Lost Children of Tuam, a dramatisation of the powerful true story of an amateur Irish historian who pieces together the disturbing truth about her Galway hometown’s mother and baby home.
In a celebration of British cinema history, anniversary screenings of Hamlet, Last Orders, The French Lieutenant’s Woman, The Man Who Fell To Earth, and Shirley Valentine are sure to draw crowds.
The Russell Hobbs British Film Festival opens on Wednesday 28 October in Sydney, Melbourne, Ballarat, Byron Bay, Canberra and Adelaide, Thursday 29 October in Brisbane and Thursday 5 November in Perth.
For the full program and to purchase tickets, visit britishfilmfestival.com.au
