Starts today:
Leeds International Film Festival 2025 |
Sirāt / Constellation
LIFF 2025 opens on 30 October, see our best-selling films so far
The 39th Leeds International Film Festival opens on 30 October at Hyde Park Picture House with Richard Linklater’s Blue Moon, the first of 260 films screening over 18 days. We recommend that you book your seats in advance for the most popular films as many screenings are sold out, and we’ve listed the top 20 bestsellers so far below. You can vote for the LIFF 2025 Audience Award after every feature film you see, and we announce the winner on our closing day, 16 November.
LIFF 2025 top 20 bestsellers: 1) It Was Just an Accident 2) Bugonia 3) The Secret Agent 4) Sentimental Value 5) Die, My Love 6) A Private Life 7) Rental Family 8) Pillion 9) If I Had Legs I'd Kick You 10) Resurrection 11) The Love That Remains 12) Blue Moon 13) Sirāt 14) The Choral 15) A Useful Ghost 16) Silent Friend 17) The Blue Trail 18) Roman Holiday 19) Dragonfly 20) Nouvelle Vague.
LIFF 2025 competitions and juries
We present 11 prestigious competitions across the LIFF 2025 programme, with 157 films selected from over 5000 submissions. There are 2 competitions for features, in Constellation and Fanomenon, and 9 for short films. We can’t wait to welcome our competition juries who will join us from 4 to 9 November to consider the selections and decide the winning films. You can view the competitions and juries on the link below or in our printed guide.
Dead Lover / Fanomenon
On Halloween night during LIFF 2025 you can see Honey Bunch, a poignant and chilling ode to genre cinema of the 70s and 80s, and the delightfully strange, Frankenstein-inspired Dead Lover. The day after on 1 November, our horror marathon Day of the Dead returns, featuring two of the most acclaimed independent genre films of the year, Redux Redux and Hellcat, and UK Premieres of The Book of Sijjin and Illiyyin from Indonesia and We Bury the Dead from Australia.
Bye Bye Brazil / LIFF Spotlights
Brazilian film classics in LIFF Spotlights
One of the retrospectives in LIFF Spotlights this year is Deslocamentos: Brazilian Cinema on the Move, featuring six rarely screened film classics about movement and displacement in Brazilian society. The selection includes Bye Bye Brazil, which follows a circus troupe through a rapidly modernising country, Macunaima, an extraordinary mythic fable of transformation, and Pixote, a searing indictment of the marginalisation of São Paulo’s street children.
VERSA Leeds Studios partners with LIFF 2025
We’re delighted to welcome VERSA Leeds Studios as an official leading partner for LIFF 2025. As part of the partnership, VERSA Leeds Studios will host and support key festival events, including the Yorkshire Short Film Competition, demonstrating its commitment to nurturing local creative talent and supporting the growth of Leeds as a centre for film production. VERSA Leeds Studios features four premium sound stages, production offices, a large backlot and workshops.
Malicia / LIFF Shorts
In LIFF SHORTS, we present a huge programme of hand-picked shorts from Yorkshire, across the UK, and around the world. Presented in partnership with Stewarts, LIFF SHORTS 2025 opens on 5 November at Everyman Cinema with a special selection of programme highlights. Then over the following four days we present 8 competitions that culminate with the awards night at Howard Assembly Room on 8 November where we screen all the winning short films.
Paolo Strippoli (Dir. Holy Boy)
We’re welcoming many filmmakers for Q&As during LIFF 2025. From the UK, filmmakers joining us include Paul Andrew Williams (Dragonfly), Max Keegan (The Shepherd and the Bear), Orban Wallace (Our Land), and Joy Gharoro-Akpojotor (Dreamers). From other countries, Eric K. Boulianne (Follies), Kukla (Fantasy), Paolo Strippoli (The Holy Boy), Marine Place (One of Us), Miri Ian Gossing and Lina Sieckmann (Sirens Call), and Raitis Ābele and Lauris Ābele (Dog of God).
Satellite screenings at The Old Fire Station, Blackburn Hall and more
We’re excited to take the LIFF 2025 programme to satellite venues in Leeds and Bradford, including free screenings at The Old Fire Station in Gipton, Blackburn Hall in Rothwell, Chapel FM in Seacroft, St Luke’s Cares in Holbeck, Keighley Picturehouse, and Keighley Creative. We’re also presenting free screenings at The Leeds Library and Mill Hill Chapel in Leeds city centre, and we return to Pictureville Cinema in Bradford with an extra screening of the brilliant Pillion.
Meet the LIFF 2025 team
We can’t wait to welcome you to LIFF 2025, and we would love to hear what you think about the films you’re seeing, how your film festival experience is going, and if you need programme guidance, accessibility support, or any other help. You will see our venue staff (in red t-shirts) and volunteer venue assistants (in white t-shirts) at all our locations, and our programmers will be introducing over 150 screenings. You can view the LIFF 2025 team on the link below.
Industry events with Film Hub North
Film Hub North returns to LIFF on 4 November with an afternoon of inspiring industry sessions and brilliant speakers, followed by a BFI NETWORK Mixer. Writers, directors and producers from across shorts, features and broadcast will discuss their process, breaking into the industry, and the craft of filmmaking, alongside other issues affecting new and emerging filmmakers in the North. This year’s filmmaker in focus is Akínọlá Davies Jr (Lizard, My Father’s Shadow).
Celebrate LIFF at TATTU Leeds with a Special Menu and Festival Cocktail
In celebration of Leeds International Film Festival, TATTU Leeds invites guests to enjoy two courses for £29.50, complete with a bespoke cocktail created exclusively for the festival. This special menu highlights TATTU's signature style of dining, where modern Asian flavours meet artistic presentation. Each dish is designed to be shared and savoured, reflecting the creativity and cultural spirit of the festival, while the handcrafted cocktail adds a touch of flair to your dining experience.
Leeds Film is supported by the British Film Institute.
Leeds Film is proud to have achieved the BFI Diversity Standards.
Leeds International Film Festival is part of Leeds Ticket Hub, the city's cultural ticket office: Leeds Ticket Hub, Carriageworks Theatre, The Electric Press, 3 Millennium Square, Leeds, LS2 3AD.
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