Top 5 Films at the 2025 UK Film Festival London
From 19–23 November, the 16th edition of the UK Film Festival returns to London, bringing together a curated selection of international features, shorts, and documentaries. The festival has earned a reputation as a showcase for both established talent and rising filmmakers, and this year’s lineup promises to be no exception. Screenings will take place at the Soho Hotel and Close-Up Cinema, with Q&A sessions offering rare insights into the minds behind the films.
1. Billy Knight (UK & European Premiere)
Director: Alec Griffen Roth | Screening: 23 Nov, Close-Up Cinema
Al Pacino commands the screen in this meta drama that blurs the line between art and obsession. Alongside Charlie Heaton, whose quiet intensity has made him one of the most compelling young actors today, the film explores fame, identity, and the performative nature of life itself. With a taut script and sharply drawn characters, Billy Knight is not just a festival centerpiece — it’s a rare chance to witness two generations of acting prowess collide in a story that is as cerebral as it is emotionally charged.
2. Reborn in Love
Director: Zhao Shuo | Screening: 22 Nov, Soho Hotel Cinema
Set amid the towering peaks of Tibet, Zhao Shuo’s love story is a visual feast, painting human emotion against an awe-inspiring natural backdrop. The narrative delicately weaves romance and longing with cultural nuance, capturing moments of intimacy and isolation with a poetic lens. Reborn in Love lingers in memory like the first light on a mountaintop — perfect for audiences seeking films that combine breathtaking cinematography with tender, complex storytelling.
3. The Spectacle
Director: Bálint Kenyeres | Screening: Shorts Competition
Palme d’Or-nominated and unflinchingly original, this Hungarian-French short packs a provocative punch in under 20 minutes. Kenyeres experiments with narrative form and imagery to confront societal pressures, memory, and desire, creating a film that is at once unsettling and mesmerizing. For festival-goers hungry for bold, adventurous cinema, The Spectacle exemplifies how short films can be as daring and transformative as features.
4. Two Black Boys in Paradise
Director: Baz Sells | Screening: Shorts Competition
This stop-motion animation adapts Dean Atta’s celebrated poem into a story that is both tender and urgent. Through meticulously crafted visuals and subtle emotional cues, Sells explores themes of identity, friendship, and marginalization with a warmth and empathy that belies its compact runtime. It’s a striking example of how animation can convey nuance and human emotion with an artistry that lingers well beyond the final frame.
5. Living in My Car
Director: Oisin Byrne | Screening: Documentaries
Byrne’s documentary is a raw, intimate portrait of a man forced to make his car both home and sanctuary amid the UK’s cost-of-living crisis. The film’s power lies in its quiet humanity: unflinching yet never exploitative, it explores resilience, isolation, and dignity in the face of systemic hardship. Living in My Car is the kind of socially engaged documentary that stays with you, challenging audiences to confront realities often ignored and amplifying voices that need to be heard.
Full programme for 2025 UK Film Festival London: https://www.ukfilmfestival.com/programme-2025/
Tickets can be purchased at https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/o/the-uk-film-festival-london-5277881351
Elena Leo is the Arts & Lifestyle Editor of Ikon London Magazine.