NFTS Film Studies, Programming and Curation Students Bring New Film Seasons to London Independent Cinemas
A host of National Film and Television School student-curated film seasons will be making their way to cinemas across London over the next three months.
These ten hand-picked celebrations of independent, international cinema and the moving image will chart an expanse of diverse genres, forms and subjects. Artistry, identity, pleasure and politics all find their place, with themes ranging from vulnerable gangsters and the female supernatural to non-human experiences of time and the protection of lands and peoples.
Second-year students of the National Film and Television School’s Film Studies, Programming and Curation MFA course have created these film seasons to showcase the culmination of their practical development and theoretical studies. Drawing on their chosen areas of interest, each student has meticulously selected and organised a unique programme of films that bring hidden gems, important works and complex issues to light and demonstrates steadfast passion for reaching audiences.
Find these exciting screenings, talks and Q and As, running from September to December, at some of London’s greatest independent venues: Close Up Cinema, The Garden Cinema, the Genesis Cinema, The Horse Hospital, the ICA, the Lexi Cinema and the Prince Charles Cinema.
Explore the seasons below:
*Information subject to change so stay tuned for more info!*
- BEYOND HUMAN TIME | Will Miles
A season of films depicting the experience of time from different, non-human perspectives.
7 September
Il Buco | 20:15
15 September
The Blue Planet | 20:1523 September
Last Things + Résistance | 20:1520 September
Ghost Strata + Now, at Last! | 20:15Follow @beyond.human.time for updates!
- STOLEN IDENTITIES | Ennis Barnett
A season focusing on characters in 90s Hollywood thrillers who steal identities for a mercenary or psychological reason.
14 September
The Talented Mr. Ripley | 20:0020 September
Single White Female | 19:001 October
Six Degrees of Separation | 18:009 October
Dead Ringers | 18:00Follow @thecinemaobsessive for updates!
- GANGSTERS HAVE FEELINGS TOO | Daisy Hutchings
A film season portraying the fragility of masculinity through sensitive gangsters on screen, exploring an archetype traditionally associated with heterosexual men and reframing it through a queer and female lens.
16 September
Drunken Angel | 18:0030 September
Love is Colder Than Death | 18:1514 October
Mikey and Nicky | 17:4528 October
Brother | 18:15
Follow @gangstershavefeelingstoo for updates!- COLLECTIVE VISIONS OF PLEASURE | Nico Hughes
The season envisions the revolutionary potential of positioning sex and desire outside the confines of the bedroom, exploring communities of pleasure across fiction, documentary, and porn.
ICA
28 October
I.K.U. | 20:305 November
Shakedown | 20:40
12 November
Seduction: The Cruel Woman | 20:4015 November
Raging Sun, Raging Sky | 16:00
*Details provisional, tickets coming soon!*- MANEATERS | Emma Michaelsen Aasland
A film season exploring the female supernatural and how their historically negative image has been reclaimed in feminist (and campy) cult-films.
30 October
Jennifer´s Body | 18:1012 November
The Love Witch | 18:1519 November
We Are the Night | 18:0026 November
Ginger Snaps | 18:15
- WHOSE LAND? WHOSE LENS? | Meliza George
A season of works from the global south discussing the protection of land and therefore peoples through the lens of slow cinema.
Genesis Cinema
18 November
This Is Not a Burial, It’s a Resurrection25 November
Tellurian Drama + Amussu2 December
Replika + My Foreign Land9 December
Faya Dayi
*Details provisional, tickets coming soon!*- THE SUBLIME ENCOUNTER | Aisha Rattan
A season of films that engage with the philosophical concept of The Sublime - spanning cultures, eras, and genres, the programme celebrates cinema's ability to embrace the ineffable and capture moments that defy human comprehension.
ICA
26 November
August in the Water | 18:3029 November
Devi | 14:006 December
Jauja | 16:30
*Details provisional, tickets coming soon!*- LOST, BANNED, RECLAIMED | Ali Lalfam
The season consists of four films that were forgotten or suppressed within their own national cinemas - Iranian, Armenian, Egyptian, and Kazakh - each a radical aesthetic anomaly, each lost in the cracks of history or banned, each restored and brought to international audiences.
ICA
19 November
Chess of the Wind + Panel | 20:4022 November
The Colour of Pomegranates | 17:00
9 December
The Night of Counting the Years | 20:4012 December
The Fall of Otrar | 18:30
*Details provisional, tickets coming soon!*- CLASSROOM CINEMA | Tom Saer
A season of modern European fiction films exploring the teacher as protagonist, and the classroom space on screen.
The Lexi Cinema
26 October
The Class (2008) | 19:002 November
Class Enemy (2013) | 18:0010 November
The Staffroom (2021) | 18:0016 November
The Teachers’ Lounge (2023) | 18:00
*Details provisional, tickets coming soon!*
These exciting and innovative seasons were created as part of the graduation project on the NFTS Film Studies, Programming and Curation MFA.
2 Years | Full-time
Main Campus (Beaconsfield) | In person
Learn how to build a successful career in film exhibition, programming, criticism or archival work.
This is a ground-breaking MA delivered in partnership with the British Film Institute (BFI). It is delivered by film professionals in exhibition and distribution, festivals, archives and film criticism, alongside academics and filmmakers.
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Apply by 24 September 2026 to start in January 2027
nfts.co.uk/film-studies-programming-and-curation