Tickets Now Available for NFTS Student-Curated Indie Film Seasons

Brand new independent film seasons are coming to screens across London and beyond thanks to Curation students at the National Film and Television School. Expect bold and inspiring collections of rarely seen gems as well as innovative re-imaginings of more familiar films. Themes range from gay sailors to Irish language culture, from strange encounters to desire as a transformative force.

Each carefully curated project exhibits the theoretical and practical knowledge second-year Film Studies, Programming, and Curation MFA students have gained throughout their studies, applied to their chosen area of research or specialisation, to create unique and thought-provoking graduation projects that push the boundaries of what an independent cinema season can be.

This year’s series of screenings, talks and Q&As will run from September to December 2025, and are hosted by the following cinemas and independent arts centres: the Prince Charles Cinema, Close Up Film Centre, Rich Mix Arts Centre, the ICA, the Lexi Cinema, the Rio Cinema, The Horse Hospital, and we will even go international, at Unseen Nairobi.
 

Explore the seasons below: 
*Information subject to change so stay tuned for more info!*

Sailors Are Gay! | Erik Scott

Celebrating the recurrent image of the sailor in queer cinema, Sailors are Gay!  sails through musicals, murderers, and mermaids, for a camp cruise of nautical nellies at the Rio Cinema, dropping anchor September 22 – October 2nd.

RIO CINEMA

22 September
Night Tide, Fireworks & Fireworks Revisted + Q&A (1963) | 12.30pm

25 September
On the Town | 6:30pm

30 September
Follow the Fleet | 6:30pm

2 October
Querelle | 6:30pm

Follow @filmsaregay for updates!
 

Strange Encounters | Hope Rangaswami

A season exploring the transformative power of chance encounters in underseen and unusual films from the late ’90s and early ’00s.

CLOSE-UP FILM CENTRE

Booking will be available soon!

2 November
Friday Night (2002) | 6pm
Crash (1996) | 8pm 

6 November
Compensation (1999) | 8:30pm

9 November
The Annihilation of Fish (1999) | 8pm 

13 November
The Hole (1998) | 8:30pm

Follow @strange.encounters.film for updates! 
 

Visions of An Otherworld | Joseph Pidgeon

A season of contemporary Irish Language Films showing mythic, spiritual and poetic stories offering a unique view of what it means to be Irish.

THE LEXI CINEMA

Booking will be available soon!

5 November
The Quiet Girl (2022) | 6.15pm

13 November
Clouded Reveries (2022) | 6.15pm 

19 November
Song of Granite (2017) | 6.15pm

26 November
Song of the Sea (2014) | 6.15pm
 

Worth a Picture | Joy Kiuna

RICH MIX

Booking will be available soon!

The Village Next to Paradise (2024)

35 Shots of Rum (2008)

UNSEEN NAIROBI

Booking will be available soon!

Burning an Illusion (1980)

Lovers Rock (2020)
 

Fruits of Her Labour | Laura Hague

RIO CINEMA

Booking will be available soon!

13 November
Clockwatchers (1997) | 6:30pm

18 November
The Second Mother (2015) | 6:30pm

20 November
Supermarket Woman (1996) | 6:30pm

25 November
Real Women Have Curves (2002) | 6:30pm

Tetsuo And Beyond | Molly Miles

Tetsuo And Beyond is a film season celebrating Tetsuo And The Iron Man and a selection of films it has influenced, screening at the Prince Charles Cinema this October/November.

PRINCE CHARLES CINEMA  

15 October
Tetsuo: The Iron Man (1989) | 6pm

29 October
Titane (2021) | 6pm

12 November
Tetsuo II: Body Hammer (1992) | 6pm

26 November
Dandy Dust (1998) | 6pm

Follow @tetsuoandbeyond for updates!

Home Cinema | Pranamika Shridhar

THE HORSE HOSPITAL

Booking will be available soon!

23 November
Home When You Return (2021) + A Ghost Story (2017)

24 November
Living Inside (1989) + Underscan (1973) + Window Work (2000) + The Lacey Rituals (1973)

25 November
Water Sark (1965) + like a dog a boat, you tether it (2018)

Women in Flux: Desire as a Transformative Force in 60s and 70s Hollywood | Sophia Panayi

A season of films from 1960s and 70s Hollywood exploring female desire in all its forms and its often threatening consequences: isolation, guilt, power, manipulation, destruction, and of course, transformation.

PRINCE CHARLES CINEMA

22 October
3 Women (1977) | 6pm 

5 November
Play Misty for Me (1971) | 6pm

11 November
Wanda (1970) | 6pm 

19 November
They Shoot Horses, Don’t They? (1969) | 6pm 

Follow @womeninflux for updates!
 

In the Realm of Acting: Performance On and Off Screen | Yuriko Hamaguchi

A season exploring the fluidity of performance, identity, illusion, and truth through a collection of rare and underseen films from across periods and geographies.

INSTITUTE OF CONTEMPORARY ARTS (ICA)

1 November
The Written Face (1995) | 6.30pm

8 November
Stendalì: Still They Toll (1960) / Jane B. for Agnès V. (1988) | 4pm 

16 November
Directing Actors by Jean Renoir (1968) / Salaam Cinema (1995) | 6:30pm 

23 November
The Lion Sleeps Tonight (2017) | 12:15pm

Follow @realm_of_acting on Instagram or @In the Realm of Acting on Facebook for updates!

These imaginative and original seasons were developed as part of the graduation project for the MFA in Film Studies, Programming, and Curation at NFTS.

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 MFA 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 25 September 2025 to start January 2026
nfts.co.uk/film-studies-programming-and-curation