Al Pacino, Palme d’Or Shorts and Hidden Gems: Why the 2025 UK Film Festival Is a Must-See
This November, London’s Soho Hotel and Close-Up Cinema will once again become a cinematic hub as the UK Film Festival London (UKFF) returns for its 16th edition, running 19–23 November.
With a programme that spans international premieres, award-winning shorts, and socially charged documentaries, the festival is an essential stop on the London film calendar.
At the heart of the lineup is the UK and European premiere of Billy Knight, a meta drama starring Al Pacino alongside Charlie Heaton, whose star continues to rise after Stranger Things. Screening on Sunday 23 November, the film is set to be one of the festival’s headline moments — a rare chance to see one of Hollywood’s greatest actors on a London screen outside the blockbuster circuit.
But UKFF is far more than a one-film draw. Among the feature highlights is Zhao Shuo’s Reborn in Love, a sweeping love story set in the Tibetan mountains, showcasing a filmmaker whose cinematic eye transforms landscapes into emotional storytelling. It screens Saturday 22 November, offering audiences a meditation on love, loss, and the human heart.
The festival’s shorts competition is a veritable passport to the world’s most prestigious festivals: Palme d’Or nominee The Spectacle, BAFTA-shortlisted The Flowers Stand Silently, and Sundance-premiered Witnessing all feature, alongside Agapito from the Philippines, and the tender stop-motion animation Two Black Boys in Paradise, based on Dean Atta’s acclaimed poem. For those seeking emerging talent and bold storytelling, these shorts are the beating heart of UKFF.
UKFF also champions documentaries that hit home, from Johan Palmgren’s Solitary Road, exploring an isolated Swedish community, to Oisin Byrne’s Living in My Car, a stark portrayal of life on the margins in the UK today, and Bisan Owda’s Abu Jabal, capturing grief and resilience in Gaza. Together, they demonstrate the festival’s commitment to stories that matter — urgent, timely, and human.
Founded in 2011 by filmmakers including Murray Woodfield, UKFF has earned a reputation for discovering talent that goes on to international acclaim. Previous script competition winners have won Crystal Bears at Berlin and have been produced into fully realized feature films, proving that the festival is not just a showcase, but a launchpad for tomorrow’s filmmakers.
Why go? Because UKFF is where the future of film intersects with the present: you can catch world premieres, spot tomorrow’s festival darlings, and engage directly with the filmmakers themselves during post-screening Q&As. Tickets are modest (£7.50 per screening, £15 for gala events) — but the insights, surprises, and cinematic joy are priceless.
For cinephiles, culture vultures, and anyone curious about the stories shaping our world, the 2025 UK Film Festival London promises a week of discovery, dialogue, and, yes, a little Hollywood magic.
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.