Discover the films selected for the UK Competition and International Competition at LSFF 2026.

LSFF are proud to announced its Official Competition selections ahead of the festival’s 23rd edition, taking place 23 January - 1 February 2026 across venues throughout London, with the support of the BFI, awarding National Lottery funding.

This year’s UK Competition, sponsored by British Council, showcases an exciting range of new voices and works by established filmmakers. LSFF alumnus Mark Jenkin returns following his critically acclaimed features Bait and Enys Men with I Saw the Face of God in the Jet Wash, a meditative travelogue reflecting on cinematic influence and cultural memory. Screen Star of Tomorrow Naqqash Khalid builds on the success of his debut feature In Camera with FLINT, in which a man revisits his childhood home in search of healing and stars Rory Fleck Byrne. Artist-filmmaker and winner of the Aesthetica Art Prize, Rhea Storr, explores Black community histories in Okay Keskidee! Let Me See Inside, while Sundance-winner and BAFTA nominee Simon Ellis blends documentary and digital mythmaking in Notes from Planet Three.


I Saw the Face of God in the Jet Wash
I Saw the Face of God in the Jet Wash


Elsewhere in the UK Competition, form and genre collide in unexpected ways. Jing Zhao’s How to Be a Ghost in Bangkok? reframes heartbreak through Southeast Asian ghost culture; Federico Barni’s Gossamer follows a metal singer undergoing a biotech transformation; Hope Pearl Strickland’s a river holds a perfect memory traces diasporic and familial migration between the UK and Jamaica. Two standout animated works also feature: Gabriel Böhmer’s Progress Mining, a darkly comic tour through a failing industrial site, Lizzie Watts’ Fried! which sends its protagonist into a surreal encounter at an isolated emu farm.

Further titles include Flipper by Can Koroglu & Teva Cheema (winner of the Best UK Short at LSFF 2024 with Highgate 214) which centres on an upside-down car that becomes an urban curiosity between Lambeth and Southwark; Kialy Tihngang’s Out of Office, a sharp and surreal satire on corporate power and misogynoir; and Siôn Marshall-Waters’ Pen Mari, which follows a man drawn into the illicit trade of animal remains while searching for a horse’s skull to lead an ancient folk procession.

Inflatable bear, hourly
Inflatable Bear, Hourly

Across the International Competition, two strands - Visions and Voices and Talk About The Passion - present a bold sweep of global storytelling. Visions and Voices explores the delicate and often fraught relationship between the individual and the collective including Christopher Radcliff’s We Were the Scenery, Gabriel Abrantes’ Arguments in Favor of Love, Jon Frickey’s Ploo and Maida Srabović’s Fačuk. Two past Best International Short winners are back at the festival: Julia Mellen returns with Abortion Party, six years after her 2020 win, and Dorien Jespers -who took the award in 2021 - competes this year with Loynes.

Talk About The Passion spotlights films driven by emotional and political intensity, with selections such as Greta Díaz Moreau’s Crazy for You, Elisabeth Werchosin’s Inflatable Bear, Hourly, Nnenna Onuoha’s The Adventures of the Black Girl in Her Search for Mabel Dove, Emily Norling’s Scraps, Ummid Ashraf’s DHET!, and Whammy Alcazaren’s Water Sports.

Arguments in Favor of Love
Arguments in Favor of Love

Aleks Dimitrijevic, Festival Director, said, “LSFF has always been defined by its filmmakers. This year’s competition brings together directors who are pushing their craft in bold, inventive ways, whether they’re early in their careers or returning to us with new ambitions.”

Philip Ilson, Artistic Director, said, “Our filmmakers are the heart of LSFF. Each year we’re energised by the artists who come to the festival with fresh ideas, DIY spirit, and uncompromising vision. The range of talent in this year’s selection reflects the vibrancy of short filmmaking today. It’s a privilege to champion their work.”

The UK and International Competition programmes will screen at BFI Southbank and the Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA).


The full programme announcement and tickets for the 23rd London Short Film Festival go on sale from 4 December 2025.


UK Competition: Drifting Towards Dreamsource

  • How to Be a Ghost in Bangkok? (Dir. Jing Zhao, Thailand/UK, 2025)

  • Gossamer (Dir. Federico Barni, UK, 2025)

  • I Saw the Face of God in the Jet Wash (Dir. Mark Jenkin, UK, 2025)

  • Fried! (Dir. Lizzie Watts, UK, 2025)

  • Okay Keskidee! Let Me See Inside (Dir. Rhea Storr, UK, 2025)

  • Notes from Planet Three (Dir. Simon Ellis, UK, 2025)


UK Competition: Memories of Earth

  • FLINT (Dir. Naqqash Khalid, UK, 2025)

  • a river holds a perfect memory (Dir. Hope Pearl Strickland, UK, 2024)

  • Flipper (Dir. Can Koroglu & Teva Cheema, UK, 2025)

  • Progress Mining (Dir. Gabriel Böhmer, UK, 2024)

  • Out of Office (Dir. Kialy Tihngang, UK, 2025)

  • Pen Mari (Dir. Siôn Marshall-Waters, UK, 2025)


International Competition: Visions and Voices

  • Loynes (Dir. Dorian Jespers, Belgium/France, 2025)

  • We Were the Scenery (Dir. Christopher Radcliff, United States, 2025)

  • Arguments in Favor of Love (Dir. Gabriel Abrantes, Portugal, 2025)

  • Ploo (Dir. Jon Frickey, Germany, 2025)

  • Fačuk (Dir. Maida Srabović, Croatia/Slovenia, 2025)

  • Abortion Party (Dir. Julia Mellen, Spain, 2025)


International Competition: Talk About The Passion

  • Crazy for You (Dir. Greta Díaz Moreau, Spain, 2025)

  • Inflatable Bear, Hourly (Dir. Elisabeth Werchosin, Germany, 2025)

  • The Adventures of the Black Girl in Her Search for Mabel Dove (Dir. Nnenna Onuoha, Ghana, 2024)

  • Scraps (Dir. Emily Norling, Sweden, 2025)

  • DHET! (Dir. Ummid Ashraf, Bangladesh, 2024)

  • Water Sports (Dir. Whammy Alcazaren, Philippines, 2024)