Brad Bird’s animated caper Ray Gunn and Travis Knight’s stop-motion feature Wildwood will make their world premieres at the 70th BFI London Film Festival. Running from October 7 to 18, 2026, the milestone festival program features 251 titles from 88 countries, with female filmmakers representing 43 percent of the lineup.
The 70th edition of the BFI London Film Festival has unveiled its sweeping full program, bringing a massive slate of international cinema, series, and immersive works to British audiences. Festival organizers announced that the massive 2026 lineup spans 251 titles from 88 countries, with every feature and series making its U.K. premiere. Among the most anticipated entries are high-profile animated world premieres from veteran directors who have spent years bringing their ambitious visions to the screen.
Brad Bird’s Decades-In-The-Making Ray Gunn Leads Animation Showcases
Leading the animation slate is Brad Bird’s Ray Gunn, an ambitious sci-fi noir project that has been percolating in the director’s mind for more than 30 years, dating back to a time before his 1999 directorial debut The Iron Giant. Set in Metropia—a gigantic, Art Deco-inspired city in an alternate future viewed through a 1939 lens where cars fly and people use jetpacks—the film follows a small-time private eye named Raymond Gunn, voiced by Sam Rockwell. In this version of the future, most detective work has been taken over by machines, leaving Gunn to navigate a dangerous case involving aliens, murder, and a multimedia pop star named Venus Nova, voiced by Scarlett Johansson.
For Bird, the project represents a deliberate effort to push past industry boundaries and expand the audience for animated storytelling. There’s a big chunk of people who don’t watch animation,
Bird explained. That’s a group I’m anxious to persuade because it’s an amazing art form that is way too limited in people’s minds.
Described by its creator as The Maltese Falcon meets Buck Rogers,
the film also features Grammy winner and Oscar nominee Tom Waits as Eyera, a one-eyed alien who acts as Ray’s trusted compatriot. Following its London world premiere, the film is set for a global Netflix debut on December 18.
Travis Knight and LAIKA Return With Handcrafted Fantasy Wildwood
Sharing the spotlight in the animation lineup is Travis Knight’s Wildwood, the latest stop-motion feature from LAIKA. Following critically acclaimed predecessors like Coraline, ParaNorman, The Boxtrolls, Kubo and the Two Strings, and Missing Link, the new film is adapted from the children’s fantasy books by Colin Meloy and written by Chris Butler. The narrative centers on a teenager named Prue McKeel, whose infant brother is abducted by a flock of crows, pulling her deep into the Impassable Wilderness—an enchanted forest hidden on the outskirts of Portland, Oregon. Knight’s feature marks a return to stop-motion animation following his work on Bumblebee and Masters of the Universe, utilizing an expansive scale that encompasses hundreds of sets and nearly 250 practical puppets ahead of its theatrical release on October 23, 2026.
The surrounding festival schedule matches the scale of its animated centerpieces. Simon Stone’s Elsinore, starring Andrew Scott and Olivia Colman, serves as the opening film following its premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival, while Jesse Eisenberg’s The Debut closes the event. Festival organizers noted that the program highlights a remarkable breadth of global talent, including 109 works directed by female filmmakers, making up 43 percent of the entire selection.
“When this festival first sprang to life 70 years ago, little more than a decade after the end of the Second World War, British society was in a period of rapid social change. Then, like now, we turn to artists to synthesize our times. And what a vision they have for us in 2026; tumults of the era live inside our program, but so too do cinematic thrills, moral conundrums and a recurring exploration of care and community.”
Kristy Matheson, Artistic Director, BFI Festivals
Star-Studded Galas and Returning Auteurs Fill the 70th Edition
The 12-day festival anchors its marquee screenings at the Southbank Centre’s Royal Festival Hall, while BFI Southbank and cinemas across central London host official competition titles and special presentations.
BFI Chief Executive Ben Roberts emphasized the enduring appeal of the shared theatrical experience as anticipation mounts for the anniversary program. The blockbusters, the indie breakouts and the debuts have drawn audiences to cinemas in record numbers,
Roberts noted, a reminder that discovering a new film in a room of fellow fans is a thrill like nothing else.
